Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Get Your Shovels Ready!
The City Council is in the process of setting priorities for infrastructure projects that could qualify for federal funding when and if economic stimulus legislation is passed through Congress. Using projects from previous years, we have discussed several undergrounding projects in our electric utility, a downtown revitalization effort, improvements to Tooth Rock Park, curbing and sidewalking on city streets and wind energy projects. The goal for these projects is to qualify as "shovel ready," meaning work can begin and workers can be employed as soon as funding is approved. There may also be another wave of stimulus coming for projects that can be ready in about a year. Which of these projects would be a priority for you and what other possible projects in town should we be looking at?
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Councilman for Cascade Locks
- Lance Masters
- This blog is intended as a way for people interested in Cascade Locks to share ideas and opinions. Posts that are interpreted as hindering the free flow of ideas and opinions may be removed. Please be encouraged to discuss ideas and opinions rather than individuals and names.
21 comments:
I would like to see City and Port to create a joint economic development entity to help retain and expand, and create or lure businesses within our community. Conventional economic thinking has created a race to the bottom, with every community in a battle to cajole or bribe large corporate manufacturers or retailers to locate in their tax zone, resulting in a bidding war which small depressed areas like ours simply can't compete. We need some out-of-the box thinking here. We have several intelligent and motivated citizens we should consider as resources.
Our water deliver system dates back 80 years, replacing or upgrading it would be of benefit to the city. Doing extensions on the sewer system so as to be able to hook up those at a distance from current runs would help eliminate septic systems and be a benefit. Redevelopment of Wa-Na-Pa and other city streets along with the Port entry over- pass would be nice. Installation of fiberoptic cable and a POP into NOAHNET would help with the challenging task of attracting business to town. It would also enable us to receive TV content over the internet as it becomes more available. Either building a new city hall or doing a seismic upgrade on the current one should be considered. Phase 2 of the fire hall could go on the list. As to the city council, I'm curious as to why we haven't already looked at some of these and other projects. The current administration has been talking about this since at least last September, long before the November election. In addition City Light and Public Works should be queried as to what they deem important projects they would like to see on the list. With the school board talking about closing our high school, why not try and buy it and improve it. It would be nice to see the Port working to build a new marina on the east end of town. Another thing suggested years ago was a water feature on Wa-Na-Pa at Crystal Springs, there were drawings/renderings done of it, it would make a nice entry feature on the west end of town. Can we do anything about working with the Forest Service to upgrade and improve the trails in our area, attracting hikers from the metro area and pull people out past Multnomah Falls would be a tourism boon. Hopefully some others can add to this list as there are so many wants and needs in our town.
Ores
Lance, thank you very much for this blog... we don't have Ch. 23... good to read here what's going on in town.
Cascade Locks could set the example for a self sustaining community. We could have wind, hydro, (weather permitting) solar and be able to process our own trash for fuel. We should have a fresh start and rename ourselves "Cascade City". I know their is history to the name Cascade Locks but it sounds like a thing not a town. Cascade City sounds like a destination and a city that knows where its going. Just a thought!
At one time Cascade Locks was called Whiskey Flats, in fact Sandra Kelly named her stored after the old town name. It would be nice to try and make our town green and promote renewable energy. Hydro is difficult unless the city could get it's water rights back on Herman Creek, it's not economical on Dry Creek. Solar is certainly a possibility, in fact the new court house has solar panels on it and sells power back to the grid.
Ores
Vertical axis wind turbines producing electricity are my vote. They can be built with a low profile so they aren't a visual blot. They are green. They will give us a resource we will use and will benefit the city for decades to come. They will help shield us from rate increases. They help us to be self-sufficient.
Picture a pop can with the sides cut to make flaps that are turned inside. Birds see them as a solid object so they don't crash into them. They can be as low as 25 feet tall and still produce a good amount of power. If we make too much power, we sell the excess to Bonnieville and lower our rates.
I think this is a good idea even if we don't get any money from the feds. What do you think?
I am a proponent of wind power in Cascade Locks - as a means of generating energy independence, the promotion of the sport of sailing and as a metaphor representing the resilience of our community. I believe all of these, including vertical axis wind turbines, have a future in Cascade Locks.
Lance,
Attempting to site windmills in Cascade Locks is difficult, Friends of the Gorge will fight it just as they've fought the Casino, You would have other agencies involved that would fight it. I'm not sure what agencies would have to issue permits, but I suspect they would be difficult to come by, our city has limited land that would lend itself to it. You have an airport with an overlay around it that limits the height of things in that area. I like renewable energy and think that it makes more sense to site windmills elsewhere and sell or trade the power to use for ourselves. We can also do solar here as they've done in Germany where they have less sunlight then we do. The German government finances it and people pay back costs through their electric bills till the costs are paid, then they own the installations and benefit from the savings.
Ores
Friends of the Gorge hate the big, tall, bird-eating wind turbines that effect the view. Google the Altamount Pass to see what can go wrong. It is that same old paradigm of go away from the city, makes large amounts of power and filter it back via power lines. Check out these links, www.oregonwind.com and www.mariahpower.com. These have what Arni is talking about and would look lovely in different colors (blue and gold or a rainbow effect.) Stop already with the big thinking, this is a small, intricate community and would benefit using that same mind set. I think that Cascade City sounds beautiful. Why keep a name that reflects something from the 19th century that no longer exists. Respect the history but look forward. Viva le resilience.
As the old saying goes "fortune favors the brave". Cascade "City" should find leadership courage to forge its own destiny in these uncertain times. People, business and industry will be drawn to a community that knows where it is going...casino or no casino. I believe our city would have allies and funding from all areas (government and private) to help realize a sustainable community...it is the way of the future.
