First I Look at the Purse.

I don't care if you got yourself a wrap
all I want is your pretty green cash
Bought me a suit, bought me a car
Want me to look like a Hollywood star
Money, (Money!) I want money (Money!)
Baby, ain't no "why", baby (Money!)
I need money!
First I look at the purse!
First I look at the purse!
First I look at the purse!
First I look at the purse!

Changes to Slate Run Road project total $676k, by Daniel Suddeath (Hanson's Old White Male Digest)

Slate Run Road work continues as the New Albany Redevelopment Commission has taken some steps to rectify problems discovered with soil conditions.

NEW ALBANY — They were informed earlier this month that addressing issues with the Slate Run Road improvement project would cost more money, and on Tuesday, members of the New Albany Redevelopment Commission found out the cost.

A change order for $676,140 was unanimously OK’d by the commission after a brief discussion on why the cost for the project is increasing. The costs include some expenses beyond the steps that will have to be taken to adjust for the soil conditions that have led to delays in finishing the road project.

Redevelopment Director Josh Staten told the commission during the virtual meeting that the change order for the project contractor, Temple & Temple, includes additional drainage work and mediation of soil conditions that city officials said were discovered after paving work had already began ...

... Staten said Tuesday he isn’t sure when the project will be completed, but believes construction can be finished “pretty soon” with the additional steps that have been taken.

“This is about finishing the road and getting the best finished project we can get for that neighborhood,” he said.

City Engineer Larry Summers was asked if the additional remediation has helped since being approved earlier this month.

The contractor has continued to make progress over the past two weeks, and that paving should commence this week on the northern end of the project near Charlestown Road, he said.

“We have done what we can to make sure that we provide a good product for the citizens in the end,” Summers said.

Commission member Adam Dickey said about half of the change order costs appeared to be tied to drainage improvements that were added to the project.

“I think it’s important that we move forward with this and get this wrapped up,” he said.

Under threat: "Why Venice Is Disappearing."

Ten million tree trunks, or in short, what's underneath most of the buildings in the city of Venice.

First a short and very informative documentary from Deutsche Welle.

Under threat: Venice's need to rescue its future

Built on small islands and mud banks, Venice is slowly sinking. More than ever before, the pearl of the Adriatic is under threat. Having recently been hit by its most severe floods and with a state of emergency declared, what is being done to combat this?

Well over a thousand years ago the first wooden huts were built out on the middle of a lagoon off the coast of northern Italy. The archives tell us these were the homes of people fleeing barbarian invasions in the aftermath of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Later, with land in short supply, man-made areas were developed. But construction was far from easy; the bed of the lagoon consisted of sediment and mud, forming a foundation that was constantly moving. Yet Venetian architects managed to build the city’s palaces, towers, and cathedrals. Venice stands on a forest of wooden piles which anchor the buildings to the lagoon’s muddy bed. The buildings themselves are constructed in such a way that they can compensate for movement, even earth tremors, without suffering noticeable damage.

But the water the Venetians built their city on is becoming more and more of a threat. Industrialization has played its part in disturbing the natural balance of the lagoon: The sea bed has subsided and the effect of the tides has changed, resulting in a water level in the city’s canals that is 24 centimeters higher than when they were first built.

Added to that is the controversial presence in the lagoon of giant cruise ships: A source of income for the city, but also one that contributes to atmospheric pollution, as well as causing wake damage.

Also an article that amplifies a few of the video's points.

Why Venice Is Disappearing, by Jeff Goodell (Rolling Stone)

Flooding in the historic city is about more than climate change — bad engineering and corruption are also to blame

On Tuesday night, as epic floodwaters were rising in Venice, Italy, members of the Veneto regional council gathered in their chambers on Venice’s Grand Canal and, incredibly enough, voted to reject measures to battle climate change. Within two minutes, according to council member Andrea Zanoni, water started pouring in, flooding the chambers with several feet of murky lagoon water.

Coincidence? Maybe. But it almost makes you believe there is a god, and she is laughing hysterically at how foolish humans can be in the face of the climate crisis.

What’s happened in Venice this week, however, is no joke. High winds in the Adriatic Sea drove six feet of water into the city, causing the worst flooding the city has seen in more than 50 years. Tourists took selfies in San Mark’s Basilica in waist-deep water (one man swam across St. Mark’s Square – likely the first, but surely not the last, person ever to do that). Eighty-five percent of the city flooded; at least two deaths were reported. The floodwaters did incalculable damage to the foundations and structural integrity of the 1,000-year-old city’s most iconic buildings, including St. Mark’s Basilica. “These are the effects of climate change,” Venice mayor Luigi Burganaro said as he waded through the flooded city.

