IS IT TRUE? PART 2 June 24, 2011 Sewers and VenuWorks

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IS IT TRUE? PART 2 June 24, 2011 Sewers and VenuWorks

IS IT TRUE that other local media has also picked up on the fact that there is not long term contract in place to manage the soon to be completed Evansville Arena?…that Brian Miller of the Fox 7 news team who allegedly had some difficulty with a FOIA request regarding the Arena issues did a report last night that furthered the exposure that VenuWorks is not under long term contract?…that Mr. Miller was able to get an on camera admission from Arena project manager John Kish that without a contract with the Evansville Icemen that a contract with VenuWorks cannot happen?…that the Evansville Arena if it was built for any sport in particular, that sport is hockey?…that the pictures from inside the Arena look and feel like a hockey rink that can be adapted to other things?…that Roberts Stadium is basically a basketball stadium that is adapted to other things?…that Mr. Miller’s excellent report is on the following link?

http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=281287

IS IT TRUE that a judge has finally accepted the deal reached between the City of Evansville and the EPA with regard to repairing the combined sewer system?…that Evansville basically has another 17 months to put a design together for EPA approval and then another 18 years to implement that design?…that it is a shame that a federal agency was required to get the City of Evansville to step up and invest in the infrastructure that will enable it to basically wipe its own rear end?…that at least this basic function has to be learned and mastered in the next 20 years?…that the City of Evansville will be able to celebrate its 212th birthday with this important milestone?

IS IT TRUE that even though the EPA has granted us the economic mercy of allowing the City of Evansville 20 years to get the sewers in order that it has not mandated that we take every day of the 20 years to do so?…that we can do this much faster if we have the courage of leadership and the pride in our city to make the investments required to do this?…that if there has ever been a project with an immediate urgency to implement that cleaning the municipal backside is it?…that other than kicking the can down the road so the next generation of residents will have to pay the bill is the only justifiable reason to delay doing this job

IS IT TRUE that the fact that Evansville has these antiquated sewers with overflows that make much of the city smell like a rear end is not a good selling point for business attraction? …that one can also correlate where the blight is in our housing to where the smell is?…that it is also expected that there are public health issues associated with whatever toxins are in that smell?…that if there has ever been a public works project with a need for urgency that this is it?…that Interest rates are at all time lows, that people need jobs, and this city can send a strong message to the world that the rust belt antics of the last 50 years are over by fixing these sewers in a MUCH shorter time

IS IT TRUE that the cost to implement this solution will be in the range of $12,000 per household based on the disputed $500M price tag that would create a payment on a 5%-30 year bond of $65 per month per household.?…that a never publicized piece of reality is that if this project is delayed by 10 – 20 years that the cost of the project will increase by as much as triple what today’s estimates are?…that interest rates will not be any lower than they are today and are actually expected to rise over time?…that the present negative growth rate in population will put the financial burden over even fewer people (Evansville will be less than 110,000 in 20 years at current rates of shrinkage)?…that delaying this to the limit will cause some poor future head of household to see a monthly increase in their sewer bill of nearly $350 per month (1)?…that we all need to tighten our belts, hold our noses, and get on board to fix this now for $65 per month to salvage the lifestyle of the City of Evansville that we call home?

(1) Based on 3x price increase, 8% population decrease, and a 2x interest rate increase from today’s values.

IS IT TRUE that Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote a song about Bee Slough once or at least it could have been?…ENJOY

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11 COMMENTS

  1. Looks more and more like Weinzapfel and his gang of cronies have been doing slimshady dealings that are starting to surface and does not pass a smell test. They should all be brought up on charges of corruption and misuse of taxpayers money!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION

    “Indianapolis currently faces more than $5 billion in critical infrastructure needs.
    Indianapolis must address challenges with roads, parks, rivers and streams and drinking water. Much of Indianapolis’ transportation, water and sewer systems are more than 50 years old and in need of repair, and inadequate maintenance in past years makes improvements more difficult today.” (www.indy.gov/mayor)

    Commission’s Role

    Review potential long-term solutions to Indianapolis-Marion County’s critical infrastructure issues.

    Provide recommendations to Mayor Ballard to improve Indianapolis-Marion County infrastructure, with a goal of preserving both a high quality of life and affordable cost of living.

    Challenge conventional wisdom.

    Solicit feedback from citizens.

    Review both national and international models and contemporary approaches for financing infrastructure improvements, and their applicability to Indianapolis.

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    I would like to see Evansville institute an Infrastructure Advisory Commission with an equal number of elected and appointed members.

    I think such a system might prevent future administrations from neglecting infrastructure.

    • “Provide recommendations to Mayor Ballard to improve Indianapolis-Marion County infrastructure, with a goal of preserving both a high quality of life and affordable cost of living.

      1. Challenge conventional wisdom.

      2. Solicit feedback from citizens.

      3. Review both national and international models and contemporary approaches for financing infrastructure improvements, and their applicability to Indianapolis.”

      #1 is code for make the public think we are doing something different.
      #2 is code for make the public think they have input or that we care about the public opinion.
      #3 is code for we’re going to sell off infrastructure or look for funding above and beyond the federal government (sell off assets)

      The problem is that because all forms of government want or try to be everything to everybody (a hand in everything) from the fed on down they have forgotten their core responsibilities or services that they are suppose to provide the tax base, it’s to the point now that essential services like infrastructures are forgotten for the sake of arenas, hotels, they spend the monies on frivolous items hoping that that investment will pay for the things like infrastructure when they turn a profit which they never do….so we have to increase taxes.

      While having things like nature trails, bike paths, etc are all nice they are very far from a necessity, and most are initially paid for with federal money but once that is gone guess who picks up the tab?

      It’ll never end until people who are fiscally conservative are elected into office and required to operate the government with a balanced budget, it needs to start at the federal level, just because you have the ability to print money doesn’t mean you can spend all you can print, or just because you collect taxes doesn’t mean you should spend all that you collect.

      In our fair city for years and years politicians have pored money into our downtown area saying they can bring it back to life, it’ll never happen, the only way to revitalize downtown is to bulldoze it all into the river and start fresh, for my money they can start just north of the civic center and shove it all south till they hit the river.

      But then that’s just my opinion…. 🙂

      On a side note I’d like to commend the CCO for it’s continual excellent choice in music…well done!

  3. Whoever wrote this is making more sense than anyone else on this sewer issue. It will cost more in the future and there will be less people around to pay for it. This is like a party of 20 at a restaurant and people keep disappearing and sneaking out. Eventually the last schmuck at the table will have to pay the tab. It may hurt, but lets fix this now.

  4. is it true, that they are already having infrastructure problems in the new arena… plumbing was installed incorrectly?

  5. The City is negotiating with SMG for an early end of their their contract at Robert’s stadium. This will likely cost the taxpayers money for the early buy-out. While at the same time, we now learn the City does NOT have a management contract with VenuWorks so that no concerts can be scheduled at the new downtown arena. I take back an earlier comment that 2 drunk monkeys could do as good a job as the City in these matters. It is not fair to the 2 drunk monkeys.

  6. Remember when the biggest problem we had was the seats at Roberts Stadium?
    So, they formed the Roberts Stadium Advisory Board.
    (show board)
    Now look where we are. No drunk monkeys could do as much damage as Weinzapfel . … $200,000,000. …
    Folks, that’s allot of beer & bananas!

  7. A $65 increase in sewer rates per household, per month?

    Does anyone else see a reason for the mayor’s drive for city-county consolidation?

    The more you dig, the stronger the stench.

    Vote “NO” to consolidation

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