Howdy do, honeybunch! Here we are, already celebrated the Memorial Day holiday and heading toward what Nat King Cole called the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” And as we know in this part o’ the universe, it’s the last adjective that seems to be the rule. Things around here are getting crazier as we speak and we ain’t even into the summer.
Effen yew haven’t noticed the brigades of motorcyclists have descended upon us once again looking for the sand and sun, and coming in numbers that break the noise ordinances. That’s only the foist thing that is happening around here. The usual summer stuff will come in jest a matter of weeks: people trying to park everywhere, visitors not having manners, and residents getting annoyed cuz things ain’t cleaned up yesterday.
This Memorial Day was like many others, the parade seemed to git the numbers out, and people were happy to be in the nice weather and setch. The parade is a big thing around these parts as yew know, and things were geared up early with flags bedecking Campbell Avenue days before the event…it looked rather nice.
The Mystick Maidens of the Marsh decided to have their annual do at the Sandy Point area. It’s a nice, secluded spot, and allows us to really let loose and not disturb the local yokels. Of course, all the politicos and special people were invited and showed. ‘Twas quite an affair.
Of course, the conversation tended to center around the city’s new status as the state’s red-headed stepchild, being under the oversight of the MARB in Tier IV. We’ve been to this rodeo before, and we know how things are gonna turn out. The MARB is gonna have complete control over things and Cobina wouldn’t be surprised effen some contracts and other negotiated items were “reviewed” and attempts made at renegotiating them. We shall see. That’s what happened the last time, and it wasn’t pretty.
Sammy Bluejay was around City Hall and sez that there is some concern thereabouts over what the MARB is gonna do over the next little while. Herroner and Scott Jackson, of course, are taking the brunt of the barbs right now – some of them rightfully so – most of it because they don’t seem to have the paperwork the panel wants to seek.
The most recent thing was the raises given to the WHPD to help retain and recruit new officers. It was this papyrus that broke the fack the PD had been losing people cuz the city didn’t have a pension plan and was tens of thousands of kopecks behind area towns and cities as far as compensation packages. The City Council tried to remedy that, and boosted things in the current budget.
Unfortunately, the work showing how the city was gonna pay for these raises didn’t seem to be at the panel’s disposal, which promptly incurred the ire of the members assembled. The MARB rejected the budget and gave the city a few more weeks to git its act together. Let’s hope this time they’ll do what they hafta and put things in order.
The PD is way behind its minimum number of officers – which may make some in the community happy – but for those of us who live in the real world, not having enough officers puts more work on the existing force, and leads to a ripple effeck of problems. Let’s hope the administration can git it’s duckies in a row and make MARB happy.
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Nelly Nuthatch got my ear during the MMMs Memorial Day picnic, and sez that she’s heard some of the highly touted projecks that have been publicized might be in jeopardy. Nelly, always the picture of discretion, has been murmuring about disaffected developers who are not happy with some city officials right now.
She also sez that the timing of the repaving of Beach Street and the raising of the roadbed is a pernt of contention. It ain’t happening at opportune times for developers and might be a problem going forward. Wouldn’t that be something? It jest seems like things never break the right way around here.
Now, Cobina ain’t talking about anything in particular this time, let’s jest say that people who know people are relating stories of being very unhappy with those who’s job it is to facilitate things. They are being a hindrance rather than a help. We’ve heard this before – many times – so, we ain’t surprised. More on this as details come this way.
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Iva Lootey noted that since Herroner has threatened to fine the developers of The Haven Project for blight due to their slow-walking the demolition of things down there, some progress has been made. Iva noticed some digging machinery down there, and also some clearing of debris. That debris was there for a while, and now, it’s gone. I guess making threats and setch get some results.
Still, the city ain’t been able to pin down the developers to a timetable or schedule as to when things will git done. How do we know that? Well, effen that happened there would be a big press conference and celebration. We ain’t heard of one, so we hafta be under the assumption that things are still in the “talking stages.” Of course, those “talking stages” have been going on for months now.
With each passing month we git further and further away from the opening of the promised mall, which we were told would be ready for the Christmas season of 2022. That ain’t gonna happen. Heck we’d be surprised effen the demolition of all those properties is finished by then.
One good thing the city is trying to do is reopen Water Street in the interim, whilst nothing substantial is happening down there. The traffic along the area there is jest unbearable, and reopening that will give a little relief to people trying to git through to Elm Street or the other side of First Avenue.
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You will see the residents over at Lake Phipps are having a bit of a tussle with city officials over who’s job it is to fix some erosion problems that have cropped up since the renovations were made over there. Effen yew remember, about a decade ago the city did some work, including the elimination of the spillway over by Main Street.
Well, property owners along “The Rez” are saying the new water currents and storm systems are damaging existing waterfronts. Of course, who’s responsible for the repairs is one of the disputed problems. Meetings were asked for, and city officials were queried, but some answers still are wanting.
This should be an interesting situation, cuz it’ll be a case study in how administration officials deal with the public more than the ultimate decisions themselves. Right now, it seems the residents over there seem to believe they are not being taken seriously. That’s never a good thing.
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Cobina reminds you of her famous beach rule now that we are in the throes of the summer beach season. It goes thus: the amount of fabric worn by a sunbather is many times in inverse proportion to the age of said person. The skimpier the costume, the older the person – this goes for both sexes, sweets. As grandma used to say, “Some people don’t have a mirror in their bathroom.”
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,