I wish the county road department would clean up the east side of their yard and plant a beautiful flower garden there, so I would have something pretty to see from my kitchen window.
Liz would be more than happy to do that for you. Maybe they could back up the old cars and dump trucks to the fence and plant flowers in the trunks and beds. She IS your county commissioner. Make it happen.....your wish is her command.
Hmmmmm. Think so?
If you want flowers, plant them yourself. In your own yard. Or at least offer to pay for them.
Believe me if the county planted them she would pay for them as a taxpayer. ;)
Out of all the taxpayers in the county, paying the county employees an hourly wage of a whopping $8/hour to clean up, till up, purchase and plant the flowers, Wilma's total price would be about 1.5 cents to beautify the county yard so Wilma doesn't have to look at it.
But that would just be Howard getting pretty. I don't hear anyone griping about the way the county yards look like at Moline and Longton. Those are their WORK AREAS. Aren't they supposed to be full of stuff to work on/with?
Howard's County Yard is also the recycling center and the Sheriff's impound center. So be fair to the county boys! It's not JUST their mess....
It's just the only view from my kitchen window, about 30 ft. plus the street. I am not talking about something that is on the other side of a block. And I do know that is their work yard and storage yard. And this IS titled, "Wishes That Will Never Happen". I do have flowers, but I can't see much of them from my windows.
Actually, I think it is about time the county thought about moving their road yard out to the county instead of inside city limits.
Billy, you haven't seen this yard in all it's glory. It isn't quite there yet for this year, the iris are just now blooming, the peonies are only showing color and the roses are just budding. What I want is something that I can see, too. I see the end of one flower bed out the east window. I can't see out to the south at all unless I go to another room, the county yard is the only thing west of me. The climbing roses are north of the house and I can see them from a north window, but only the south side of them. The north side is always the prettiest. My yard is presenting a pretty view for others. I wish I had the same.
Why should the county yard be outside of Howard City Limits? The shop at Moline is inside city limits. The shop at Longton is inside city limits. Would you rather look out your window and see empty buildings and tall grass? At least the property serves a purpose. Why would the county want to move all of their equipment to a new place when they own what they have? The county shop has been there for several years. It is a place for heavy equipment. I don't think you'll see the boys out there with their gardening gloves on anytime soon planting flowers!
I don't think I will either, but I do hope I see them cutting the weeds and Johnson grass that are just across the street from my yard. And would you want a pile of old tires across the street from your front yard? I am not sure that the county owns that property. They don't mow the parking. The city does that. If the city is going to mow the parking for other property owners, why can't they mow mine, too. Just how close to houses is the Moline road shop and the Longton road shop? I don't remember any houses directly across the street from the Moline shop. And if there is, maybe the owners have just given up. Or don't have to see it every time they look out at the street.
Actually, did I complain about the view? I just said I wish they would plant a flower garden over there. AND I titled it wishes that will NEVER come true. Does that sound like I expect them to do anything about it? Yes, I wish it looked better, but there are a dozen places here in town that look worse. But I don't have to see them.
I want to add to this that I think most of the old tires are tires that have been dumped in the country and our road guys have picked them up and that does cost us taxpayers. I don't think there is anyplace to store them until they can be disposed of, not even on the other side of the yard. But that doesn't make the mosquito problem any less.
I know what you named the thread...But why gripe about it if you aren't going to try to do something about it? The mosquitoes are going to be bad everywhere this year...Look at all the rain we've gotten. Yes there are residences around the county shop at Moline. And at Longton. I just don't hear people griping about them. Them boys go out there and work their butts off 40 hours a week for just a tad over minimum wage AND get paid only once a month. Most of them have kids they are trying to support and all I ever hear is people griping about them. Yes, the roads are rutted. Look how the weather has been. I know that wasn't part of your point but others have said it before. They are busy. They don't have time to garden when they are out there fixing things throughout the county.
