Way to screw things up Brownback

[Patriot]

This is not going to be very significant.

I said significant employer.  Try reading before you jump, will ya?  Lest somebody think you're all about the short term money gain and not the real long term growth of the county and opportunity for all of its' occupants & businesses.    Now, if the county & landowners are going to distribute their new revenues directly to those who might, under other conditions be employed, then that's a horse of a different color... we call it charity when private individuals do it, welfare when the government does it.  But, either way, it's not gainful employment, is it?

Tell us again about all the new main street renovations, new local home construction, new residents, new students, new businesses & new jobs we're seeing (or going to see) in Elk County.  But please try to avoid the Obama style of hopey-changey rhetoric that leads us to think that the big money from this project will somehow replace the need of individuals to grow their businesses, work, put food on the table, purchase a decent place to live and pay their bills.  It won't, and we both know it.  All that money, just by its' presence in the bank or conversion to new fence, does little.  Show us the details of the bigger picture.  Sell us something tangible other than the dollars.  Just think, if we had put the taxpayers on the hook for $5.5 million in bonds like you & yours pushed for a couple of years back, we would have had a new building and a $5.5 million debt to repay to investors in the worst economy since the 1930's.  Well, Elk & some Elk landowners are now getting about 3/5 that much in the next year or so... will we be seeing a new school donated any time soon?  Or a new factory that will employ 50 or 60 or more, perhaps?  Or will we see lots of new fences & gates?  Please, share the future plans for Elk County.

New management, honest brokering, clear realistic goals, fresh attitudes and careful planning might promote positive change, but when it's all about the money coming in, corruption and damaged dreams usually aren't far away.  I'm reminded of an old truth:  The love of money is the root of all evil.

[srkruzich]

My reference to the measly million a year, and it appears its nowhere close to that, 600k a year, wouldn't even begin to start industry coming into the county.  IF you want real progress, your going to have to build it up.  Make companies want to come to elk to do business. Only problem is no infrastructure, very little if any qualified employee pool to hire from,  Forget factories, and manufacturing, that's not feasible in a Information Society, the INdustrial age petered out 20 years ago.   
South Dakota was a good example of local folks small town, people that got together and created a large corporation to do worldwide business.  They even shipped their product out in a white box with black spots resembling holstein cows.  Gateway computer resurrected many communities in that state. 

IF your going to bring the standard of living up and jobs, new people to elk, thats whats going to have to happen.  Its going to take someone that has money to back someone that has the know how.  Its rare that you find someone with the know how that has the money to start it up.

[Patriot]

Forget factories, and manufacturing, that's not feasible in a Information Society, the INdustrial age petered out 20 years ago.   

So a YMCA, senior center, golf course, exercise room and Olympic sized swimmin hole ain't gonna do it?  Drats!

[srkruzich]

So a YMCA, senior center, golf course, exercise room and Olympic sized swimmin hole ain't gonna do it?  Drats!

well it takes people that have money to go to the YMCA at 50 bucks a month, Golf course isn't cheap either. Heck green fees rank right up there around 100 dollars or more.  OLympic pool?  Really? For whom??  Shoot, the existing pool they have you can't do nothing but wade in it. a couple years ago i went off the diving board, DIVING, doing a back flip and damn near got crucified by the administration.  They jumped all over me for setting a bad example for the kids.   Shook my head thinking what a sad world this is when you have idiots running things and stopping kids from learning how to dive or swim and i wondered how in the hell kids today prepared for olympic sports if they are not allowed to do things like diving off the board.

[Wilma]

Patriot, that's right and drats it is.

But hold your horses a moment.  If you were receiving almost a million dollars in the next year or two, would you know right off the bat what you were going to do with it.  That is what the meeting was about, to see what the citizens of Elk County thought was the most important needs.  That decision cannot be made until all aspects are considered.  I repeat, if you are going to get your Hanes into a twist, spare us your agony.  Go home, take them off and go bare-*** naked if you want to.  I am tired of hearing about it.

Patrick is not the right one to talk to about not doing anything to grow your businesses.  He and Julie is what is keeping this community alive by providing the biggest service a community needs.  A grocery store and pharmacy.

Also, the 5.5 million debt for a new school would not have been a 5.5 million debt to Elk County as grants would have taken care of a lot of it, but we didn't wait to find out about that, did we?  Let's just keep Elk County the way it is so we won't have to put up with newcomers or change our ways.  It has worked for 50 years.  Why change it.

Steve is right about one thing, it is going to take more than what this windfall is bringing in to bring new industry to Elk County.  Too much has to be fixed before new industry will be interested in this area.

Steve, which is more important, the safety of our kids or that they become Olympic champions?  Elk County or the City of Howard, who actually owns the pool cannot afford the kind of pool that YMCAs have.  We thought we were lucky to get this one way back in the mid 60s

[srkruzich]

Steve, which is more important, the safety of our kids or that they become Olympic champions? 

What is more important is that kids get to experience life without all the bubble wrap. This country has bubblewrapped kids in that they can't deal with any kind of event.  Psychologically or physically.  Physically everyone is so dang afraid of a kid getting hurt but thats part of life.  What the heck is the kid going to do when their 18 and they go to do things without mommy and daddy and government bubblewrapping them so they don't get hurt.

Sheesh my boys grew up and had fun.  I encouraged them to do all kinds of things.  couple of my boys climbed rock walls freestyle for years since they were 12 years old.  They climbed trees from 5 year old up til they discovered rock walls and these trees were every bit of 50 -100 foot tall.