But the tragedy of Venice is about more than climate change and the power of rising seas. It’s about how bad engineering, combined with greed and incompetence, can make the climate crisis we are facing so much worse ...

New Orleans, the Mississippi River and lots and lots of water.

Photo credit.

By the way, it's raining again.

Hell Is High Water: When will the Mississippi River come for New Orleans? by Henry Grabar (Slate)

ARABI, Louisiana—The water is breaking gently around the hull of the crew boat Miss Emerson, as if she were puttering across a muddy lake. Instead she is tied at the dock of Port Ship Service, straining at her bowline as a supercharged Mississippi River rushes beneath. On the bank of a levee just over the parish line from New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, Capt. Charles Crawford is preparing to take control of the Valle Azzurra, a big ship coming down the river in a hurry. The Miss Emerson is a transport boat. She will pull alongside the Malta-flagged tanker, and Crawford will board the larger vessel as the ships run momentarily together. He will climb a ladder that hangs over the ship’s port side, whose paint is scraped from a recent trip through the Panama Canal. His assignment: steer the Valle Azzurra safely to Pilottown, where the river meets the sea.

“Where’s mine?” Crawford asks Timmy Lopez, the drawling, tattooed dispatcher, his eyes as blue as the river is brown.

“Coming up on Perry Street,” responds Lopez with a glance at a monitor, as if we were waiting for an Uber instead of a 200-foot ship carrying 10,000 gallons of God knows what around the bend at Algiers Point.

Crawford is a member of the Crescent River Port Pilots Association, a group of elite mariners who steer tankers, freighters, and cruise ships down the 106 treacherous miles between New Orleans and the Bird’s Foot, the Mississippi River’s branching delta. It is specialized terrain, the pilots say, and even an experienced captain would struggle with its eccentricities. Crawford has the demeanor of a Hollywood airplane pilot—tanned, pleasantly lined face, a full head of gray hair. He has been doing this job for 40 years, and this one will be his last. “I always said, ‘I think I’ve got another high river season,’ but this year I said, ‘No, no more,’ ” he says, passing me the association calendar, which he helps photograph and design. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of high rivers, but I’ve never seen a river this high, this long.”

No one has. The Friday that Crawford sat waiting to board the Valle Azzurra was Day 225 of high water in New Orleans, tying the longest stretch in recorded history, set in 1973. The next day—Saturday, June 8—the record broke, and there is no end in sight ...

Moooving Forward, Part Two: Flood protection, Gahan's ignorance of nepotism and why "great experiences" always cost SOMETHING.

Previously: Moooving Forward, Part One: But if flood protection requires "improvement" now, was it inadequate before, and why did "improvement" take eight whole years?

Look, ma -- great paying jobs, with absolutely no experience necessary. That Gahan, boy, he's a miracle worker!

DUGGINS, DAVID C NAHA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR New Albany $121,577.96

GARDNER, CHRISTOPHER FLOOD CONTROL DIRECTOR NEW ALBANY $63,775.21

Nepotism? That's just a word that isn't in Deaf Gahan's vocabulary. Here's a reprint from August 30, 2015.

---

What does it cost the city to stage Friday evening concerts at a venue that wasn't built to host them?

Surely somewhere these raw numbers exist: Production Simple does the booking and staging, city workers block the street, prepare the grounds and clean up, police officers act as security, and of course, there are sponsorships, and these defray at least some of the costs, right?

Shouldn't this information be part of the public record?

I asked.

The quick response came not from Shane Gibson, but Chris Gardner: "A great experience is priceless."

Think about that.

Chris Gardner is the city of New Albany's director of flood control. He has a degree in business management (IU Southeast; 2010), used to work at a veneer plant, and is married to the mayor's daughter. These facts are matters of public record, and if subject to review by the most disinterested of space aliens armed with theories of impartiality and a recent dictionary, there'd almost inevitably arise at least some reference to the concept of nepotism.

Perhaps Jeff Gahan's exaggerated fluke of a vote total in 2011 blinded him to the implications of the word "nepotism", or maybe he didn't know what it meant in the first place. I doubt he cares, but even if the director of flood control weren't an otherwise unqualified son-in-law, and even if he were just another unqualified city political patronage employee, can this or any other mayor countenance a taxpayer inquiry being greeted with this?

"A great experience is priceless."

Perhaps Gardner's sequestration down by the river, where few people actually live, has caused Gardner to overlook the plain fact that lots of folks living hereabouts are not enjoying a great experience, because the reality of income inequality is that they cannot afford a frat boy's nonchalance, either in terms of attitude or disposable income. 