I wasn't griping, I was wishing.
You say tomato.... ;D I think another thread said something to the effect of "If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck it must be a duck..."
MY wish that will never come true is...
I wish we had planted all the fruit and nut trees that we'd planned on 15 years ago... then I'd be enjoying the "fruits" now instead of just now getting around to planting them.
Alternately, I'd wish that really good trees grew as fast as the weeds; or at least as fast as the ones I don't want, like mulberry sprouts. It's not that I don't like mulberry trees, I just don't want them EVERYWHERE!
I wish mosquitoes were edible! By people I mean.
KShillbilly said something that was news to me and I want to expound on it further. However, I am going to have to do research and math to solidify what I am thinking. When I have reached my conclusions, hopefully today, I will start a thread titled County Employees. It will concern the low wages. KS (may I call you that?) made a statement and from the tone of the statement, I believe her (I hope it is her). If I can get together what I hope I can, it probably won't result in a raise for the county employees, but will furnish some understanding of their working conditions.
On this other subject, I am in the best location to know the conditions in the county yard. I believe that they have outgrown the city block that they occupy. Perhaps another location for storage would ease it somewhat. Moving everything would not be feasible or sensible.
Just remember!!!!! If some people did not have anything to gripe about, they would have nothing to say.
Maude 8)
Wilma - I agree - I wish the county yard was outside the city limits and we only had ONE to deal with - a centralized road shop. Last year because you commented on the condition of the county road shop, I personally mowed the ditches my self twice atleast. I know the guys should do it, but I guess I would rather have them on a blade rather than a lawnmower. Besides I have nothing else to do. However, I don't think flowers will be growing anytime soon. But I will see what we can do about the appearance of it. And yes residents do live around the other two shops also. They just haven't found the forum yet.
Thanks, Liz. I knew you would understand.
Maybe someone has some nice climbing roses they could take cuttings from and plant where they can partially cover the fence. I think they are so pretty but hard to find a place to let them climb. I agree with Wilma that something could be done to make it look better. I saw the yard you are talkng about when I was there and I wouldn't want to live by it either.
Ms Bear
I was thinking about hollyhocks. They almost take care of themselves.
Honeysuckle is a good choice, and smells good, too.
Sounds like a good community project?
Now you're talking! Do you all have a local garden club there? At the right time of year, slips and cuttings and seeds would be easy. And things that don't need a lot of care or watering. Or evergreens to shield it?
Thank you, Liz. It looks so much better, you can tell the boys not to worry about the flowers.
I have lots of honeysuckle. Any volunteers to move some of it across the street?
Quote from: L Hendricks on May 10, 2009, 07:59:19 PM
Wilma - I agree - I wish the county yard was outside the city limits and we only had ONE to deal with - a centralized road shop. Last year because you commented on the condition of the county road shop, I personally mowed the ditches my self twice atleast. I know the guys should do it, but I guess I would rather have them on a blade rather than a lawnmower. Besides I have nothing else to do. However, I don't think flowers will be growing anytime soon. But I will see what we can do about the appearance of it. And yes residents do live around the other two shops also. They just haven't found the forum yet.
Centralized shop...bad idea. Lets say for example they put the shop somewhere around howard, then the crews for longton, grenola, and moline would have to road their equipment to their various districts every morning and nite, resulting in less time spent on road work. Not to mention higher fuel comsumption.
Why are we mowing? Your inventory of the county yard left out one area weed control. Mow once mow for ever...Chemically treat once never again.
Our current county shop buildings and three shop management theory are very antiquated. They are too small to handle the equipment we own and use. They are not set up with anything that would improve productivity. They are not an asset to the county. I think all three are a liability. Which means counter productivity costs me money. I think we should look at the age and functionality of the yards as a basis of their value not just their location. Redundancy is redundancy....
