08.29.07
My Thoughts on the Architech Study Discussion
By Peggy Schlichter
As always these are my thoughts and mine alone.
It became apparent to me very early in the discussion that Mr. Sloan had not been given a clear scope of what the city council wanted. When it got to the point where he very nicely told them they didn’t know what they were doing and needed to figure a few things out before they went any further the only council member who barely caught on was Mr. Waddell.
There was absolutely nothing accomplished during this discussion other having another person point out that they had no plan, no idea about what they really needed to do or how much money thay had to do it with.
There was no discussion on whether the existing buildings could or should be modified for ADA compliance. They never even had them evaluated. Nothing on, if we build new, what options where available for location. Or even, what will we do with the existing buildings when vacated.
These were all things that the ADA Compliance Committee was suppose to get together and study. Have they done that? No. They had one meeting a couple of months ago and latched onto a single plan and stopped doing anything else. There has never been another meeting.
The council has given the Community Cultural Center the run around for a year now. The one project that promised a real economic development opportunity in the community requested their help. Now at the last minute they decide that maybe they should do this. There is not enough time to make sure they do it right at this point and if they screw it up the city will be stuck.
Annual Appropriation Bonds were mentioned again. Now I am sure that they have their uses but the easy way I hear them being thrown about causes me concern. Under Annual Appropriation Bonds only the amount of the annual payment counts against bond capacity where under a General Obligation Bond the entire amount counts against bond capacity. It is real easy to over spend when you do not keep a eye on exactly how much you are really spending. The next thing you know you do not have enough money in the General Fund to make all the different payments each year. If the city defaults on a payment because they have over obligated there is no going back.
All in all I saw no appreciable change in the council’s way of doing business. There is no excuse for them refusing to use reason and forethought to put together a plan that addresses the needs of the city in a rational, timely manner. They just don’t want to be bothered.
Anonymous said,
August 29, 2007 at 5:06 pm
peggy quit being pesimistic and overanalyzing things and let them happen 99% of the time they will turn out for the betterment for all of us
taxpayer said,
August 29, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I don’t think its pessimism when you consider the bonding capacity of the city is $4 million dollars and this is what we are looking at. $550, 000 for bathhouse alone. This does not include the rest of the Aquatic Center which came in at an estimated $1,500,000 dollars to start. Then the cultural center somewhere around $1,000,000, the bike/walk trail taken to completion $1,000,000, the estimated cost of city hall, library, police station for renovation or new building at about $2,300,000 and that doesn’t cover the purchase price of building being looked at, nor does it allow for the possible purchase of land for a new building, and of course N Division at over $600,000. These are just a tip of the iceberg and so far it looks like more money than the capacity allows. That doesn’t allow for much extras in the way of emergency street, sewer, and other needs of the city. I say let the chips fall where they may and if we default we will find out what happens.
Anonymous said,
August 29, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Peg, you are a blowhard. I can’t even read what you write anymore because you take 50 words to say something that requires 5. I support the council. I support the mayor. I don’t necessarily agree with every decision, but I have faith in them. Not so much for you though. When are you going to go for an extended visit to your friends in Osceola or Coon Rapids and Yale?
taxpayer said,
August 29, 2007 at 10:22 pm
9:05 Say in five words what Peg said. I think maybe you do not understand what burden all this puts on property taxpayers. Also what the city eventually will have to do without because their credit has been maxed out.
shorttimer said,
August 29, 2007 at 11:30 pm
9:05, as always Peg has indicated that these are her thoughts and her thoughts alone. You are entitled to disagree, but, could you please do it on actual points of disagreement instead of making inuendos and bringing personal issues into the discussion. It is pretty obvious that your statement about not being able to read is a factual statement. Might I suggest that you discontinue visiting this blog until you can contribute to the conversation in an adult manner. Agree or disagree, it leads to stimulating debate, however, a point of disagreement is necessary to start the debate. Thank you in advance for your attention to this detail.
Anonymous said,
August 30, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Why bother? these guys will have it their way and you all know it. Let them stew in their own juices. What goes around comes around. sooner or later, it really does. It must be so damned gratifying to be a council member these days and walk around the town having people question your every move. they deserve that.
Anonymous said,
August 30, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I never see these guys out walking around town to allow anyone to question their every move, and they certainly don’t allow questions at the council meetings. It also appears that if you disagree with something they have in the works, they will go to extremes to disregard public opinion or allow a tax paying citizen to excercise their right to place a vote, sign a petition or have a voice in local government. If you think that these guys have it bad, what about the poor souls that hold a seat on the next council term. How are they going to move forward in any direction without any funds, because if the current council keeps going “full steam ahead”, the entire bond capacity will be satuarated and bond obligations will outweigh the current general fund monies available for daily operation. Instead of offering the expected services for your tax dollars, they will have no choice but to raise taxes and cut services, forget about the infrastructure. If you haven’t noticed yet, this trend has already taken hold with your local law enforcement. You have half the force and not even a tenth of the service. Our police department has been reduced to nothing more than “council lackys”, not community servants. How proud they must be picking on families of our service personnel serving in Iraq and our elderly population about grass clippings and petition signatures. What about all of the vandalism, gas drive offs, thefts and drunk drivers? Too bad their busy schedule of “grass detail” and “firehouse coffee”, doesn’t allow for police work.
Anonymous said,
August 31, 2007 at 8:14 am
i’ll bet it wasn’t grass detail or fire house coffee break
anonymous said,
August 31, 2007 at 2:23 pm
“He then pointed out again that the council needed to figure out how much money they had to spend before going any further. Then they could sit down and talk because all they are doing now is spinning their wheels.”
This pretty much says it all, doesn’t it.
But will the counil heed the advice?
Probably not.
And the wheels spin on…
anonymous said,
August 31, 2007 at 4:50 pm
to: taxpayer said, August 29, 2007 at 5:45 pm
But who will truly pay? Yes, my 80+ neighbor and young couple just starting out with a new family making ends meet. After they get the penalty for not trimming the trees in the street or making sure the grass is cut when the city sees fit.
But I’ll bet you a cup of coffee, the city staff would still get their raises and free insurance premiums, while we pay out of our pockets $300 a paycheck for family healthcare and our employer pays the other half.
Weekly Recap : The Good Egg Gazette said,
August 31, 2007 at 5:19 pm
[...] has a new post. Agree with her or not, she’s not afraid to put her thoughts out [...]
taxpayer said,
August 31, 2007 at 5:51 pm
4:50 exactly! And I love the posts of the advocates that say anything the city does is okay. And the posts that say everyone is trying to scare the elderly. Well, the elderly are not the ones who are going to put the city in debt for the younger citizens to pay. They are not going to be around as many years, and they know that you don’t spend all of your money at one time and HOPE for more.
Anonymous said,
September 4, 2007 at 8:17 am
This town is full of yards that have not been moved at all or very little this year and trees that need trimmed. Why would someone worry about getting penalized and have to pay for this. It just won’t happen. The city does not do anything about yards that need mowed and I am sure they will not do anything about trees either.
Anonymous said,
September 7, 2007 at 12:15 am
this is the second posting in the Stuart Herald about having trees trimmed. Consider yourself warned. As within the next 15-30 days citations can be served. you then have a small time frame to get the trees trimmed or the city will do it and have it applied to your prop tax.