06.30.09
I Have Come To The Conclusion…..
By Peggy Schlichter
That I could never be an animal control officer. Why? It is quite simple. I would end up in jail the first week. Why? For padlocking a 15 pound chain around the neck of the owner, staking him or her in their back yard with no food or water, covering them with fleas and ticks and walking away. When caught my excuse could be that I checked on them a couple of days ago and they were fine. I really need to quit watching Animal Cops.
That Transformers II has more plot inconsistencies than I can count but I still liked the entertainment. There is something about the whole transformer idea that just captivates my imagination.
That this is an idea I would probably never think of.
That this is not a fire alarm but I would surely bust out laughing if I ever walked into someones home and saw this.
That warning labels are getting to dumb for words. Like…
On a hair dryer – Do Not Use While Sleeping.
On Frozen Dinners – Serving Suggestion: Defrost
Product May Be Hot After Heating.
On An Iron – Do Not Iron Clothes On Body.
On A Sleep Aid – Warning My Cause Drowsiness.
On Peanuts - Warning May Contain Nuts.
That these are a couple of cool iceberg pictures.
And my final conclusion of the evening…..
That when ever the TV says they have breaking news be prepared to hear it repeated ad nauseam every 8 minutes for days.
06.20.09
Parade And Park Pics
By Peggy Schlichter
It goes without saying that I have a hate/hate relationship with my camera and its batteries. When I manage to take a picture they turn out pretty good. But when I manage to do something wrong which is just about every time I use it I lose pictures never to be recovered again. This year I managed to lose the first 16 pictures while changing the batteries and memory stick. Do I know how I managed this feat, of course not. Do I think it will happen again. Of course it will. For a camera that is suppose to be point and click it has more menus than the operating system on my computer.
Anyway, here are the parade pictures that I managed to get and a few from the park later in the day.
If you wish to see a larger view just click on the picture. Use the back button to return to the whole post.
06.14.09
Sunday Mornings, Snakes And The Stock Market
By Peggy Schlichter
Sunday mornings have always been the part of the week that I look forward to the most. This morning I caught myself remembering the different Sunday morning rituals that developed and changed over the years. Having lived in so many different places over the last 37 years it amazes me how the rituals have changed and stayed the same.
Weekly brunches, barbeque’s, ball games, movie matinees and naps all factored in depending on where I was living and what sports I was involved with at the time. But the one enduring thing I always did no matter where I was living was sit down and read the Sunday paper. It seemed like that was the only day that I actually had time to sit still long enough to read the paper. I looked forward to that hour or so every week.
I quit reading the Sunday paper about 8 months ago after I realized that it was no longer enjoyable. The editorials were weak minded and biased, the funnies were barely so, the TV guide was printed so small that I needed cheaters along with my bifocals to decipher the shows and the size of the paper kept shrinking. All in all it was more irritating that enjoyable to read it so I just quit buying it.
That does not mean that I do not miss it though. I do every Sunday morning. I miss the smell of the ink, the smudged fingers and the tangible feel of turning the page. All of which you do not get from a mouse and screen. It just does not feel like a Sunday morning any more…..
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I am happy to announce that I have not had a snake encounter since sweeping the one out of the house a while back. Knock wood it stays that way.
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As always these are my thoughts and mine alone. Take from it what you will.
How about those markets? Here are my thoughts on what is going on in the markets the coming months and years.
The DJIA will continue to rise in a bear market rally to the 9000 to 9600 range. This is a very good place to get out of the market before the bear continues to march downward. I do not see it going any higher than that since the last leg down went considerably lower than the 7450 I previously thought. The next leg down will in all likely hood get to the 4000 level late this year or early next year. This is considerably lower than the 6000 level I initially thought would happen.
There is some disturbing news popping up about 401k’s being frozen from withdrawals. Especially if they are invested in commercial real estate. Now is the time to check yours out and make sure that you are still in charge of your money.
The oil market is going to be a killer to pocketbooks in the coming months and years. This rally is just about over. It should get to about the 75 to 77 dollar range before heading back to the 20 to 25 dollar range in the near term before climbing higher again. However in the out years it will go as high as 350 to 400 dollars a barrel. Not a pretty thing to think about. This climb in price will have nothing to do with scarcity or increasing demand. It will be the direct result of inflation. In the last year the Federal Reserve has doubled the money supply in circulation in the US. They will continue to do so in their attempt to stave off a depression. It will not work and climbing inflation will result. In effect the dollar will be worth less and less requiring more and more dollars to purchase the same amounts of goods. Manufacturers are sidestepping inflation now by packaging smaller amounts for the same price.