One central shop is a very good idea. Leave the equipment where the job is. Ever see a new road construction crew bring the equipment to the job site every day? Why does the road grader have to be at the shop every night? Wouldn't it make more sense to start the job from the job not in transit?
Why would county fuel go up?
Does it cost more to drive a crew cab truck at road speeds or $500,000 worth of heavy equipment at 25mph? Keeping the blade in contact with the ground 10 hours a day for a change would make more sense than three shops. Crews could travel and lube/service trucks could work on equipment remotely. The only reason to bring a piece of equipment to the shop would be to fix something broken that can't be fixed in the field.......I have yet to figure what that could possibly be. I have never understood the theory behind lining up all the equipment back at the shop every night just to go back to where they left off the day before.
It would be like mowing your yard and putting the mower in the garage after every three rounds. If the job is completed go home.
It is not like we have a daily change of need. If the road needed to be graded last night when the day was over it still needs graded the next morning. If we are putting in a new culvert or better yet digging out a ditch to actually get the water to run down hill then that equipment needs to be moved as a basis of need not habit. If the job is done take it to the next one. Why come home first?
I will say that the roads are getting better. I have not had to have the front end locked in to get to the highway all winter. The water only runs half way across the road south of my house now. With time and patients the ditches will one day be functional waterways once again.
Pep, have you forgotten the vandals? What a field day they would have. If you remember what vandals did out at the rodeo grounds a few years back when they got a big piece of equipment running---- with the resulting demolition of the block building concession stand? Of course those kids did not come from the Elk county area, they were most certainly imports. ??? ??? ??? And as far as herbicides are concerned, the less the better. Ask the Viet Nam vets about it, or an immigrant from Viet Nam about some of those. Ask about the birth defects and the late in life diseases that are associated with herbicides. Less is more, and there are other ways to control weeds than herbicides. >:(
Hey, Pepelect, you ever try working on a piece of equipment in the rain or snow? Or when it is 100+ degrees? Or simply changing the oil on the side of the road? Not to mention repairing and rebuilding an engine. Not only is it a pain, but it is also dangerous to our road crew. Its not like people are actually driving all that safe on those roads, not only that but leaving equipment on the road would present a traffic hazard. And our needs DO change on a daily basis, washouts do not occur in the exact spot every time it rains. As for ditches, what would you have them do..spend months fixing the ditches and let the roads go? I think they are doing the best they can with what they have, so cut them a little slack! And on the herbicides thing...elk county water is bad enough without adding anymore to it.
Quote from: sixdogsmom on May 11, 2009, 10:06:16 PM
Ask the Viet Nam vets about it, or an immigrant from Viet Nam about some of those. Ask about the birth defects and the late in life diseases that are associated with herbicides. Less is more, and there are other ways to control weeds than herbicides. >:(
We have come along way from VietNam defoliage control products. Although they don't work quite as well they are very safe and effective.
Quote from: sixdogsmom on May 11, 2009, 10:06:16 PM
Pep, have you forgotten the vandals? What a field day they would have. If you remember what vandals did out at the rodeo grounds a few years back when they got a big piece of equipment running---- with the resulting demolition of the block building concession stand? Of course those kids did not come from the Elk county area, they were most certainly imports. ??? ??? ???
Technology has come a long way. GPS systems are cheap and can shut down a piece of equipment if it starts up after a certain time, goes out of a specific area, or simply lock the door. Install a keypad on every piece of equipment and our insurance exposure will go down along with the rate. How safe is a 20ton piece of equipment behind a hog wire fence with a $4 padlock? Locks only keep your friends honest.
Don't we still have a sheriff and as long as we don't have too many out of town guests, space in the jail for the joyriders?
Vandal are vandals... I bet you ten to one at each of the four corners of the county there is a land owner that will gladly free up some valuable taxable personal property space to park a piece of equipment overnight. Give the existing yards to the cities and use the same space as rent on equipment used in the city limits. If you blade the drive on the way out they might even top off the fuel tank....Why not try it and see if it will work before you shut down every idea that comes along?