What's more, not many of them are in a position to enjoy the bread, circuses and musical events being staged for their benefit. They're working multiple jobs, juggling parental duties and just scraping through. They're struggling with finding and keeping affordable housing. Whether we care to admit it or not, most of us are far closer to poverty than we'll ever be to the lofty ease of the 1%, and we'd be advised to remember how quickly any of us could fall through the patchwork safety net, which Republicans keep trying to dismantle. 

Shouldn't Democrats be more concerned with maintaining a functional, level playing field than pretending to be Walt Disney?

Seriously, how many of us shrug and spend money without looking at the price?

Let's say I come home with a brand new car, run inside the house, get Diana and say, "Look at the nice shiny thing I bought for you."

Is anyone outside of the 1% NOT going to ask me how much it cost, to demand an explanation, to point out that we already owe far more than we make, and can we really afford it?

New Albanians should do the same. Experiences may indeed be priceless, but creditors are notoriously inconvenient when it comes to seeing the transaction in a different light. When Jeff Gahan's minions brag to you about their nice shiny objects, don't forget to ask them how much they cost ... and how do we pay for them ... and how many years will we be paying?

You'd ask these same questions when making your household purchases, wouldn't you?

Some day those objects won't be quite as shiny -- and your grandchildren will still be paying for them. That's neither great nor priceless, is it?

Moooving Forward, Part One: But if flood protection requires "improvement" now, was it inadequate before, and why did "improvement" take eight whole years?

Having surveyed Gahan's pre-election flood protection boasts, a regular reader submitted this comment.

So if the Ohio River floods the chances of it going over flood wall are what? Meanwhile, with all the unrestricted development and piss poor maintenance of the creeks and waterways in the city, in 2012 my house was declared to be in a flood zone. Backyards at the bottom of the Daisy and Linda road area practically disappear.

Ah, but we can hear Deaf Gahan's reply coming from Mike Hall somewhere deep within the Down Low Bunker:

"That's a completely different type of water which is resistant to hyperbole, and besides, who are you in collusion with?"

Of course the heralding of anything "new and improved" should be followed by a rather obvious question: Does this mean your product was inadequate prior to the upgrades?

Then there's the frequent co-mingling of public money and private campaign donations, a fact never quite as obvious as when Jeff Gahan awakens in a boastful mood and blasts essentially the same blurb twice on social media from "different" accounts.

Wait, "mood" isn't the right word. It should be "moo."

Next: Moooving Forward, Part Two: Flood protection, Gahan's ignorance of nepotism and why "great experiences" always cost SOMETHING.

Wheel of Sodden at the Saturation Army -- or another heavy rain, another plan to alleviate self-inflicted stormwater tsunamis.

Extra, extra -- read all about it.



The best cure of all would have been pre-emptive; no clearcutting, no Summit Springs. But in American capitalism, and in the way American governance attaches itself like a leech to American capitalism, as opposed to American people ... a few inches of water every time it rains is a small price to pay for someone else's profits.

Project to help alleviate stormwater flooding issues in New Albany, by Chris Morris (Tom May Anthology)

NEW ALBANY — Southern Indiana has been inundated with rain this year, and New Albany has not escaped Mother Nature's wrath.

On Monday, the city picked up three additional inches, but according to Chris Gardner, stormwater director, there were no major problems and no roads had to be closed due to high water or flash flooding.

"We had minimal issues," Gardner told the New Albany Board of Public Works & Safety on Tuesday. "We were fortunate we didn't have any major issues. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the improvements we have made in the last eight years."

Another improvement — the State Street/Green Valley Road Detention Project — coming in the next few months should help stormwater runoff in the State Street area and nearby on nearby Martin Drive.

Work to install a pipe under State Street, near the south end of Wesley Commons, will begin Monday. The pipe will eventually replace a 107-acre watershed in the area and will redirect water into a detention basin that will be constructed in the rear of the Salvation Army on Green Valley Road. Work is expected to be completed this year. An exact schedule and more details of the project are expected to be released soon, Gardner said.

River Run Family Waterpark can't slow down.

Technically, it's acceptable to swing on a 3 and 0 count if the pitcher grooves a fastball with no mustard.

Holy cow, Joe Sixpack! It turns out your own two eyes were right about Summit Springs stormwater runoff.

As to my long-term point about the theory and practice of journalism, there's this (story link below).