Gold will continue its way down. Now is not the time to believe that gold will hit a new high any time soon. It is in a bear market also. Look for it to go below the 680 level before a rebound. Remember that news is does not create trends. The trend is lower and will continue that way. The price of gold will slump along with the economy.
06.08.09
June Regular City Council Meeting
By Peggy Schlichter
A motion was made and passed to renewal all of the annual beer, wine, liquor and cigarette permits.
The resolutions for the new city hall, library and police station were passed.
Mr. Foy was not available to discuss the planning & zoning recommendations for the truck routes. The council discussed this issue briefly and decided to take no action until Mr. Foy was present.
A motion was made and passed to spend $65k for a new fire truck.
Payment #1 for $584,894.86 was approved for Henningsen Construction for the 2008 Street Project.
The council approved the resolution to authorize the Adair County Landfill to issue bonds.
The city wide clean up netted 81 items netting 8,351 lbs of washers, dryers, refrigerators and stoves.
Robert requested and recieved approval for a total of 50 additional hours to cover the additional patrol work required for Good Egg Days.
Mr. Ashour recommended a 4% pay raise for the remaining city employees (street, sewer and police personnel). The council approved the 4% raise for all city employees except Mr. Airhart. Mr. Crawford’s motion was that Mr. Airhart’s pay raise be determined at the next council meeting after a possible closed session performance review.
The council passed the $4.590 million bond resolution. This resolution converts all the city’s loans from short term to long term covering all the current construction projects.
There was no new business discussed.
The following Old Business was discussed.
Cornerstone Construction raised an objection to the council that their bid was actually lower than Septagon based on how two of the contract “add ons” were worded. The architect explained to the council that the objection raised was based on an inaccurate understanding of a bid item by Cornerstone and that the bid was correctly awarded to the lowest bidder, Septagon.
The mayor raised a question about the new home based sign business on 2nd Street wanting to know if it is allowed under the city code. Mr. Bump informed the council that home based businesses were allowed under the code as long as they have a low impact on the area.
Mr. Sherman requested a monthly update on all the construction projects currently ongoing in town telling them what is happening with each project.
Mr. Airhart informed the council that he had contacted the DOT about the road on each side of the interstate bridge. DOT is only responsible for the bridge deck and 20 feet of each side of the deck. The problem areas are outside of their responsibility and belong to the city for maintenance. Mr. Airhart asked about getting some of the stimulus money and he was given a name and number for the DOT Atlantic Office. The council asked Mr. Airhart to contact the Atlantic Office and inquire about funding assistance.
The mayor asked about the speed zone needed for the new high school. There was some discussion about the different options available but no one had any current information from the school on the results of their traffic study and engineers recommendations. Mr. Ashour is to get with the school and have the information for the next meeting.
06.05.09
Agenda, June Regular City Council Meeting
Here is the agenda for the Monday night city council meeting.
06.02.09
Agenda, June, Special Joint Meeting (Updated)
Here is the agenda for the Wednesday night special joint meeting.
Agenda, June Special Joint Meeting
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Update is in the comment section.
05.25.09
Memorial Day 2009
Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o’er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more,
Days of danger, nights of waking.
by Sir Walter Scott
05.08.09
Agenda, May City Council Meeting
Here is the agenda for the Monday night City Council Meeting.
04.27.09
Damn Snakes
By Peggy Schlichter
There is nothing quite like sitting down at the computer to check emaill/news and see something out of the corner of your eye sliding across the dining room floor. Your first thought is did I really see what I think I did? Then it moves again. Yep I saw what I thought I did. A baby garter snake trying to hide behind the pedestal under the table.
So out comes the broom and the chase begins. It is a good thing that they sweep so easily. Getting it out of the dining room and through the kitchen was pretty easy. The back porch was something else.
If I had not been so lazy this weekend and carried all the stuff back out to the garage that I brought in for the winter so they would not freeze my evening would have been a little easier.
But no, that was not the case. The little bugger got away from me and started a rousing game of hide and seek amoungst the stuff on the back porch. Then the little sucker disappears. Poof, cannot find him anywhere.
Here I am moving everything around again hoping to see where he is. Nothing.
