Something fun to do

Come and hear the student speakers debate this evening at the Lions Club scout house.

Address: 128 Sespe Ave
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 pm

Happening this week.

There will be a meeting tomorrow night at the Orange Blossom Villa -- 827 River Street at 6:00 pm. This is the second meeting to organize citizens for a letter writing campaign to our county and state legislators for subsidies or ???. Although I am not in support of the $83 million contract with American Water, I am in support of bringing this issue to the attention of our legislators.

On Wednesday night the Planning Commission meets at 6:30. Here is the agenda.

I like this item: 6a. Fillmore Character, What is it?

What do you think it is? Is it something tangible like architecture, signs or orange trees? Is it intangible like community service and volunteering, helping your neighbors or feeling safe walking at night?

I stumbled across a great Ventura County blog. He has some interesting topics and lots of local links. I'm going to add it to my links sidebar. Enjoy.

Rally for a good cause...

This is a pretty cool story in the Ventura County Star today. Did you see it?

Here's your opportunity to meet some great people while performing a much needed community service.

The Piru Cemetery
Needs Your Help

January 20th , 2007
10:00am to 2:00pm

Over the past several months the Mischief Makers Social Club of Ventura County have been working to restore the Piru Cemetery and we need your help. On January 20th we are asking for your assistance in restoring one of Ventura County most scenic cemeteries. Please come out and see what you can do to make a difference.

Needs:
Help find and uncover lost grave markers.
Clear weeds and dirt from asphalt
Prepare for the winter rains by making sure the existing drainage paths are clear.
Repair chain link fence and gates.
Bulk delivery of sand for raising sunken grave markers.
Sprinkler repair and updating of valves and timer.
Bait stations for ground squirrels and gophers.
Map locations and details of exposed grave markers.
Provide a written history of anyone buried in Piru.
Consider becoming a caretaker for a designated area.

What to bring:
Yard Tools, Shovels, Rakes, Weed Cutters, Wheel Barrow and Trash Bags

The Blizzard of 2006

Well, we're starting to dig out today. We had two feet of snow at my mother in law's house. We've been shut in and stranded for a few days. Jeff was able to make it out today and go skiing at Winter Park to take advantage of all the fresh powder.

The airport is still closed but I think they will be opening a couple of runways shortly. If you have family flying in or out of Denver for the holidays they may not get out for a few more days.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Protest hearing on Thursday

Have you decided if you are going to protest the sewer rates or not? If so, you must get a letter to the city in by Thursday night or else show up at the public hearing Thursday night and protest.

Several citizens(including me) who have been researching the sewer plant contract still believe that we can save money by reviewing proven alternative technologies. At least one other company, Micromedia, has offered to install a test facility. If it can save us possibly millions of dollars, we should be looking at this.

These alternatives are reliable and much more affordable to operate and maintain. If you still believe that the $82 million dollar plant is a good deal, remember that we will also pay an additional $61 million in operating costs in the next 8 years. The MBR process is a big energy hog.

Santa Paula city council last night voted 5 to 0 to view a Verteat presentation in the next couple of weeks. They have decided to back off on the expensive treatment process. At least until they have exhausted ALL of the options.

Virtual road trip

I'm dragging you along on this trip whether you want to or not. Here's a couple of pictures for you. My camera has a dead battery so I had to take these with my phone. You can click on the picture to enlarge. I can't get the layout fixed...


This is Copper Mountain ski area











This is Loveland ski area on the east side of the Continental Divide.












This is the entrance to the Eisenhower Tunnel at the Continental Divide.

On the road...

I'm on the road for a few days so my internet access is sporadic. Here's a few items to discuss.

A few of you made some comments on the last topic about the gala event of seating the new council members, the mayoral pick and the ensuing council meeting.

It was interesting that several members of the public made reasonable recommendations for mayor and mayor protem selection. They were promptly ignored in favor of an apparent "fix" according to some commenters.

Let's keep an open mind and give them all a chance to get settled in before we rush to judgement.

Were you happy with the Delafield, Hawkins and Wood contract? It is disappointing to see them repeatedly come to the City Council to ask for another $30k because they're out of "allocation". Shall we take odds on how much over the $60k allocation they have for this year. Last year it was 3 times more. I don't know what the original contract was for. I remember hearing $300,000 at one point but I don't know if that was original or after a couple of amendments.

Did you read the Massachusetts Inspector General report I linked to in a previous topic? They conducted an investigation after a similar wastewater treatment contract was instituted in Lynn, Massachusetts. In their report, one of the findings, Finding 17c states that “The Commission’s(Council's) open-ended agreement with Hawkins, Delafield & Wood cost ratepayers more than $1.5 million over the first three years.”

Oh by the way, you may not have heard my comments about why we had to pay so much for writing a contract when DHW writes more WW contracts than anyone. I was only speculating when I mentioned that they should have a "boilerplate" contract by now that could be modified. These boilerplate DBO contracts actually DO exist and you can buy them online from the AGC(Association of General Contractors) for $15. Now don't get all excited and think I'm advocating paying $15.00 for a contract but I think we're overpaying if it's over $50k - $100k. And we're not done as Patti pointed out.

Notices...

Next Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is meeting and Bert and I encourage as many as possible to attend and speak up at the open forum and let them know how much our sewer bills are going to be and ask them to help us out with $1,000,000 that they have in a "Zone 2" flood fund. They gave El Rio $2,500,000 a few years ago under similar circumstances.

Have you seen the pretty Christmas lights on Central Avenue? It looks wonderful.

Here's an interesting article from the Daily News on the dangers of diesel particulate matter. I wonder how many tons of it we're inhaling from all the trucks on 126 and 23?