County Roads & Windfarm Money... WE HAVE A PLAN!

[Patriot]

After much cussun' & discussin'... THERE IS A PLAN!

At a special meeting of the Elk County Board of Commissioners tonight attended by many members of the public and most of our county road dept, some decisions were finally made.

The board recognizes that roads must be a continuing high priority for the county.  A map plan was presented that calls for incremental restoration of some 200+ miles of RS/FAS (Federally Assisted Secondary) roads.  While the federal assistance is long gone, the designation is still used.  This includes ditch restoration, removal of the 'eyebrows' or 'curbs that restrict water flow into ditches, bridge repairs, culvert repairs/replacements, road crowning and widening, where needed, to the 30' specifications required for these roads.  While this work may take several years to complete in total, it gives hope to citizens that progress is coming.  Repairing the old FAS routes first will put most residents in much closer proximity to roads that will be much more passable and easier on the vehicles that travel them.  Of course, continued basic maintenance to all county roads as needed is anticipated.

To accomplish this task, it's recognized that several things must happen.  First, the road department must be enlarged by adding quality equipment operators so more work can be accomplished with existing equipment, some of which now sets idle due to a lack of people. The board approved adding up to four more crew members to the department.

Next, when roads are being prepared, proper packing of base material must be accomplished to help create a solid road structure that is more resistant to the effects of rain, snow and traffic erosion.  As such, the board approved procurement of the machinery needed to properly pack material into the road bed... $60,000 was authorized for this equipment.

Finally it was recognized by the board that our wage structure has been happenstance and below prevailing rates for this part of the state.  To attract & keep good people, we must be competitive. As such, a wage increase was approved with starting wages at about $11.00/hour as opposed to the current rate of slightly over $9.00/hr.  Routine longevity increases will be evaluated and considered at future meetings.  As a side note, there was an acknowledgement that employee wages in several other departments need to be re-evaluated as well.

The ultimate issue, as usual, was cost and revenue sources.  The commission agreed to initially allocate slightly over $400,000 from the 2011 windfarm PILOT payment (about $850,000 currently in the bank) to the road department to achieve these goals.  Some of that allocation will have to be used to provide for county born employee benefit costs (health insurance, employer payroll taxes, etc.).  Discussions also included the possibility of future evaluations of the elimination of county debt so the monies currently servicing debt (note payments, etc.) can be reallocated to other current needs.  Budget resolutions, amendments & hearings will necessarily follow to finalize these changes.

Bottom line?  Change is coming! It will take time, but at this reading, it looks like we're facing reality & moving forward.  Keep your hopes up, Elk County.  Help may finally be on the way.  Our roads didn't reach their current condition overnight and the fix will take some time.  If I've missed or misstated anything here, I'll apologize in advance... the board covered a lot of road tonight, so to speak.

Personally, I commend our county board for having the courage to have this open, and occasionally uncomfortable, discussion in open public view and for taking steps that stand to improve the quality of life for residents and visitors in Elk County.  Also to be commended are the citizens who provided input and general support for the process.  As much as I have ranted about poor county management, tonight they generally stepped up to the bar as a team on this one.  Thank you!

[Patriot]

FAS Routes highlighted in yellow....

[Ross]

Wow! That's exciting news.
I sure am sorry, I forgot that meeting and wasn't there.
Thanks for posting this Patriot.

[Janet Harrington]

Thank you for reporting that, Patriot.

[Patriot]

I dont see the reason to piss away money on a gravel road...what needs to be done is get people to run the equipment tha actually knows how to make a road.

As you noticed, the road dept will be looking for operators soon.  I'm sure if your qualifications & experience in road building is adequate, your application would be favorably considered.  They have one helluva health insurance package too.

[Patriot]

UPDATE:  The road widths mentioned earlier were changed by the county commission today.  The new width will be 24'.

[Patriot]

SO YOU TELL ME WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT A DAMN GRAVEL ROAD THAT WILL ALWAYS BE BAD...OR PROTECTING THOSE WHO PROTECT US........

Should we buy a couple of helicopters for fire retardant dispersal and air ambulance too?  Without some kind of road infrastructure, that ambulance is kinda useless, no?  Perhaps you could attend te next commission meeting and express your concerns to the decision makers.