Surveyor David Ruckman and project engineer Scott Moser provided updates on the project at Tuesday's New Albany Board of Public Works & Safety meeting. They also addressed concerns about recent water runoff issues on State Street.

Ruckman, who is working on the Summit Springs project, said developers will address these runoff issues with a new detention basin that will control the water flow coming from the development site.

He said there are erosion control plans in place at Summit Springs, but the excessive rainfall events on June 20 and Sept. 8 exceeded those defenses.

It is fitting and proper for the reporter to record Ruckman's comments just as the surveyor made them at the Board of Public Works meeting. It's also axiomatic that Ruckman and his fellow Summit Springs project managers might not always wish to utter publicly what they know privately to be the case -- for whatever reason.

Conversely, it is not inconceivable that they're simply mistaken, but in the case of trusting one's own eyes about stormwater runoff problems at Summit Springs, even as city officials assure us all "technical" standards are being implemented, it turns out the public's vision has been very clear -- so much so that added detention precautions will be implemented.

Unfortunately,the story likely ends here. According to the newspaper, it has done its job by faithfully replicating Ruckman's comments. Still, wouldn't it be good to know more, both as it pertains to past performance and future expectations?

The potential follow-up questions ask themselves:

• What's the definition of a "normal" rainfall, given two rainfalls in less than three months have exceeded the norm?
• Are these excessive rainfalls happening more often?
• What exactly is the legally mandated minimum retention effort required for approval?
• What are the implications for Phase Two of the Summit Springs hilltop development?

And so on, and so forth, except we've been conditioned to expect that the newspaper's coverage now will cease, at least until the next rainfall event occurs. Usually it does, and this isn't the responsibility of the reporters. It's about management, which in the News & Tribune's case restricts the bulk of local coverage to feel-good human interest stories and gets investigative only when the target is sufficiently distant to pose no threat to the bottom line.

Not that I'm a cynic, but if so, I'd not only be asking the follow-up questions above. I'd be asking for the newspaper's explanation of current advertising revenue from Summit Springs planners and builders, as well as potential ad proceeds from the various chain businesses set to occupy the site -- all of it in the context of possible environmental hazards (among other unsavory ripple effects emanating from the development).

The genuine, over-arching point is simple. These answers are important irrespective of the tone of the questioner's voice.

Someone needs to be asking them, and yes, perhaps there'd be less need for gutter politics, exaggerated polemics and pure satire (my specialties) if those entities charged with pursuing the answers consistently and aggressively did so. They don't, and the News & Tribune shares this prize for underachievement with the C-J.

Has it occurred to anyone besides NA Confidential Nation that maybe -- just maybe -- the movers and shakers in this or any other American habitation of requisite size occasionally can't resist the temptation to cut a corner here and gild the lily there precisely because no one's paying attention?

Fake news and false facts needn't trickle down to us from above. They're just as likely to flower from below, and the need for journalism to be vigilant does not lessen closer to the grassroots. It might actually increase in importance.

And it cannot come from NA Confidential alone.

In the coming weeks, I'll be making changes to my method of operation. My working career in beer has resumed, and available time has diminished accordingly. My career goals can be achieved only by cutting blog time even further.

In addition, for quite some time it has been obvious this blog has hit a glass ceiling, insofar as pro bono local rabble-rousing is concerned. I'm too opinionated to abandon commentary entirely, but I'm just as weary of the battle as my adversaries, who've effectively blockaded me from information. As a result, all this energy needs to be diverted into work.

The game's assuredly not over. My positions haven't changed, and you can reference them by browsing previous posts. However, I'm changing the rules of engagement on my end, making the blog's local coverage less personal and more analytical.

What I need from you as a reader is greater participation.

I've always intended these pages to be an anthology, with contributors from many sides of the local spectrum. Your chance to grab apiece of my infamy is now. I know you're there, because you comment on Facebook. You're encouraged to add your voice here, in slightly longer and more traditional form, with my eager assistance in readying your words for prime time perusal.

I'll have more to say about all this, probably next week. Right now, there are things to get accomplished.

To conclude, the Summit Springs horse long since bounded from the barn. The imperative now isn't to avert the damage, because the harm's already been done. Rather, we need to be minimizing the environmental consequences -- and never, ever forgetting who's responsible for it.

Summit Springs to address water runoff with new detention basin, by Brooke McAfee

NEW ALBANY — Saturday's heavy rains brought attention to stormwater runoff issues on State Street in New Albany. Now, one of the next steps for Summit Springs developers is to address these flooding problems.

