Paolo Bettini nailed it at the line today in the TofC! Check him out, resplendent in the rainbow stripes and don't forget the gold toe caps on the shoes (in deference to his olympic gold medal at the last olympics). The guy is one of my favorite riders in the peloton. Il grillo is always a threat!
Got a comment on the 'blog from our esteemed City Councilman, Mr. T.J. Rohr. I hope this is the beginning of an open line of communication between our little progressive community and the powers that be. I wrote the city council an email, but I'm not sure it worked as the computer at work runs Windows and I think it knows I don't like it. Anyway, after the city council meeting on monday, I got to thinking about the numbers that were being thrown around. It goes something like this: the cost estimate for a recycling convenience center will be $450,000 (according to city manager Lane Bailey), the cost of curbside recycling for the city of Lenoir was $155,000 per year when it was eliminated. Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a bright man, but I'm thinking that curbside recycling will be cheaper. Now the real kicker is that by being more convenient, curbside recycling should, theoretically, have a higher participation rate than a drop off program. Now, I know what you're going to say, "But didn't the city get rid of curbside recycling to save money?" Why, yes they did. But wait. If each household in Lenoir pays a $1.80 per month "recycling fee", curbside recycling would be fully funded! I suggested this in my email to the city council, along with the following incentive program: compare monthly totals of garbage (in tons) that the city pays to dispose in the landfill with the historical averages and publish them in the paper. Further incentivize recycling by committing money saved by the city when compared to the historic average landfill cost to a "Lenoir Beautification Fund". So for example: if in the month of February, the city normally pays to dispose an average of 20 tons of garbage in the landfill and this February's total is 18 tons, then the city would contribute 2 tons worth of garbage fees (or $64 at the current billing rate) to the beautification fund. The paper could keep on ongoing little column about this and stir up public support for increasing the amount of garbage kept out of the landfill. Anyway, it's just a thought.
Tomorrow is Friday and not a moment to soon. I am ready to ride in the warmer weather, just as long as the wind calms down to something shy of good sailing weather. I took Owen out in the stroller and had to fight a headwind to make progress. I had to push pretty hard DOWNHILL against the wind at one point. That is stupid windy, in my opinion. Hope to see you Saturday morning at the shop, 10 am!
2 comments:
You are very astute in observation that the Mayor and most of the City Council appeared to be very responsive at the meeting. Two of the Councilmen were observed passing notes to each other while you and Jeff spoke but, the others were professional, responsive and appear to be progressive and have the best interest of Lenoir at heart. Your comments about "buttering up" the politicians is meant, I am sure, to direct those of us in the area to let our elected officials hear positive feedback. It seems that we are all to quick to offer negatives and never seem to take the time to give them their just dues when they do a good job. They have worked hard to bring Google to this town and just that forward way of thinking by that same group of people will also carry over to make this recycling effort come to fruition. Keep up the positive reinforcment and keep giving them the facts. Those who are open will see it and those who are closed will continue to pass notes to each other in Council meetings and not "get it". Those who "get it" on this City Council far outweigh the others. Trust me.
So, this is a little off topic, but let me also offer kudos to the local leaders for landing Google. I have been a little frustrated by the harsh criticism Lenoir has received over the Google deal. Did Google get a great deal? Sure. While Google will not cure our economic depression? No. However it certainly isn't going to hurt!
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