Just as I was giving up any hope of finding him and turned my thoughts to how am I going to block off the porch so he does not get back into the house I pick up a hose extension I apparently forgot to put up after vacuuming the basement stairs the other day. As I was leaning it up against the wall so I would not forget to put it up I notice that there is something stuck in it.
Yep there he was hiding in the extension. So out the door we go. Needless to say he was not as happy as I was but he is out and that is just fine with me.
I don’t know about you but it is way to early in the year to be chasing snakes out of the house for me. I guess that is what I get for leaving the back door open while bringing in the groceries this evening. Bet I don’t do that again anytime soon.
04.26.09
Snow Rollers
By Peggy Schlichter
I never knew if they had an official name. Never seen them reach 18″ to 2 feet in size. I remember seeing small ones occasionally about the size of a finger growing up here in Iowa or in Germany a few times over the years.
Here are some pictures from Idaho that show mother nature having fun. I wonder if they were the inspiration for the first person who made a snowman?
04.12.09
Quick Update And Happy Easter (Updated)
By Peggy Schlichter
Update – Computer is back up and running. Will try and get the council info up this weekend. Have been painting ceilings all day and am to tired to mess with it tonight. Am going to be tied up the next couple of days also.
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Other than the busy week and waking up with a sore throat Saturday morning it seems that the computer gods have conspired against me too.
My computer crashed Friday morning and I took it to the hospital Saturday recieving a prognosis of 2 to 3 days before recovery.
I just logged on my mothers computer to check email to see what is on the agenda for the council meeting and it seems that I did not recieve a copy of the agenda. Nadine if you read this please send me one in the morning. Since I will be gone all day it is best to check the door at city hall if you are intereted in the agenda. I will be attending the meeting though.
The family is celebrating Easter Lite this year. A simple hot dog cookout in the back yard and strategically feeding sugar candy to the little ones just before we send them home. Payback for those time when babysitting sugar overloaded youngsters.
Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!
03.21.09
A Sharp Look At What Is Behind The Bailouts
By Peggy Schlichter
In the beginning your gut told you that something has been going wrong for a long time. You could not really explain it to yourself let alone anyone else. You just started noticing disjointed things you heard and saw in the news as “what the heck” moments. They were usually short quick stories that made you wonder what the heck are they thinking.
Most of what you see these days are smokescreens to the real economic problems. This whole hurrah about bonus payments to execs at bailed out companies is a perfect example. If they keep you mad about a fence post on fire you won’t notice the field is burning.
This whole scenario of whistle stop news stories is exactly that. A smoke screen to keep you ignorant to what these giant “to big to fail” corporations and our elected officials are doing to the country.
Our politicians are bought and paid for by the big corporations. We all knew it on some level. Yet we keep reelecting them anyway hoping for a different outcome. The majority of this country climbed on the Obama Band Wagon because he was going to bring change. No one stopped to ask if the change he was bringing was the right change or not. Just any change was okay as long as it did not affect the weekend plans. No one stopped and thought about what the country really needed or even why it was needed. They just wanted change.
Well baby, you got what you voted for. He changed the names and thought up a few more. But that is the extent of the change you will see. Everything else is tripping down the road of economic doom. The bailouts continue at an increasing rate with no end in sight.
One has to ask how this all came about in the first place. Most news stories throw a couple dozen acronyms at you and say it is so confusing that not even the best investment wizards in the country can understand it. This is not true at all. That is just what you were suppose to hear so that you would stay dumb and not pitch a fit.
It is past time and you really need to know how all this has come about. What set the stage and how it was arranged.
This is one of the best explanations in everyday words that is easy to understand about the whole bailout mess. The source of the article is Rolling Stone Magazine of all places. Be advised that they have a irreverent look on the situation and use language that is not for the youngsters. Teens and adults will understand the anatomy and bodily function euphemisms used to make a point.
Enjoy “The Big Takeover”.
03.20.09
Agenda, March Special Meeting
Here is the agenda for the Monday night special council meeting.
03.10.09
March City Council Meeting
By Peggy Schlichter
2009/2010 Budget
The public hearing for the 09/10 city budget was opened and closed with no comments. The council approved the budget which includes a 4% pay raise for city employees.
