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City Council pop quiz 2
According to Ken Lanfear, director of Public Works who gave a presentation tonight, Ocean Shores is spending the following amount to keep weeds out of “fresh waterways“:
a) $140,000, just like was budgeted from the Storm Drain fund
b) $300,000, because the weeds are really bad this year
c) nothing, because we got State grants to take care of everything
d) nothing, because we spent all the money on lawyers
Answer in this week’s North Coast News . . .
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but but but but but but but but………..sounds like a boat on duck lake.
Good ideas CAC….do I hear the ‘but’ chorus warming up? : )
Sometimes it can be simply a matter of too many fingers in the pie…we have an old tree that was blown down (three years ago) in a storm, right into the middle of one of our storm drain ponds in our community. Rather than having the tree guys come and cut it up and remove it, as they would have in years past, instead the county, state and EPA said ‘No, it’s a habitat for the wildlife in the area’ ie: Canadian geese (which they have taken out of here in traps for years because they overran us), the ducks, the Great Blue Heron (although they nested in the tree while it was standing, they have nothing to do with it now that it’s fallen), etc. Sometimes we would wish that people would display something like common sense, although I know we would not be Americans if we agreed on everything.
Correct Duck Lake Guy. We do have to find fixes. However, the powers that be must be willing to listen to those fixes. Insurance issues have killed the Adopt a Park program. Roadblocks seem to be the first thing that comes to mind these days. At council we heard that there are now 3 people to cut the weeds vs. 5. Well, that does not mean that it does not happen. It just means that it takes longer. If we have 121 miles of roads and there are two sides to the roads we then have 242 miles of roadside. We then have to divide that by 3 rather than 5 to determine how many miles each person will have to cut. If we then figure out, without any type of work slowdown action, how many miles a day one of the people can cut. That tells us the number of days it will take to return to cut the same roadside again. It does not mean that we don’t cut anything. It means we take longer intervals between cuts.
If we do not have the equipment, rent it. It is cheaper than owning it. If nothing more, put the service out to bid. Maybe we could eliminate those 3 jobs too.
That is management. Management is not excuses or ignoring the issue.
Same with cleaning the ditches. If you look at past records you will see the discussions about buying the proper equipment to clear the ditches. If it can be purchased via a grant, great. If it could make the job go faster and involve less labor, great. let the machine do the work.
Maybe the Chance A La Mer center area should be covered with the Jetty Rock. Then they wodl not have to mow it. Plant things that grow in rocks. It would reflect the ocean environment we are in. It would also save on the weekly mowing and future irrigation project. It would also save on water, which the city must pay for. There are some solution.
Good answer , Duck Lake Guy.
I know that our city government has it’s problems, but when you read through the chain of responses below, mine included, we as citizens have ours as well.
As Mark and CAC elude to, you cannot ignore a percieved issue simply because it does not pertain to you. The lake,canals, and parks are an important part of our culture and our city. Even if the weed growth does not effect you personnaly, it does have an effect on you.
The bottom line is this. If we iognore issues such as the lake and canals, the water in ditches, and simply pass the blame without demanding action and without offering legitimate potential fixes, then our city government will continue to flounder and we will never be the city we want to be, which in my HHO is a tourist friendly city that has many different forms of entertainment and recreation, without obvious eye sores.
yes to all of the below. if you own a boat pay a launch fee or even better get an os license tab for it. i have put a dam and a pump for pumping the water into barrels for reuse. non of my ditch water reaches the lake. i should get $$ for water conservation. those with ditches and lake front are double dippers. they almost have island properties.
So, if the lake and canal properties are charged more, then can we charge non-lake property owners and visitors a launching fee? Also, lake and canal people have ditches too in front of many of their properties. Should we charge the ditch properties more because they use our lakes and canals for drainage too?
if you live on the lake you should be taxed extra. all of “your” money could be used for lake maintenance. let “my” money take care of ditches. we should put in a very large recirculating system to take care of the flow problem.
EDITED The lakes are the endpoint for many of the ditches. People that live elsewhere in the city have boats, kayaks, and other equipment to access the lakes and canals. They do use them too. The real issue is that in some areas we do not have enough flow. We either have to mechanically increase the flow or find a natural way of doing it. The summer slime in places is normal growth.
They should be clearing the ditches. But it needs to be done with some skill in directing the water in one direction or another. I have seen places that they have cleared and the water sits there short of the canal or lake.
Oh I’m sure the answer is C for now! Oh but down the road it will cost us $300k due to error! I just wish EDITED
Anybody else have a little problem with their “storm drain” money (that we all pay into) being used to benefit those living on the canals and lakes or the users of same when the city can’t even seem to keep the ditches in front of all our houses from flooding during the rainy season??
If you have recently looked at the canals, it is obvious that nothing has been spent on the problem.
Tom, during the meeting last night, was there a proposed plan of action given by Mr. Lanfear?
The real facts are that the bulk of the money for the elodea eradication has come out of the storm drain fund, and it presently has a surplus. The money is there to do the eradication, and all the mayor/council has to do is allocate it/order it done, for it appears that public works will not be doing it on their own initiative. Another case of defining who really runs this city- the administration or the department heads.
Can’t wait to hear the correct answer for this one…I have an ugly feeling about this.