The Summit Springs development is under construction on the hill next to State Street, and in last Saturday's heavy rainfall, runoff water flooded the hillside. A video posted to Facebook shows brown water rushing down the road that leads to Home Depot.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Touts, displacements and why our levy matters.

From flood to mud in less than a week.

WDRB's staffer may or may not have chosen the word "tout" on purpose, but I'm happy he or she did.

New Albany touts no displaced residents or water rescues thanks to infrastructure improvements, by Chris Sutter

 ... "No one has been displaced from their home," Mayor Jeff Gahan said. "I can tell you just a few years ago, we couldn't have made that boast."

Officials say that's because the southern Indiana river city started making big changes in how it handles flooding back in 2014.

The first definition of "tout" at vocabulary.com is sufficient.

1

vadvertise in strongly positive terms

“This product was touted as a revolutionary invention”

Type of:

judge, label, pronounce

pronounce judgment on

vshow off

Synonyms:

blow, bluster, boast, brag, gas, gasconade, shoot a line, swash, vaunt

Types:

puff

speak in a blustering or scornful manner

crow, gloat, triumph

dwell on with satisfaction

congratulate, preen

pride or congratulate (oneself) for an achievement

Type of:

amplify, exaggerate, hyperbolise, hyperbolize, magnify, overdraw, overstate

to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth

nsomeone who advertises for customers in an especially brazen way

Synonyms:

touter

Type of:

adman, advertiser, advertizer

someone whose business is advertising

In its zeal to fluff Team Gahan, the Floyd County Democratic Party naturally upped the ante by citing 1997 as the pivotal year in Gahan's equation.

PUTTING PUBLIC DOLLARS TO GOOD USE: The recent flooding was the worst our area has seen since 1997, yet thanks to improvements in the City of New Albany's storm water and flood levy systems, no residents were displaced or required a water rescue.

Kindly note AdamBot's improper use of the word "levy." It's levee, of course. The sewer rate increases we'll now be enjoying on a yearly basis? Those are levies -- and not surpisingly, unmentioned by the party hacks. 

Consequently, it's a fair question to ask how many New Albanians were displaced or required a water rescue in flooding since 1997.

Does anyone know?

It's a fact that in 1997, several dozen folks were living along the river side of the levee, many of them squatters (including the boat club) and others simply homeless.

In New Gahania, only the riverside squatters survive.

Then there's the New Albany Boat Club. It clearly was squatting for decades (see links below), but was given an 11th-hour reprieve when City Hall exercised eminent domain against a property owner who'd only just emerged victorious in a lengthy court fight against the squatters -- who were given back the property, which hadn't been theirs in the first place, by a City Hall that operates by divine decree, and not rule of law.

This no longer is the case, meaning that sewer improvements and pump maintenance, while commendable, cannot be entirely credited for what likely was, in effect, occupants displaced not by water, but by Gahan himself in order to make the Greenway properly gentrified.

Except for the boat club, which evidently has played a "get out of displacement free" card. Maybe it's where the party elders store their rubber duckies.

Coffee break's over, so let's begin by commending Team Gahan for modernizing the city's pumping plants.

"As often as I criticize the current administration, when the rains come like this I do remember that Mayor Gahan had the flood pumps rebuilt and/or replaced. That was a good thing because those pumps were old."

Every day not every now and then.

From afar, we've been following the rising waters, and what Mark wrote yesterday at Facebook is true without qualification. An amphitheater enveloped by flood waters is exactly why we have a levee and flood wall, and making sure the city's part of the deal is up-to-date and functional is the job of any mayor. Previous occupants didn't see the need, so let's give credit where it's due.

There is much more to report; all in due time. It's good to be home.

Photo credit: Joey Ward.

All hail New Gahanian crosswalk puddle-a-bility: Brand new asphalt, concrete and ramps, and the same old non-drainage problem.

And the road goes on forever ...

ASK THE BORED: Mayor Jeff M. Gahan presents BOW presenting exciting new vistas in sidewalk blockage.

THE BEER BEAT: Starlight Distribution's entire inventory was destroyed by Friday's flooding.

Let's be perfectly clear: It's far better to lose beer than people.

At the same time, the loss of fine beer hits me much harder than a warehouse filled with flanges, and if we had to see alcoholic beverages destroyed, couldn't it have been Bud Light?

Condolences to Starlight Distribution and solidarity with the recovery. The same goes for all the folks north of us who suffered damage from yesterday's flooding.

Three cheers: Starlight Distribution brings Shelton Brothers back to Indiana.

The answer to persistent stormwater runoff issues? Clear-cutting, of course.

Because a "green" way is all about unimpeded vistas?

