"Proper job! It's England that's cut off from Cornwall, not the other way round."

My wife's cousin lives in Plymouth, and so when we visited her last summer, our route by train from London passed through Dawlish, shown above, which was hit hard by recent storms. The rail line in Dawlish was utterly wrecked. Further down the coast, at Looe, there was epic flooding.

Dawlish and Plymouth are in Devon, and Looe is in Cornwall, right across the river from Plymouth to the west. Along with Dorset and Somerset, these counties are referred to as the West Country. I'd never traveled in these places prior to 2009, and have become quite enamored of them in two journeys since.

Jeff Gillenwater made sure I saw this commentary by a Cornwall native, which places the storm-driven transport infrastructure damage in a wider context. Permit me to add that life in a devolved Cornwall would be entirely acceptable for an exile like me, so long as St. Austell and Skinner's continue making fine ales.

Note: "Proper job" is an expression of satisfaction in regional vernacular, and also is an ale brewed by St. Austell.

Proper job! It's England that's cut off from Cornwall, not the other way round; We look west for our weather, scrutinising the Atlantic storms for surf. Without a rail link to London we're more Cornish than ever, by The Kernow King (Guardian)

... Then I spotted the tweet, the one I had been waiting for: "The bad news is Cornwall is cut off from England. On the other hand, the good news is Cornwall is cut off from England". Wuh! Hell up!

You see, we've always felt different in Cornwall. Not just cut off. The majority of us don't feel especially English, which really winds some outsiders up because they think it means we don't like them. It's why squillions of people come to Cornwall every year! Our history, our language, our culture, our sports, our people … we're Cornish before we're anything else. Without that rail link, we may well be cut off, but because communities pull together for each other, we're even more Cornish now.

My opinion: New Albany's city council should address the fundamental problems with drainage, and ditch the Kris Kringle garb.

Yesterday’s Tribune article previewing tonight’s 2009 city council finale cannot be found on-line at this time, so forgive me for not linking to reporter Daniel Suddeath’s article.

His coverage begins with a rhetorical question: A council that typically refuses to approve stormwater and sewer fees commensurate with the cost of their governing bodies being able to do their jobs correctly is being asked to spend $400,000 in the form of a bailout, with monies to be given to people who suffered damages from the year’s floods.

As such, is the money better spent as one-time compensation for damages, or as part of a properly funded effort to fix the problem so it (perhaps) doesn’t happen again?

We know the tale: It rained quite a lot at various times in 2009. On more than one occasion, the sheer volume of water pouring from the skies led to flooding in certain New Albanian neighborhoods. Some of the damage resulted from run-off, and some of it from overwhelmed storm water drainage and sewage systems.

Subsequently, in a process that is ongoing, those suffering damages from flooding have sought numerous forms of redress, ranging from claims against their own insurance policies to tort claims filed with the city’s carrier, and including applications to federal and state agencies for relief and assistance. Without assembling an actual scorecard, it would seem that these efforts have resulted in mixed success, if even that much.

Perhaps there is a reason for that, and perhaps not.

Particularly after storms in early August, the city council chamber became the chosen venue for citizen gatherings and petitions, and that’s fitting, proper and perfectly understandable. What is less understandable to me is the council’s apparent eagerness to accept the city’s responsibility for a state of affairs that is far more complex than pointing pudgy fingers at various elected and appointed officials.

Not that I don't feel badly for the waterlogged. As previously stated, I’ve been there and done that. When my ex-wife and I bought our house off Castlewood in 1997, there were foot-high water marks on the concrete walls in the unfinished basement. The message was fairly clear to us, and within weeks of moving in, these marks were exceeded in height. Rest assured that we had not laid carpet or put up drywall in the interim.

But: Does the act of distributing “one-time” (until the next time?) checks in the form of a transparently and politically expedient bailout really do anything at all to address root causes of the issue, especially the eternal preference of the grandstanders on the council to exclusively blame developers and zoning conspiracies for the drainage problems rather than realizing that each and every one of us has acquiesced in the way this city has been developed and redeveloped over the years?

Citywide involvement and input might be helpful in advancing responsible development, but it must occur during the boring times when anger isn't dominating the discussion.

More importantly, isn’t it true that the same politicians who have loudly decrying storm water damage have also habitually voted against equitable funding solutions for stormwater and sewers?

As such, are they prepared to blame themselves along with favored targets in City Hall?

That would be refreshing, and it’s as likely as Miller Lite somehow developing flavor.

In Suddeath’s article, John Gonder seems to be the councilman who is taking these points most rationally. Let’s hope his viewpoint resonates among the others, because the precedent of the bailout is not a very good one. If the money is to be spent at all, it should be spent on addressing and repairing the cause, and accompanied by a rate increase that’s enough to assist in the effort. Masquerading as Santa Claus is not the correct response, but if you walk into the meeting room tonight and see Jeff Gahan dressed in red …

Sixth installment of "live" and increasingly "dead" blogging: Resolutions, ordinances and scenery chewing.

INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: READING

R-09-16 Resolution To Appropriate E.D.I.T Funds To Assist Residents With Damages Caused By Recent Storms And Flooding (Gahan)

Bob Caesar adds his addendum to the Gahan resolution. Because it is a resolution, it can be introduced in modified form.

Coffey: Who enforces this? Answer is: Stormwater Board. Coffey rolls his eyes.

Jack Messer notes that stormwater has a machine for trenching that it is not using and hasn't for seven months.

Kevin Zurschmiede (first comment, 2:15 into the meeting): Accountability! They're not here because we have tough questions for them! Every deppartment needs to be accountable! Namechecks Erika. "There's no accountability." KZ grandstands about accountability, the new mantra.

Caesar: "We have to do something for these people," and "start now, not in nine months."

Benedetti: But we give them money and it doesn't change! How do we change that?

Coffey: Cut 'em, cut 'em.

Price: We had to sue to do something.

Messer: This administration hires people who won't work. Need different contractors, new people. They're not working.

Benedetti: Something about Ron Carroll hiring or paying too much to someone. Now they're getting tired and mumbling all at once.

Coffey: Bob wants to hire college kids for creek cleaning, and Kay Garry found out that the stormwater slackers already allotted money for this! We'll approve the $25,000 requested by Caesar for cleaning up cricks. Where to take it from?

Marcey: Kay and I figured it out. Explains the part-time scheme. It would take about $23,400.

Discussion about how to pay them.

Messer: Corrections people?

Paul Haub: "Use community service people." They could do it for free.

Coffey: The other $75,000? Where? To the people?

Gahan: The stormwater board makes that decision.

Benedetti: "What do I say to the people who come up to me" and can't afford the repairs?

Gahan: Stormwater and sewers make these decisions every day?

WE HAVE NOTHING REMOTELY RESEMBLING A RULING CLASS IN THIS CITY. WE HAVE SPENT AS MUCH TIME ON OLD GRIEVANCES TONIGHT AS ANYTHING ELSE, BECAUSE THIS IS ISSUE IS NOT CAPABLE OF BEING SOLVED BY DISBURSING MONEY TO THE FLOODING VICTIMS. THIS IS OF A SCOPE THAT ELUDES THEM ALL.

Coffey: Attorneys will swarm if some people get money and others don't.

They're arguing about the terms of a city-wide bailout.

Shane Gibson speaks: We try to determine on a case by case basis. Sewer claims have a $25,000 deductible. Most of the current crop would go past deductible. No specifics, but never this many problems. Many of these claims will be handled by the insurance company.

Gahan: Still a council issue, because "we have to come up with the big fix" and tackle the problems presented tonight.

Really? THEM?

Coffey: "Why do we need this $75,000?"

Gibson: The extent of this problem is for the insurance company. The deductibles owed by the city will come from the sewer utility, as it has done in the past. Now getting claims. No idea of the total cost when all is said and done.

***Gibson: "We still have to determine if the city is liable." Not comfortable just throwing money out because it can't be policed ... because it would not lend itself to accountability. Recommends it be specifically earmarked for the emrgency stormwater.

But that would run counter to Coffey's aim of kneecapping stormwater.

Vote: Price hems, haws, squawks and votessssss yes. Messer abstains. Zurschmiede now speaks up about water in his building, abstains. Coffey abstains. 6 yes, three abstain, I think.

Bizarre.

R-09-17 Resolution Concerning Statement of Benefits For VTI of Indiana Door, Inc, DBA Ideal Door Division by the Common Council (Gonder)

Marcey Wisman reads amendment to transform the abatement to five years for equipment. Unanimously approved.

R-09-18 Resolution to Fund the City Portion of a Fire Department Grant to Purchase a Multi-Task Emergency Vehicle (Gonder)

This is what the fire department is here to discuss. Poor guys. They got a grant for most of it, need $47,000 as the department's share. Coffey hates to turn it down because some other grants don't require matches. The chief explains. Vote by hand: Unanimos in favor.

Coming back for the grand finale.

Cosmic liability, Mayberry politics, designer flip-flops -- hmm, must be city council tonight.

I was teaching "beer class" (seriously) and couldn't make it to last evening's work session, so this question may have been answered.

R-09-16 Resolution To Appropriate E.D.I.T Funds To Assist Residents With Damages Caused By Recent Storms And Flooding

Can readers recall a bigger can of worms being opened by the city council than CM Jeff Gahan's proposal (evidently coming tonight) to extract EDIT funds to reimburse flooding victims?

