In other news - with James Street reconstruction getting ready to begin in less they 2 months Counsel and other people who are in the know, had our "year end" (year beginning) meeting on Columbus roads. What we learned from last year and all that.
One main talking point is compared to most other communities Columbus roads are in pretty darn good shape . . . WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER TOWNS. Oregon has not spent a dime on roads for 6 or 7 years they were in debt that deep.
All roads in Columbus are rated on a 1-10 scale with 10 being brand new. 72% of our roads are in the 5-10 range. and 66% are in the 7-10 range. Our 1-2 roads are 10% and lowering and we had a small blip up on more 5-6. 5-6 rating roads (16%) are in-between. Don't want to fix them YET.
Here in Columbus we spent a little under $3 million on roads last year and property taxes blipped up $10 for most people. I hope that shows how good "we" have been doing on keeping our debt under control.
One thing we noted was that we don't want two streets being done at the same time. LOTS of complaints on why one street is getting done faster then another. People need to remember that while one company is doing the streets it's two very separate teams with two separate abilities (one good and one bad it seemed).
We also learned to give more lead time on tree removal as citizens need more time to mourn the loss. Trees are ALWAYS replaced and this year only 25% of the trees had to be removed. Sorry - it's just a fact of life. Roads and trees do not get along.
SO - the plan is for 2017 no street reconstruction work on anything but James Street. That is going to be it's own cluster_ _ _ _. Maintenance yes but nothing major.
2018 HWY 73 from The Hospital to Faith Drive will be torn up and put anew with bike lanes on both sides. This will get rid of all parking on the street in that area and we are getting this for about 10% of the normal cost as the State will pay the other 90% and hand the road over the the City.
Other reconstruction plans are still in the pre planning stage.
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Check this out. I'm a civil war freak so it really tweaked my interest. This amazing historical photo showing the early test flights of the F-14 "Tomcat" during the American Civil War.
Some question the authenticity of this photograph, as it is widely known that the 6 pounder 1841 Model Gun, the workhorse of Mexican War, was considered obsolete by Civil War. You be the judge...
My gut feeling is that this is alternative facts!
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IMPORTANT TO NOTE, This is NOT alternative facts - I looked it up - it's real!
A few days ago our corrupt, ignorant sexual predator President removed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence from the National Security Council. He replaced them with Steve Bannon, who has no government, intelligence, or high-level military experience; his experience is leading a propaganda outlet (Breitbart News) that peddles white supremacist and conspiracy theories.
This would be deeply concerning in and of itself. But one of the jobs of the NSC is to oversee a secret panel that authorizes the assassination of “enemies of the United States Government” – including American citizens.
These targeted killings are fully authorized by law under the Congressional military authorization act following 9/11. There is no trial, no due process, and no public record of the decision or the assassination itself.
Just to recap the absurdity: the President of the United States has appointed a known propagandist and white supremacist to replace the highest military advisor in the country on a council that authorizes secret, legal, targeted killings of American citizens (and others) without due process.
OH - gotta laugh. Donald's voter fraud expert is registered to vote in 3 states