Rorschach test? Fb reader says, "It's an homage to the mayor's head."

Previously at NAC:

Down-low forestry: "Plant some trees to save a town from flooding? Not a bad idea."

Down-low forestry: "Plant some trees to save a town from flooding? Not a bad idea."

I'll just leave this here.

On occasion, when one of us criticizes another round of downtown chop-down forestry, we're assured that the trees are diseased, and that more will be replanted. I don't doubt they are. Is it enough, with a canopy so damaged by weather and negligence?

Yes, there's a tree board. Periodically a power-that-be mentions it. Is it too much to ask for this body to share with the public the precise nature of the master tree-plant-plan?

And, while we're on the topic, perhaps the stormwater utility can explain how it ties these together, trees and flooding prevention. Invariably, stormwater management is presented to us as engineering alone, much as the health care industry talks about drugs to cure conditions that might have been avoided through better personal health practices.

Surely Team Gahan can determine a way to monetize future campaigns via trees.

Plant some trees to save a town from flooding? Not a bad idea, by Nick Cohen (The Guardian)

... People in Keswick are more forthcoming and will tell you that, six years and one major flood later, nothing has been planted apart from a few trees on the lower slopes of Skiddaw. Last week, the Environment Agency showed that the state-sponsored neglect that afflicts the Lake District afflicts the rest of Britain too. The agency’s geographers argued that new woodlands could slow the rush of rainwater across much of the country. Forestry was not a cure-all, but an essential part of a wider response to climate change. Nothing will be done, of course. As the agency said: “There were insufficient funds to attempt the scale of works proposed in this report.”

NA: It's where YOU should be ... without any shade, so best head to the water park..

Elsewhere in Come Lumberjack City, THIS is the water park -- a pop-up water park, seeing as concepts like this are really hip at the moment.

Read about yet another stormwater flooding episode at WHAS (photo credit, too), know that we'll blame it on the state, and scratch your head.

Hmm, lots of asphalt, shrinking green space and trees falling left and right ... wonder if ... nah -- what possible connection could there be?

Let's ask the mayor:

Oops. Looks like he's busy planning events.

We'll come back later.

By canoe.

Council meeting recap 2: Dear Jeff.

Dear Jeff,

Missed you again at the council meeting Thursday.

Members of the public came to talk to the council about how the storm water plan is deficient, and the zoning code is whacked (your own attorney even conceded it), and the animal shelter needs help ... and you know what's crazy? Not a single one of them said, "Hey, but we have a water park now, so never mind -- it's all good."

So, when there are this many major infrastructure issues being mentioned this often for the past 12 years -- ever since you first served on the council -- exactly how is it that you've made New Albany fundamentally "better" since you've been mayor?

That is, unless you're having another vocabulary malfunction?

We really need to get together and debate. My people will call yours. Cool?

Not "Kool-Aid."

R

---

Flooded with concerns: New Albany residents ask for help with drainage problems, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

Asphalt or jungle: A closer look at those storm drains at 5th & Elm.

Earlier this afternoon, we took a look at the new pavement at 5th and Elm.

Who knew the ADA mandates warning ramps for bocce ball crossings?

A reader suggested that the storm water drain on the southwest corner looked submerged in asphalt. Here's the wider view, showing the discarded ADA warning ramp. Look to the left of the photo, at roughly nine o'clock:

It's this one. There is very little clearance.

Here is the drain on the southeast side. There is more clearance, but the pavement is level with the sidewalk at this point.

Following are the northwest and northeast drains.

Again, it's better, and yet the photos clearly show almost even street and sidewalk levels.

Of course, there's this ...

New Albany to repair paving imperfections on East Main Street

At least no dishevelment-grade, beautification-only medians were installed on 5th or Elm, although perhaps the city has included sufficient cash in its corporate welfare incentive package that Flaherty Collins might include them.

If the flowers die, medians would be useful for mooring canoes.

Hold the Roundup, says former stormwater board chairman.

After this morning, it should be as high as a clergyman's eye.

NAC's article here ...

The native habitat of pokeweed, in storm drains, by one-way streets, but hey -- let's go swimming.

 ... inspired this comment from former stormwater board chairman Tim Deatrick. He begins by specifically addressing the photo above.

---

This is the responsibility of the Storm Water Department. This is clearly neglect and a failure to provide routine maintenance that you, the residents and businesses, are paying storm water fees to take care of.

Back in 2006, when I was chairman of the first Storm Water Board, we contracted out the operation to EMC because essentially the city run program was a disgrace, inefficient and a complete failure. Under our leadership and the professional management by EMC, you did not see weeds growing out of storm grates and there was a concerted and systematic preventative maintenance program in place with full reporting and accountability.