Note that in asking this question, I'm not ignoring the drainage problems in the neighborhood behind my business interests off Grant Line. Once I owned a house there, and the blessedly unfinished basement was prone to the very same issues discussed by residents at the last council get together. Yes, I have seen sewage geysers. Three years ago, we killed a car dead by driving it into suddenly revealed, knee-deep water near Our Lady.

Just the same, as council attorney Stan Robison's pained expression last Monday indicated, does the city council really want to establish a precedent that it acts as the community's insurance fund, ready for tapping each and every time something goes wrong? How far (and for how much) does this responsibility extend? Does it ever end? And what does any of it have to do with economic development?

Answer to the last question: About as much as using EDIT monies to subsidize sewer rates, which is tantamount to a yearly political action committee donation to the re-election campaign of each city council member.

Not that storm and floor repair monies would resemble that remark in the 6th district sense, mind you.

It should be wonderful tonight, and I'll be blogging live if there's an available connection.

Go here for the agenda, spin your council wheels of flipping flopping chance and whim, and come out to the historic City-County Building tonight for these and other enduringly entertaining diversions, including the unknown landing point of the Blevins Memorial Swing Voter (i.e., CM Bob Caesar) on supplemental police funding. There's also the question of whether Gomer removes the bucket before Aunt B's cookie jar is emptied, but we'll let Goober resolve that one.

♪ ♪ How Many Times Must the Trucks Drive By??

I arose earlier than I normally do this morning so that I might shave, shower, etc, before heading downtown to the Board of Works meeting.

As I pulled out of my garage I noted again that my ever growing collection of yard waste was still present.

So just for giggles I took a quick tour of the neighborhoods to see how many others were still present and unacccounted for.

The images that follow are but a few that I took in the process. I did so in order that I might show them to our Street Department Superintendent at the aforementioned meeting.

I was also going to inquire of him the route schedule for the pickup of such in the four quadrants of the city as proposed/promised some months ago.

But alas he was not present as he was shepherding his crew through the process of repainting school crossings around the city. From what was said I came away with the impression that all hands were on such duty as per Mayor England.

I can't however, verify that to be the case as I'm running low on gas so I passed on the temptation to do so.

What I can say with certainty though is that many of the examples cited below have been brought to the street departments attention weeks hence and the remainder are in very plain sight! Assuming anyone has their eyes open that is!



The above is from our very own Spring cleaning /storm damage cleanup efforts. I alerted the proper entities of its existence at least two weeks ago.



This one in the 1900 Block of spring Street (Division Street) has survived at least three garbage day/recycling truck/various other city vehicle drive by's!




The two directly above are from the 700 Block of Market Street and are the remains of trees located on city rights of way which if I'm not mistaken makes them the cities responsiblity.

Oh, and note that obstructing the sidewalk appears not to be a safety concern after all.

Then this one on the 600 Block of Main Street was according to the owner phoned in and put on the to do list on March 6 of this year and the pile keeps growing!

Now to give the devil his due we all understand that the city is shorthanded, there have been a series of storms of late, we have budget woes, and on and on and on.

However, unless my ears deceived me Thursday last, the Mayor did say at the Common Council meeting that ours streets were clean.

Somehow I fear he has been misinformed as the items referenced above for the most part are not new though they may be growing.

So tell us Mr. Mayor, what else do we as citizens need to do?

We volunteer for weekend cleanups several times a year to rid our city of that which has accumulated only to watch it accumulate again. Thanks by the way Mickey for furnishing the dumpsters for such events!

We encourage our neighborhoods to police their own as much as possible.

We have offered on many occassions to haul our own to the dumpsters at the 4th Street location only to be turned away as we're informed that one can't put bagged yard waste in said dumpsters. And this after we've been told by the selfsame officials to bag it, leave it at curbside & it will be picked up!

We have followed the street department's grapple truck down many a road to watch it drive by pile after pile some of which it had to swing out & go around to keep from hitting them enroute to who knows where!

We have raked loose leaves to the curside as instructed only to see them either blow back into our yards or get washed down the storm water drains all the while being told WE the Public are responsible for said drains in close proximity to our property.

So PLEASE help us help you!!

Raise wages, raise taxes, raise rates, or fire 'em all and start over!

Park a dumpster on every street corner!

Petition the Council for more stringent legilation!

Request the Governor send in the National Guard complete with dump trucks to assist the Street Department!

Or like us buy a pair of gloves & blue jeans & jump in.

But quit with the same ole, same ole!

Storms past, economic disasters pending, and lack of property tax revenue aside I'm unaware of a city employee that has gone without a paycheck as of yet. Albeit some may not have been as big as they would have liked!

We just need to see some effort at getting our money's worth! And more often than once or twice a year via an insert in the councilmen's packet that never sees the light of day I might add!

So again how do we accomplish this feat? Outside the box ideas anyone?

By the way, isn't our thirty days about up??