Newsless and Peaceful

After the last city council meeting I spoke briefly with Matt Gregory about the upcoming special council meeting that will focus on law enforcement issues. I told Matt that I didn't have an opportunity to read about the recent open meeting between police and community members. As I understand, that meeting led to Matt's request for a special council meeting.

Working out of town all week puts a different priority on my week end time at home and for the past several weeks I have been repairing broken sewer lines, hot water heaters, tractors etc. I have not read a newspaper in many weeks. Matt said I may have been fortunate by not having to rehash the details in newsprint of the current police issues.

Matt has asked council to respond to 5 areas in our special council meeting scheduled for December 1st, 7:00 pm at City Hall. These include: addressing the appropriate staffing level for our police force, discussions on the timing of the completion of the Safety Complex, review of the number of grants our law enforcement offers participate in, consideration of merging city and county services and lastly, physical fitness criteria for our officers. If you have an opinion on any of these issues please add your comments to this blog

I have had continuing conversations with members of the police force and the community since March of last year and am ready to share my opinion during the special meeting. I invite all concerned and interested citizens to attend the special council meeting.

Thanksgiving

With the official day of Thanksgiving now in the past and my waistline is still expanded I thought I'd share a thought I recently heard. The thought is simply that Thanksgiving is not a day or a holiday or a week off from school, it is a life style.

I like that and have practiced that for the last several months. One of my co-workers gives thanks every day for what ever comes her way. Recently her husband and son were involved in an auto accident. Both are physically fine but the family vehicle is totaled and there are other extenuating circumstances. I know that through that families whole mess, my friend Kelly will find a way to give thanks.

Being thankful for family, friends, shelter and food are easy. Giving thanks for the curve balls we experience are often challenging. I have found my entire attitude toward each day is so much better when I start the day with thanks and give thanks for the curve balls as well.

Old Electronics

We live in a disposable and throw away society. In some respects it's remarkable that we can continue to produce new more advanced products that make our current items obsolete in short order. With a preponderance of used cell phones, printers, computers and the like that are frequently replaced, the problem of where to dispose these items is a point to consider.


There are several organizations that request these used products so they can either refurbish or recycle the electronics. Beginning in January the state has mandated that electronics must be separated from regular refuse so they don't wind up in landfills. Our waste department will no longer pick up these items at curb side and ask that citizens bring these items to the transfer station. There will be a small charge to process the electronics at the transfer station. If you want to hold onto your old electronics until the spring, the city will hold a no charge collection period for electronics.


Recycling is just a small way we can help protect our environment. For more information you can call 472-1651.

Example from Across the Pond

Several of us on council have commented that the budget review process that begins each year will be challenging and the budget process will encompass more than just the 12 months ahead. A significatly large part of the city budget is fixed costs with a suprisingly small portion directed toward discretionary spending. Fixed costs will increase significantly as the state will require local municipalites to contribute more into the employee pension system. The challenge for council is how to manage both fixed and discretionary costs and provide funds for city projects that promote growth in our town.

Several weeks ago the ruling party in the UK Parliment made historic budget cuts stating that the country could no longer operate under the current level of spending. Everything from the Queen's budget to the military was cut inculding 490,000 government jobs. That's extreme but the action was both painful and necessary.

FIRE PREVENTION MONTH REVISITED

LAST MONTH WAS FIRE PROTECTION MONTH AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CALENDAR WAS FILLED WITH VISITS FROM AND TO MANY SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS. IT'S A TIME OF YEAR WE LOOK FORWARD TO AS WE CAN SHOWCASE OUR PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT. WE ARE ALSO VERY GLAD WHEN THE MONTH IS OVER AND OUR ROUTINE RETURNS TO NORMAL.

ONE OF THE SPECIAL ACTIVITIES PLANNED THIS YEAR WAS AN EVENING FOR FAMILIES AND ADULTS ON OCTOBER 20TH. IT WAS A TIME WHEN DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL WOULD SHARE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR HOME FIRE SAFETY. IT WAS ALSO A TIME FOR THE COMMUNITY TO MEET THE PAID FIRE STAFF AND MANY OF THE VOLUNTEERS.

SADLY NO ONE ATTENDED. PERHAPS IT WAS NOT ADVERTISED IN THE MEDIA ENOUGH OF FOLKS WERE JUST TOO BUSY. WHILE THE DEPARTMENT WAS DISAPPOINTED IN THE TURN OUT, WE NONE THE LESS WILL, AT ANY TIME, BE GLAD TO SPEAK WITH FAMILIES OR GROUPS ON FIRE SAFETY. JUST CALL THE STATION AT 305-472-2868 AND SPEAK WITH THE FIRE FIGHTER ON DUTY TO SCHEDULE A TIME TO VISIT.

Neighbors and Noise

Back to the conventional style of writing. No more all caps for my blogs. It's hard to read.

I received a call from a citizen asking about the noise ordinance that is currently being drafted by city attorney Dave McCauley. The citizen asked if the noise ordinance would cover noisy neighbors and I explained that the ordinance under consideration would focus on the use of engine (Jake) brakes on large trucks. Noise ordinances that reference a level of noise are almost impossible to enforce as there must be a clear method to monitor and record the offending noise level.