Ask yourself has drainage improved with the city run operation and are you getting your money's worth?

Given the obvious flooding issues that are being so nicely demonstrated by Roger's photographs, I think the answer is a resounding NO!

Yet this Mayor who praised us initially when he was a city councilman, led the council's decision to sue the Board when we privatized the operation, which by the way was a defeat for the council in court as the judge ruled in our favor.

But his city council district got a nice capital improvement project (Castlewood) as soon as Doug England took the helm again. Castlewood was a high priority capital project, but it got bumped up ahead of other areas that rated higher -- can we say political pay off?

---

As a final comment as to the suggestion that residents who pay fees to keep storm drains clear should buy their own supplies and DIY, this comes from Marcey, my friend and campaign treasurer.

I really don't think the EPA wants us to use Roundup in the storm drains do they? In fact, I believe I remember the city threatened to fine Keep New Albany Clean and Green if they used any weed killer in the downtown area. To be honest, if the streets, curbs and sidewalks were properly maintained this wouldn't be the overwhelming problem that it is in most every neighborhood in New Albany.

The native habitat of pokeweed, in storm drains, by one-way streets, but hey -- let's go swimming.

A tree grows from the storm water grate. Move along; nothing to see here. After all, it's New Albany.

I decided to have some Fb fun with it.

Tonight, I'm announcing a pioneering new civic initiative: The Storm Grate Beautification Project. Citizens can farm their own plots just like this one, with the street department serving as default soil banker, using TIF funds not to exceed $3 million. It's a when-when proposition, folks.

Meanwhile, the original post generated a discussion, the highlights of which are worth recapping. There isn't a conclusion. At times, knowledge is gained via the journey itself.

Ann Streckfus: Where is this?

Roger A. Baylor: Northeast corner of 11th and Market.

AS: I think things like this really should be taken care of by the property or business owner that this is in front of. Can't expect the city to have the manpower to weedeat and Roundup everything. We clean our sidewalks, street copings, etc.

RAB: If this is the expectation, it doesn't bother me. What's the obligation to make this known? Is there an enforcement mechanism? Do we budget for it in Stormwater?

AS: I have seen city workers cleaning around storm drains, so I know that they do try to address weeds and debris that affect drainage. But this is also a matter of citizens showing pride in their neighborhood and keeping up with the smaller details like weeds in pavement and sidewalks. Some will ignore any enforcement mechanism. It may not be 'fair' but those of us who are proud of our neighborhood will be the ones who'll handle this type of thing.

RAB: Voluntary -- rather like slumlords and their self-enforcement mechanism.

AS: There are always going to be slumlords and slobs who don't care a bit what their environment is like or how it affects others. All the laws and ordinances will do nothing about them. Many of them will spend more money fighting those laws and ordinances than simply doing what it would take for them to comply.

RAB: Yes. So, how do we have a system of law given this sentiment? Do we give up and merely prune our own medians? I'm not being combative, just finding the implications rather disheartening.

Randy Smith: How many lots should each responsible householder be responsible for? For if your neighbor on the left and your neighbor on the right don't agree with you, Ann, where do you give up and rely on taxpayer maintenance of the streets?

AS: If I had to come up with a system this is what I would do. I put together a budget of what it costs to maintain areas within the city such as medians and other city-owned common areas. Then I would determine if a specific city department is responsible for that area, for example, storm water handling the storm drains, and assign each that responsibility. This may already be the way the city handles it. Then in a mailing, perhaps inserted into everyone's sewer bill, I would include a flyer with bullet points telling citizens things they can do to help keep the city looking good. I think you have to put some responsibility on the citizens. We cannot expect the city to have the manpower to take care of every minute cosmetic detail.

RAB: True. And we can't all be responsible for paying for cosmetic details better left to property owners, although there are lamentable exceptions.

AS: Speaking for myself only, if my neighbor to the right or left (or both) didn't agree and didn't maintain the areas, I'd do it.

RS: And the streets? and the next 2 neighbors? And the next 2? Here's an idea. Let's collect taxes from every property owner and hire someone to make sure every curb, sidewalk, gutter, and street are kept up. I know it's a radical idea.

AS: BTW, that's a pokeweed and not a tree. It takes about 5 minutes to walk down one block and spray Roundup -- for the next 2 neighbors, and the next 2, and so on . . .