Hello Lance...
As an individual involved in education and the city council I'm hoping you will take the lead in the city council and our town to break ties with the Hood River school district and begin forming a Cascade Locks school district. I can understand the bind the HRSC feels itself in given the cut back in school funding on the state level.
For to long we've been treated as a bastard step child by the district, no voting rights on the school board comes to mind, and personally I think Supt Evenson-Brady is an arrogant lady who has a difficult time dealing with the public.
The bus used to take children to Hood River High School could just as easily take children the other way who are in need of more individual attention, instead Hood River wants to build more schools. For these and other reason I voted against the last school levy, the first time in over 40 years I've voted against a school measure.
Ores
What is it going to cost? Those same cutbacks will affect a new district just as much. How long to set it up? Where will the teachers be hired from and what about insurance, PERS payments, and reimbursing Hood River for the building? Isn't it their property right now? What about buses? What about accreditation? Janitorial services?
Enthusiasm will not replace hard facts and fiscal reality. We couldn't even vote in a fire district and there are more houses than families with children in this town. Who is going to pay for it?
All excellent questions, the building is owned by the HRSD, I believe the land also. We've paid taxes into the system so I believe we can get the building for little or nothing if we break away. As to the cut backs, we'll face the same challenges the HRSD faces. Custodial staff is already in place, hopefully just a transfer. We would need one regular bus and one special needs bus. I suspect that the special needs requirements would be one of the hardest obstacles to overcome, whether we could do it ourselves or pay HRSD to help us I don't know. Lance would be more knowledgeable on that then I am. Insurance shouldn't change, or maybe we could find a better rate. As to PERS possibly a private investment firm could give us a better rate. I'm concerned that there are enough people in our town that don't have an interest in the school or who are maxed out financially to give a new school district a positive vote. As to the fire district I found that a disappointment, but we are already paying for schools and getting short shrift from the district. They claim that we cost an extra 1/4 million a year to operate, but I think that could be mitigated by bringing children down here rather than build expensive new schools in Hood River. AT any rate it's food for thought.
Ores
Try this link also for more info on scalable vertical axis wind turbines.
http://www.tmawind.com/
They don't stick up in the air like the "propellor-like" wind mills we are used to seeing. Unfortunately, building them won't create as many jobs as we would like, but the clean power would help us for a long time, which is a good thing. For jobs, keep reading.
The school closure:
I wonder if the HR School Admins were paying attention to the Obama administration's desire to create jobs. The casino is a project with a large number of construction jobs and a large number of casino jobs and all it takes is an ok to do it, no federal money involved. I think the casino will happen very soon and I think it is ok for a number of reasons, but that is a different discussion. HR might have had their eye on the money from the local memorandum so they were creating a quick grab scenario before any announcements were made. I am all in favor of creating our own school district. I don't even want to use an HR bank. If things go as I hope, we will have our own bank soon enough.
Lance....
Why didn't anyone challenge the statement about our school potentially "being the dumping grounds for special needs". Look on pg 7 of the minutes, that's a direct quote. You as a teacher shouldn't have allow that to pass, and we have one council member who has a special needs child and that individual should have spoken up. We have never been a dumping ground for special needs or anyone else. In fact HRSD has an excellent facility at Wyeast school for special needs and I suspect that the parents of special needs students wouldn't want them coming here in any case. This statement was in bad taste, and smacks of being discriminatory, would you say that about an ethnic group or creed?
Ores
I remember the comment and I did not take offense. I understood it to be a comment rejecting the further marginalization of our school and community by an out of touch and out of control school district. In my interpretation, it would seem that the school district is doing the discriminatory "dumping." Nonetheless, I agree with your objection to the characterization of special needs students as trash. As an educator I support the rights of all students to access a mainstreamed educational experience. The inclusion of special needs students enriches this experience for all in much the same way as ethnic or religious diversity. I also support choice in education. That's why it is so important that we preserve our school in Cascade Locks. I believe that preservation of our school was the sentiment behind the comments in the workshop.
I agree with your comments on special needs students. Teachers, students, and parents learn and gain a great deal from their interaction with these special kids, even though the term special was never meant to depict them as an asset.
Lance,
While I agree it is heartbreaking for your community to lose your school. It is irresponsible to list people's home phone numbers. In this day and age, and with Google Street view, you have opened their private homes and their families to a scrutiny and the possibility of harassment.
To address the last anonymous post, with respect, I have to disagree. The phone numbers listed here are found in many public phone books serving the Columbia River Gorge. The blog has merely compiled them for anyone interested in making their voices heard to elected officials.
Secondly, the blog has not opened the school board members to scrutiny. They have opened themselves to scrutiny by running for public office and taking the oath to represent the people of Hood River County. Further, they have opened the door to scrutiny from Cascade Locks by making the reckless decision to abandon the people they are sworn to represent.
As for harassment, I would not condone it. However, I have not heard of a case of a school board member being harassed. Have you? Has anyone out there? That would be an irresponsible act.
Finally, it is irresponsible to make the suggestion that citizens should not contact their elected officials. That would be a dangerous precedent for democracy.
Uh, Lance, your phone number isn't listed, not that I disagree with you but doesn't that kinda blow your argument regarding scrutiny of elected officials? Irresponsible behavior happens, and happens all the time.
Maybe I'm missing something, but the fact that you can post your comment and have it published on the world wide web seems to suggest a level of scrutiny far beyond a phone number.
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