Stuck em in go carts at 7 and let them go for it, then they got on 4wheelers and many a time they rolled them.  They had broken bones, skinned up legs arms bodies, couple concussions, but they were tough.   Had my oldest one day went out to catch a pass of the football and ran head first into the mailbox. LITERALLY hit the mailbox with his head.  I was standing there watching with a friend of mine and when josh got up, i looked at my friend and said wow that had to of hurt.  Now josh is a marine. Hard headed as usual. 

Diving boards are ment for one thing. Thats diving.  Learn how to dive and guess what, you can have a lot of fun and not get hurt.  I was 10 years old diving off a high dive.  Low board high board, pool side, used to do front flips, back flips back flips with double twists, and you don't learn all that by being bubble wrapped. 

Heck, when the boys used to get hurt and come crying, i'd tell them is it broken? are ya bleeding?  if they said no, then i said stop that wailing and get back to having fun.   When they got into fights, there were a few bloody noses and lips, couple times broken arms from falling while they tussled around, the only rule was they couldn't use anything other than their fists.  Todays kids don't know how to settle something and go on with their day without having to go see a trauma councellor. 

Elk County or the City of Howard, who actually owns the pool cannot afford the kind of pool that YMCAs have.  We thought we were lucky to get this one way back in the mid 60s

I don't doubt it.  But what pool you do have, you can't do squat but wade in it.  Thats pitiful when you can't even swim in it for fear some kid might actually learn how to swim

[Patriot]

Patriot, that's right and drats it is.

But hold your horses a moment.  If you were receiving almost a million dollars in the next year or two, would you know right off the bat what you were going to do with it.  That is what the meeting was about, to see what the citizens of Elk County thought was the most important needs.  That decision cannot be made until all aspects are considered.  I repeat, if you are going to get your Hanes into a twist, spare us your agony.  Go home, take them off and go bare-*** naked if you want to.  I am tired of hearing about it.

Right off?  The PILOT agreement was signed on Dec 31, 2008.  It was pretty much known how much was at stake at that time.  Don't tell me that in 2.5 years there hasn't already been some serious planning for its' use.   And why is a private company, founded by those in government who negotiated for the wind farm (and likely its' precise location largely on their own family land) needed to perform the functions of government in determining the best use of that PILOT money.  For the umpteenth time, government officials need to do the jobs we hired them for.  Not run off and start a private company to do it for them.  Unless you buy into one commissioner's excuse that 'they don't want to listen to all the 'bitching' by the citizens that elected them.  The commissioner's word, not mine. 

What is this obsession you have with mens underwear?  And if you're tire of reading it, maybe there's something good on TV.  But until honest, factual answers are forthcoming, the the questions aren't gonna go away.

[jarhead]

quote from Patriot :
What is this obsession you have with mens underwear?  And if you're tired of reading it, maybe there's something good on TV

Patriot, Now there's a funny one. Made my day 

[Sarah]

Patriot, that's right and drats it is.

But hold your horses a moment.  If you were receiving almost a million dollars in the next year or two, would you know right off the bat what you were going to do with it.  That is what the meeting was about, to see what the citizens of Elk County thought was the most important needs.  That decision cannot be made until all aspects are considered.  I repeat, if you are going to get your Hanes into a twist, spare us your agony.  Go home, take them off and go bare-*** naked if you want to.  I am tired of hearing about it.

Patrick is not the right one to talk to about not doing anything to grow your businesses.  He and Julie is what is keeping this community alive by providing the biggest service a community needs.  A grocery store and pharmacy.

Also, the 5.5 million debt for a new school would not have been a 5.5 million debt to Elk County as grants would have taken care of a lot of it, but we didn't wait to find out about that, did we?  Let's just keep Elk County the way it is so we won't have to put up with newcomers or change our ways.  It has worked for 50 years.  Why change it.

Steve is right about one thing, it is going to take more than what this windfall is bringing in to bring new industry to Elk County.  Too much has to be fixed before new industry will be interested in this area.

Steve, which is more important, the safety of our kids or that they become Olympic champions?  Elk County or the City of Howard, who actually owns the pool cannot afford the kind of pool that YMCAs have.  We thought we were lucky to get this one way back in the mid 60s

I think the best answers I read was to pay down debt.  No industry will come to this county because the tax burden is too high, of course the tax burden is high because there's no industry to tax.  At any rate, pay off debts to take the load off citizens and lower the tax base.  That would go a long ways to not only putting more money in the hands of the people to spend in the county or build in the county or whatever, but would also lower the tax which would go at least a little ways in sweetening the deal for this area for businesses and industry. 

There's my .02.   

[Wilma]

Patriot:

That pilot agreement was signed on the contingency that the company could sell the power.  At that time they did not have a buyer.  If they couldn't find a buyer, there would be no payment.  Also, there was some opposition to having a wind farm in Elk County at all.  I don't know just when the decision to go ahead was made, but it hasn't been 2 and a half years.

What proof do you have that a private company was formed by those in government who negotiated for the wind farm ( and likely it's precise location on it's own family land) needed to perform the functions in government needed to determine the best use of that PILOT money?  Do you know the precise location of the proposed wind farm and who the landowners are that are involved?  Why don't you name names?  If you are right there would be no grounds for slander.

Where is your proof?  You are the one that is asking questions and making accusations.  Give us something other than insinuations and opinions.