The citizen explained that a long standing noise issue exists with a neighbor who happens to enjoy a noisy hobby. While I empathized with the citizen that noise can be very irritating, the only actions a member of council or the Buckhannon police can take is request the neighbor with the noisy hobby to be considerate to those around and limit the noise to certain times. At this time we cannot legislate what hobbies are acceptable nor should we.

Sometimes getting along just requires us to be more neighborly and that's often difficult as our individual wants might take second place over what is truly the right course of action. In the case of the noisy neighbor issue, I hope they can find a common ground to resolve their differences.

DEFENSE IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST OFFENSE

RECENTLY THE CITY COUNCIL ACTED TO RECONSTITUTE THE CVB BOARD OF DIRECTORS AS ORIGINALLY SET IN PRIOR TO APRIL OF 2009. THIS WAS LONG OVER DUE AS THE CHANGES TO THE CVB BOARD IN APRIL 2009 MAY NOT HAVE BEEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CVB CHARTER NOR STATE REQUIREMENTS.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? TO ME IT SAYS THAT THIS COUNCIL WILL NOT SIT IDLY BY AND BE SUBJECT TO THE ACTIONS OF THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE BEST INTERESTS OF OUR COMMUNITY IN MIND. SADLY OUR RECENT ACTIONS WILL NOT MAKE THE LITIGATIVE PROCEEDINGS DISAPPEAR BUT WILL PUT US IN A POSITION TO BE PROACTIVE TO LEGAL MANEUVERING. THE CVB DEBACLE WILL REMAIN ON THE TABLE FOR SEVERAL MONTHS TO COME.

THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERING

THERE IS AN ACTIVE GROUP OF COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS WORKING ON DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS FOR JAW BONE PARK, THE FARMERS MARKET, THE LATHAM HOUSE AND AREAS AROUND SPRING STREET. THE GROUP HAS FORMED ACTION PLANS AND IS GENUINELY INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING A DESIGN THAT WILL COMPLEMENT OUR CITY.

THERE IS MUCH TO BE DONE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECT ARE PLENTIFUL. IT ONLY TAKES A FEW INDIVIDUALS WITH A VISION TO MAKE NEW THINGS HAPPEN. IF YOU HAVE A VISION, BE BOLD AND PUT IT INTO ACTION WITH OTHER LIKE MINDED FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS. YOU'LL BE SURPRISE WHAT CAN HAPPEN. THE CITY OF BUCKHANNON CANNOT DO EVERYTHING THAT IS NEEDED WITHOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF VOLUNTEER CITIZENS

SLIDERS

WHEN YOU WORK OUT OF TOWN ON A WEEKLY BASIS, THERE ARE SOME BASIC SERVICES THAT CAN BE PROVIDED ON THE ROAD. OIL CHANGES, CAR INSPECTIONS, DENTISTS AND HAIRCUTS TO NAME A FEW.

I WAS IN NEED OF A HAIRCUT AND HAPPENED UPON SLIDERS SANITARY BARBER SHOP AT THE CORNER OF NORTH AND MAIN STREET JUST A FEW BLOCKS FOR THE COURT HOUSE WHERE I WORK. IT TURNS OUT YOU NEED TO ARRIVE EARLY IF YOU WANT THE FIRST SITTING IN THE CHAIR. ON MY FIRST ATTEMPT I ARRIVED 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE OPENING TIME OF 8AM. TWO CUSTOMERS WERE ALREADY WAITING. MR. NORVEL SLIDER ARRIVED AT 8AM SHARP AND WENT STRAIGHT TO WORK. NORMALLY A HAIRCUT TAKES ABOUT 15 MINUTES AS MEASURED BY BUCKHANNON'S LOCAL EXPERT BARBER JIM GREGORY. HOPING THAT WAS THE CASE I SETTLED IN TO WAIT ONLY TO FIND OUT THE FIRST CUSTOMER LEFT THE CHAIR AT 8:30. I GAVE UP MY QUEST AND THOUGHT I WOULD GET THERE EVEN EARLY THE NEXT MORNING.

THE NEXT DAY I WAS INDEED THE FIRST CUSTOMER AND ENJOYED A 30 MINUTE HAIRCUT 95% OF WHICH WAS DONE WITH CLIPPERS. MR. SLIDER IT TURNS OUT HAS BEEN CUTTING HAIR AT THAT SAME LOCATION FOR 51 YEARS AND HAD AN ADDITIONAL 6 YEARS EXPERIENCE BEFORE MOVING TO THAT LOCATION. HE TOLD STORIES ABOUT FLOODS THAT PLAGUED NEW MARTINSVILLE AND OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT BORDERS THE OHIO RIVER. HE TOLD ME ABOUT HIS BROTHER WHO IS A PURVEYOR OF WILD HERBS AND ROOTS AND THAT THE GOING PRICE FOR YELLOW ROOT IS $800 PER POUND. AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE.

JUST THOUGHT I'D SHARE MY HAIRCUT EXPERIENCE AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO TRY NEW THINGS IN NEW LOCATIONS. OH BY THE WAY THE HAIR CUT COSTS $5!!!!