[srkruzich]

Should we buy a couple of helicopters for fire retardant dispersal and air ambulance too?  Without some kind of road infrastructure, that ambulance is kinda useless, no?  Perhaps you could attend te next commission meeting and express your concerns to the decision makers.

Yeah really i would love to see them get down rock road after a good rain. they'll sink like a rock in all those mud pits

[Ross]

they cant even take care of what they got

You make a very good point Jason. How long has it been?
But they are getting started, at an attempt to get-r-done.
It will take time to get-r-done. It's a move in the right direction.

why dont they help out with the towns in the county..longton needs a new fire station and proper bunker gear...120,000
howard needs a new ambulance barn with proper living area and a big enough area to store all the suplies needed..
moline is in need of a new ariel..100,000

Would you like a centrally  located unified government located most likely in Howard. You'd pay your city and county tax to one entity? And have one governing body to make decisions for everyone in the county. Most likely not. Each community/city has it's own city council that has it's own city taxes which should be uesd for that community/city. You wouldn't want your city taxes in Longton used to pay for new street repairs in Howard would you? The county is responsible for county roads and county fire fighting equipment and other things, but they are not responsible for the various city/community owned buidings or equipment are they? Really i'm asking?

but this stuff does not matter to any body..but when the fire dept is called yall expect them to put there LIFE AT RISK to save your house your kid your dog your wife..or you...and they expect us to do that without formal training and proper firefighting gear....

Seriously, I don't expect anyone to risk their life to save my house, or my dog, or anyones life. If you risk your life through failing to use common sense, saftey sense and equipment you are a hazard to the whole crew. My house can burn, once it is on fire I expect so much damage from the fire and water to put it out, that I'd just as soon see a pile of ashes and I'd prefer that over seeing any fireman hurt, injured or possibly killed. I have insurance and can replace the house, but I can't replace the firefighter. Safety First.

I worked on a volunteer fire crew years back, one man would go directly to each fire without eqiupment, he wanted to be first there, he wanted to be important, he wanted to be a hero. On one call he ran into a burning house, just to see if anyone was in there. No fire suit, no equipment, no fire hose, no backup. He was no hero, but he was working hard at trying to be one which made him a hazard to everyone. Safety First. Dead firemen can not put out fires.

I had firefighting training for shipboard and on an Oil Company Pipeline and 100,000 barrel oil tanks.. On the pipeline we poured crude oil on a pond and set it on fire. We practiced putting the fire out with CO2 fire extinguishers and with fire hoses. The fire could be re-lit over and over. Easy training. I have seen old buildings that were ready to collapse and of no use to anyone, used by volunteeer fire departments for training, set them on fire and put them out. It depends on you local leadership and if you present the idea's to them.

Good luck.

SO YOU TELL ME WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT A DAMN GRAVEL ROAD THAT WILL ALWAYS BE BAD...OR PROTECTING THOSE WHO PROTECT US........

Perhaps, you should have a talk with the leaders of which ever community you live in. Think about giving that a try and good luck with that.

[srkruzich]

I would have to agree 100% ross.   I would rather see the house in ash than to see 1 injured or dead person trying to put it out.  This friggin place is not worth a life.   I would say if my place built in 1922 was to ever catch on fire, it would be totally engulfed in flame before the fire department could possibly get here.   It would go down faster than a trailer.  This wood is so dry and so old along with the pitch in the lumber since it was air dried it would just go up. I have plenty of windows to go through if i have to escape.  The only sources of ignition would be in the kitchen, or next to the kitchen. 

unless someone firebomed me in my room i would get out along with all my pups.  My biggest worry would be at that time catching all of them and containing them. 

I have never lived in a area where we had fire departments that were 5 min response times.  It is just a known fact that if something happens your on your own pretty much. yeah they will show up but it takes time to get up get dressed and go to the barn and get equipment started and loaded and heading out.  Not saying that they aren't doing their best just saying the logistics do  not produce any faster time.  And i don't see anyone being able to afford a 24x7 staff on call to respond instantly.   250k is a lot of cash to lay out for a service that might be used 1 or 2 times a year.   IF you have a higher population density then its justified as statistics say theres going to be a increase in fires. 

It was a couple years ago that leroy jordans barn caught  on fire.  By the time the fire dept got there it was totally gone.  Better to let it just burn to the ground and less mess to clean up.