Back to the original thread....Why can't we get rid of the impounded cars. They have a specific amount of time to get them out if not then scrap or sell them....IF the city can kill your stray dog after 4 days in the pound then I say after your car is in impound for over a month it is the property of the county. Consider it abandoned like all the rest of the trash and haul it off to be recycled.
Quote from: BillyakaVarmit on May 11, 2009, 10:28:22 PM
Hey, Pepelect, you ever try working on a piece of equipment in the rain or snow? Or when it is 100+ degrees? Or simply changing the oil on the side of the road? Not to mention repairing and rebuilding an engine. Not only is it a pain, but it is also dangerous to our road crew. Its not like people are actually driving all that safe on those roads, not only that but leaving equipment on the road would present a traffic hazard. And our needs DO change on a daily basis, washouts do not occur in the exact spot every time it rains. As for ditches, what would you have them do..spend months fixing the ditches and let the roads go? I think they are doing the best they can with what they have, so cut them a little slack! And on the herbicides thing...elk county water is bad enough without adding anymore to it.
Yes I have every day.....I don't own a shop big enough for any of my equipment never have.
So you change the oil every day? Engines breakdown every day?
If you can, reread my post....I said if the piece of equipment needs fixed take it to the shop. Or just pull on to on of the minimum maintenance roads to change out the motor.
Yes, I would like you to take the next three months off and quit hauling gravel to fix the ditches and let the roads go. Get rid of all the trees in the water ways and fix the five year back log of bridge repairs if you have time. If you fix the ditch the road will take care of its self..... There must be only one guy working and only one piece of equipment available if we can't fix the ditches and fix the roads at the same time. Wash outs occur the same place every time. The point of least resistance for the amount of water trying to go down hill... Fix the ditch and you have fixed the washouts....
I don't mean do all the roads at the same time and I am not saying that the guys don't do a good job. The salaries are about 1/2 to 1/4 of what they should be but still we live in Elk County. The water from a half inch rain should not mean that a main road in the county is impassible.
I applaud the efforts that the crews do with what they have to work with.
Straighten you panties back out.....
I hadn't mentioned the impounded vehicles because my concern was with the strip just across from my front yard. But since they have been mentioned, I counted 9 that I can see and at least half of them were there when I moved here 4 years ago.
So, Commish, could you find out how long an impounded vehicle needs to be held and if the sheriff intends to do anything about clearing them out? I am sure that if anyone lived across the street from them, there would be complaints. Besides doesn't the city have something about disabled vehicles?
You all don't use prison labor to help keep your drainage ditches working? That surprises me.
Diane.. they tried to get me and my family out there... but we rebelled..
So they nixed the outlaw labor thing.. LOL ;D
Yeah, Teresa, like we would believe that?
Liz, I have my flowers this morning. They are yellow and I don't think they last more than a day, but today they are flowers. Out in a ditch they would be weeds. As my brother used to say, if it is where you don't want it, it is a weed. He also said that if you can't tell if it is a weed or a flower, pull it up. If it comes back it is a weed.
Wilma, that's so true. When I first bought my flower shop Marty was totally disgusted to go in the cooler and see all those pasture weeds I paid good money for. He said if he ever died, I'd better not put any of that broom weed (gypsophilia) or bottle brush (liatris) or ditch weed (Queen Anne's Lace) in his flowers or he'd come back to haunt me. Ha! Then arrangements with wheat, thistles, cattails, dried leaves and just plain old sticks became popular. I went to a flower show once where they are touting this amazing new "natural" (dried) plant material called "Love grass". It was just ridiculous, plain old pasture grass that someone had cut and dried to sell to the morons... I mean masses... It'd never go over in the rural town I was in, but apparently the city folks were astounded at the beauty of it. We laughed all the way home...
