Week 13 (June 30 -July 4)
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Week 13 - Day 3
Here we go again ...
The folks with "Tremont Rezoning" warned us ...
no one is safe.
Now, there's a developer who wants to
bulldoze three houses
on Lane Avenue and make them into restaurant/office spaces. Three properties zoned "PMUD" (Planned Mixed Use) are under contract contingent on getting the required variances from the Zoning Board.
Click here to see a zoning map of this area.
Click the image below to see the properties under consideration for demolition.
There are at least 8 eating places within the North Star/Northwest Boulevard section of Lane, and
7 vacant properties, including a former bread shop, a former frozen yogurt shop, a former clothing store, a former wine store, a former book store, a former pet store, and a former travel agency.
And yet, we're bulldozing homes to create yet more retail/commercial space?
Just where, may we ask, are UA's priorities?
BZAP is holding its informational meeting at 7:30 PM on July 7 and will vote on July 21.
BE THERE!!!!
Week 13 - Day 1
The city is intending to use our tax dollars to pay for trash pickup for 26 private businesses.
Huh? How can that be so?
Earlier this month, the city went out for bid for a hauler to pick up paper and cans/bottles at 33 locations throughout the city, including 26 private businesses.
Why?
Because under the old system, the city workers would pick up these recyclables as they did their normal daily routes, and the city would collect the revenue from the paper. the bid document cites 16 tons of paper per week being picked up when school is in session, which is approximately 33 weeks per year. At the $85.00 per ton quoted by the city, this meant additional revenue of at least $45,000 per year, not counting the other 19 non-school-session weeks.
Guess what? The city forgot to include this in the new contract. For the last 3 months, city employees have been doing this. But they'll be retiring in the early fall, so that will leave this service unfilled.
So, the city went out for bid, intending to pay yet another firm for something that was included under the old system.
Four bidders submitted proposals to pick up from carts and hoppers in these locations, with bids ranging from $12,000 and $90,000. BUT, each bidder indicated that they would keep the recycle profits, rather than crediting the city for them.
Interesting that the current contractor was not one of those four bidders. Hmmm. I wonder why.
Click below to see the bid document.
This means that the city will lose around $57,000 per year, or nearly $300,000 over the 5-year contract term.
Not only is that eating into the supposed cost savings, but more importantly, our tax dollars are subsidizing the trash disposal fees of some private businesses!
Should we be paying for this?
I don't think so.
SO ... we've been misled regarding the background checks being done on the contractor's workers. We're paying extra for medical exemptions. We've got city employees picking up stuff that was covered under the old system but forgotten in the new contract. And, now we're going to pay yet another outside contractor to pick up some of our stuff.
If you haven't signed the petition yet,
call Mike Schadek at 554-5607 to do so.