Jeff Gillenwater It would take at least a couple hours to recount the absurdities of City "maintenance" we've encountered just on our corner. What used to be a strong, concentrated effort on my part to make up for that has gradually devolved into bare minimums. No more cleaning multiple drains on a regular basis for me. If it weren't raining today, I'd likely be mowing the sidewalk, though, and dousing the entire perimeter in chemicals for the fourth time this season as "Improvements" have led to increased drainage issues and a curb jagged enough to cut car tires regularly gets reseeded with the debris that collects. Great to see the street sweeping program being expanded, though, given how obviously ineffective it is. If this City competently expended already available resources on basic, functioning infrastructure rather than allowing it to languish in favor of high dollar, lower impact specialized projects, the burden on citizens to fill the gap could be significantly reduced. That is, after all, what we pay for. Taking care of or improving that infrastructure is what TIF is for as well, though it's difficult to tell that in New Albany based on actual usage. As is, it becomes clear pretty quickly that so many individual efforts are swimming against the City current, not with it. It's no wonder floating is a popular choice. "Never mind the rampant waste, lack of transparency, and obvious political gamesmanship. Have pride and do it all yourself." It's like paying someone to mug you.

RS: Atlas Shrugged.

Wanda Vest: I now make half what I made 4 years ago and can not afford Round Up for my neighborhood.

RAB: Jeff Gillenwater, are you trying to say that you didn't get any trickle over from the Main Street beautification project?

JG: Not yet, but when we all get to pay extra for the long term maintenance of Main Street because the long term maintenance money from the state was spent making that maintenance both more expensive and largely unfunded, I figure that will be my part then. The City has replaced a small section of the sidewalk on 14th street over the past few decades, installing a regular, raised curb in front of the driveway into our garage. I've only asked City officials about it nine or 10 times so it's probably my fault. It'd be really nice to be able to actually use the garage we pay for but, hey, I understand that the civic pride induced by individual house numbers laid into the Main Street sidewalk trumps any trivial concern like that. Maybe the drainage overflow will eventually wash that part of the curb away too, and we can just steer through the weeds. The good news is that the unusable curb is actually a bit better than what I've since become accustomed to. When I say I could go on for hours about this stuff, I'm not exaggerating.

RAB: With reference to the curb, and our aggressive program of knocking down houses for replacement by balsa wood facsimiles, I ask this question sans irony: Is there a point when the planned demolition of errant infrastructure "improvements" becomes the only feasible strategy?

JG: Yes, I think we passed that threshold a while ago, especially considering that they continue to spend so heavily on errant "improvements". I've often joked that my first five years in New Albany were spent begging the City to spend money and the second five has been spent begging them to stop.

Tim Deatrick: It is the city storm water program's responsibility to maintain a free, unobstructed flow to storm drains, therefore the weeds and tree growing here falls on the city to take care of the problem.

Ann Baumgartle: If we just park a junk car that never moves there we won't have to see the tree growing out of the storm sewer.

Barbara Anderson: I don't know, I think every party should have some planned green space.

NAC Editorial Board: Stop signs as manhole covers makes so much sense that it needs to become official city policy.

Photo credit: WDRB

As we await the mayor's official comment on the matter, which is slated to arrive in Navajo code after the election, as conveyed by an extinct breed of carrier pigeon, the use of a stop sign to cover a manhole after last Friday's flash floods has been the target of considerable mirth, allowing Louisville metro residents yet another opportunity to laugh at us.

WDRB reports on the situation here.

City Hall trots out an employee to rationalize here, as Warren typically Naps.

However, as Monty Python once advised, we need to look at the bright side of life. Whomever decided to recycle a stop sign by substituting it for a manhole cover actually showed rare improvisational skill as it pertains to problem solving, especially if it was torn from an adjacent signpost, because after all -- who even pays attention to warped, faded stop signs when navigating New Albany's one-way, high-speed street grid?

Surely the employee reasoned: How can it be bad to appropriate emergency band-aids from one shambolic use of the city's neglected infrastructure to temporarily address another?

Far from vilifying the practice, we need to adapt it as standard procedure. Dan Coffey can head the Department of  Patching Crap with Crap.

He'd simply nail it -- and not at all metaphorically.

Much as we never knew we were being rebranded as a city with a marketing tactic in the form of a new civic logo, the recreation of this symbolic manhole-cum-stop sign act might top future Harvest Homecoming parade floats, and go viral on YouTube. It could be re-enacted at every Mayor's Prayer Breakfast.

The current occupant might even borrow it as yet another indication of his city being Fundamentally Better (at self-serving propaganda).

Verily, the sky's the limit, folks. Let's not waste this gift.

What can you repair with the stop sign on YOUR corner?