It doesn't appear that anyone else wants to report this, so Port Reporter will do it ...
The renovation project for the waste water treatment facility is getting out of hand. Everyone wants to dip into the proverbial pie (that means our money).
I did write a story for last week's Current, that I guess is being held for this week, about how the Planning Board wants a 'fancy' sidewalk to go in at 115 Water St. and as part of the project so people can walk from Water St. down to the river on a nice wide paved sidewalk.
OK, fair enough, I guess. We do need public access to the river and the part of the rail trail that's down there.
Oh, and they want the project to fund burying power lines to the American Yacht Club's docks (the overhead lines have to be moved anyway, according to the Planning Office).
I think this one is a foul. Burying power lines, especially on a contaminated piece of property, is going to be pricey.
So now I'm hearing about the coastal trail (which I gather will be part of the rail trail) being enhanced with lights and whatnot, as part of the project. This may or may not jeopardize the state and/or federal loans and loan forgiveness the city got for the project. You know, because in the proposals and site plans sent to the state, no mention was made of rail trails.
And who is paying off the loans? We the ratepayers, that's who ... were we consulted about our money going to the rail trail? Not that it isn't already, but geesh ... the Sewer Commission, I hear, is not too happy about this.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
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3 comments:
I can see where this is coming from: it's really important to have a nice sidewalk in front of tanks containing several thousand gallons of liquid human waste.
If the clowns in charge of this have any common sense at all* they'll have DEP do a quick survey of the area before requiring that the power lines be buried. It's an area that's been a freakin' boatyard for a long time, and I'd be surprised if there's not lead, old fuel, vile chemicals, etc, buried down there (and oldtimers might tell you there's a nonzero chance of even worse).
Upgrade the shit processing plant, by all means, but do NOT try to add the rest of this stuff to my rates. I'll simply stop flushing the toilet**.
- The Carrot
*Not looking very likely, is it?
**True story: the owner of a rather nice property near downtown went close to two years without a working toilet, resorting to a chemical toilet (i.e. Porta-Potti) hidden in the back yard as well as frequenting restaurant bathrooms. The jig was finally up when, as was his custom, he snuck out of his estate in the middle of the night to empty the Porta-Potti down the local storm drain, but slipped and dumped it all over a neighbor's car (hint: it's mostly on-street parking in the neighborhood).
That SHOULD be the end of the story, except A) another local resident thought this was a great idea and emulated the first person, B) a local businessman decided this was an ideal way to save enough money to pay off a deceased relative's gambling debts and forbid his employees to flush unless absolutely necessary, C) yet ANOTHER business owner who lived on-premises replaced the toilet with a Porta-Potti when he heard about the water savings, and finally D) the original culprit has had the unmitigated gall to lecture people on environmental responsibility.
I'm sure people are STILL doing this in-town. During a constitutional I had noticed a Porta-John in a backyard; two weeks later I noticed it had been hidden behind a garden shed. It's still there and appears to still be in use, what with a friend of mine spotting the lady of the house exiting said Porta-John recently and looking quite upset at being spotted.
There was no outrage when an open ended stipend of more than $21,000.00 a year was given to the DPS director or for an additional $250,000.00 for purchasing the American Marine property; so who cares about paths, lights, and buried power cables...just up the rates
Thanks, Carrot ... think. And Anon, I was/am outraged! I've just been too busy to post my outrage ...
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