Enjoy flowers wherever and whenever you see them. I even liked the purple stuff that covered my entire yard earlier this year ~ though I knew I'd be mowing it off the first time the ground was dry enough to drive on.
That purple covered my back yard, too. I also had lots of Johnny-jump-ups. I knew they would get mowed off but some of them came back and continued blooming for a time. Jim does mow around the Star of Bethlehem if it is blooming but as soon as it stops blooming, off it comes.
Wilma, I planted irises in the fall all along the back of my house. They are blooms now and I'm hoping they are as beautiful as your irises! Let me know when yours have bloomed and I will come by and visit again.
Al always leaves some Buttercups for me too, as well as Star of Bethlehem. As for wishes, I wish the groundhogs would leave us alone this year.
My iris is almost at it's peak now. I don't know what it will look like after it quits raining. My peonies are also beginning to bloom. You are welcome to come by anytime.
Wilma, instead of just hauling off those vehicles why not sell them or an auction? Might not raise a lot of money, but it would beat no money at all.
Billy, you are hereby invited to come by and look at said vehicles. Make an offer to the sheriff if you think any of them are worth pulling out of the yard.
actually, I have seen them and there are 1 or two that I wouldn't mind having.
So, make an offer. The worst they can do is say no.
The way it was explained to me, not from the sheriff, they are supposed to be auctioned off.
So maybe someone should push to get it done. Some of those have been there since I moved here.
I agree, when I asked when the auction was supposed to take place, no one knew. Also, who would be the right person to contact about it?
The Sheriff's office? Or they would probably know who to talk to....Somebody at City Hall?
The sheriff, but I will check with Janet when I see her. She will know.
Somewhere I posted what Janet told me but I don't find it here. First the sheriff has to determine who owns the vehicle, then contact the owner about taking care of it. After a time, if the owner has done nothing, the sheriff can place it for auction after he has placed a legal notice 3 times in the county paper about what he is going to do, listing each vehicle. Doesn't look like an auction anytime soon.
I am going to make a suggestion. Now this is just a suggestion, not a demand. In the county road yard across the street, there are two old orange dump trucks. I am pretty sure that I have seen them being used at one time or another. I think it would be neat if the best one of the two were set up like an exhibit in my corner of the yard for all to see. These trucks are a part of the Elk County Road Department history. It is surprising that they are still around and in not too bad of shape. I wonder what make and year they are. My uneducated eye can't tell. I will bet that they are almost as old as I am.
Wilma,
I haven't driven past the county yard for some time, and have a question and a comment. Are the trucks you are talking about reddish-orange or orangey-yellow? The reason I ask is that most county equipment is painted more of a yellow, and the few pieces that are reddish-orange have usually been placed into service by KDOT, and then obtained by the county as used. If they are orange, they probably are not as old as you might think, if they are yellow, they might have been there since the stone age.
They are reddish orange and I can read Elk County on the door. I doubt if they are as old as I am since they don't look like Model As or Model Ts. But they might be at least half as old as I am and that is pretty old for a truck.
Wilma,
They are Internationals. They are ex-State equipment that was purchased by the county. I have pulled the motor from one and put it into the other. The old motor is in the back of the one sitting closest to your house. It is waiting to meet it's maker or become somebodies fence post.
Mr. Hillbilly
Mr. Hillbilly, I just think those old trucks are the neatest thing. I can't see the one that has been fixed up, but daughter says it is sitting on the other side of the one I can see. Do you have any idea of how old they are?
No, i'm not sure how old they are but probably early 80's.
I think they might be older than that and I know somebody that might know. See you later.
Here are the old county trucks we are talking about. Does anyone know anything about them?
Did some checking for ya...they are both 1984 Internationals
Quote from: Wilma on June 01, 2009, 04:44:11 PM
But they might be at least half as old as I am and that is pretty old for a truck.
I guess that makes you fifty years young, right?
Thanks for doing the math for me, but I think they are a little less than half my age. I have been around since 1930.