Swimming Pool Summer Program
Pool Manager Shannea Bower presented an outline of her proposed summer program to provide Red Cross classes and activities at the 5×80 pool for this summer. Preliminary contacts have been made to establish availability and costs for pool use and transportation is being discussed with the school. The council agreed that she should continue developing the information and present it at the next meeting. They saw no problems as long as the costs stayed within the $20 k budget limit for the season. The preliminary costs are estimated at $7.5k and will be refined as new information is acquired.
Renewal of the City Property Insurance
Mr. John Gulbranson presented the council with the renewal cost of the city insurance policy stating that the city received a $5k rebate on last years policy. He further informed the council that the way EMS and Firemen rates are computed raised an issue on how Mr. Serber was classified and that because he now receives a salary from the city his premium will now increase approximately $5k a year if he remains classified as both aEMS and fireman. Mr. Gulbranson informed the council that there may be a way to offset the increase if they adjusted their Inland Marine Policy by dropping all items with a unit cost of less than $1k. The council discussed the need to have Mr. Serber remain as a volunteer fireman to avoid the premium increase. Mr. Serber argued that being active in the fire department was one of the reasons that helped him decide to take a pay cut in accepting the EMS position in the first place. He also pointed out that during the day he is one of 4 volunteer fireman available to respond if the need arises. The council made and passed a motion to accept the renewal with Mr. Serber remaining classified as both a EMS and fireman with the provision that Mr. Gulbranson, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Ashour review the property list and determine if there is a way to offset the increase. They are to present their recommendations at the next regular council meeting.
Downtown Improvement Plan – TIF Financial Assistance
Mrs. Audrey Wells presented the council with an overview of a Downtown Curb Appeal Improvement Plan with a request for TIF assistance. Some of the highlights of the plan include improvement and or restoration of the front facades, windows, gutters, doors. Only those things viewable from the curb will be eligible for assistance. The area covered would be from the Cyclone to the Congo Church, Shaw/Belden to the old high school and R&D to the old Stuart Hotel.
She pointed out that based on the Chambers efforts and the White Pole Road Committee efforts the town has begun getting tour buses. One bus 2 years ago. Two buses last year and 3 buses scheduled for this year. Based on this and the condition of the downtown the city is not ready for tourism. The two biggest problems are that the downtown looks shabby and there are no places to spend money. The most comments received from the tour coordinators is that there is no place to spend money here. No shops, No souvenir places, no nothing. The downtown just does not people to come and spend any time there.
The plan outlines that this is not a free handout. The businesses will pay for one third of what is going to be done to their property with TIF paying two thirds.
This plan is still in the development stage and with council approval of the TIF assistance they will go forward with the process of establishing full guidelines and application procedures. The council will have final approval on all applications for TIF use. The Chamber will work as a go between and provide help to the businesses on their applications.
Mr. Belden informed the council that the bond attorney has stated that this type of TIF usage does not affect the city budget since it is a grant to businesses. The council has control over the money and final say on the guidelines for improvement standards.
The council agreed to continue the program development. A motion was made and passed support the program development.
No dollar amount of TIF to be used was mentioned during the discussion however a side question to Mr. Schultz indicated that it would be less than $50 k a year.
Depot Project Pay Estimate
A motion was made and passed to approve the pay estimate for the Depot Project.
School Storm and Sanitary Sewer Project
Mr. Ashour informed the council that the Utility Board has finished their plans for providing a water main to the new high school. The council now needed to decide what they were going to provide for a sewer line. Based of input received from Mr. Forrest Aldrich the school is providing a lift station so there is not need to go forward with a gravity line. The use of a high pressure line will suffice. The next steps needed are to contact the gas company and the church to get the necessary information to determine the route of the line which will affect the cost. Mr. Airhart informed the council that if they go straight across from N. 2nd Street they will have to cross the gas main. If they go south and east to behind the Vet Clinic they would not have to cross the gas main. Dr. Arnold stated that they would have a meeting whenever the council was ready to proceed with the project. The council made and passed a motion to split the cost of the sanitary line 50/50 with the school.
Police Department
New Vehicle Purchase – Robert presented the council with the estimate for a new police vehicle. The estimates were for new Crown Victoria were $21 k and the Ford Explorer at $18 k. The council made and passed a motion to set the public hearing to purchase a new police vehicle for the next regular council meeting.
Hiring – The council made and passed a motion to hire Randy Marchant at $15 an hour as a part time police officer and to stop the overtime pay for the other officers.
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The Masonic Temple/new city building topic will be written tomorrow.
