BAH

What exactly is his position on how Lorain is going to fix their roads, or is his position to just let the city go to h3ll and a hand basket?

I sorta get that the councilman doesn't support raising taxes. That is very clear, but what I don't get is what other options has he brought to the table to get the job done? I really don't understand the outcome that he is working towards?

One way or another the need to repair our streets has to be done and while he is entitled to his opinion on the plan that was presented, what options besides the tax has he presented, argued, or put forth?

I somewhat had hoped that the tax would have been offered for a limited duration because it would have created a bit of accountability in the proposal. However, I am not an elected official and it's not my job.

IF the voters deside not to support the levy as it is being presented, what does the councilperson have to offer as an option that he would support and what could the residents expect if his idea, if there is one, was considered?

This is just like divorce attorneys. There are some that just know how to file papers and collect a check and then there are firms that know how make a case and get what their clients deserve.

Lorain County Community Action Agency

Lets go out and get some more of that good old grant money to cobble the govt budget for now.

In the letter, Mr. Nabakowski points out what he describes as one of Lorains finest assets, the waterfront.

If the author of the editorial drew a three to five mile circle around Lorains downtown, which is the distance that most retail developers consider most crucial, then Mr. Nabakowski would understand why most developers don't develop here. Instead, Mr. Nabakowski chose to include 7,000,000 people who live 60 to 300 miles away in his letter. In the smaller circle that reatail developers draw and study for potential development, half of the population is fish and the other half is economically disadvantaged.

Mr. Nabakowski states "These unexploited and underexploited assets can- and must- be leveraged to create jobs and needed revenue for city and county governments.". Draw a ten mile circle around downtown Lorain and ask yourself why the folks from Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, Westlake, Vermillion, North Ridgeville, and even Elyria don't come to Lorain, let alone shop dowtown, and you might be able to figure out why Lorain doesn't have a single new car dealership for its sixty thousand residents.

I say to Mr. Nabakowski, if you want to TAX ME because you need more tax revenue, give me a nice place to go fishing where I don't have to watch parents tell their kids pee by the side of their car. Give me some grills and some grass along the waterfront besides Lakeview and Century Park where I can take my family for a picnic and enjoy what you say is ours. If you really want to make me happy, if you build me a fountain at the Black River Landings, I promise to keep my clothes on when I swim in it!

Grown ups usually don't have to rely on their mommies and daddies to solve all of the problems that people face today.

Forget for just a second that the residents could be put at risk, I have seen emergency vehicles trying to get through these inersections. Many people are idiots when it comes to driving and while the no turns may appear to reduce their risk when entering these inersections with their lights a blazing, the drivers are even more distracted. Because of the mess that these inersections are put everyone, including our safety forces, probably just as much at risk if not more!

Why would a REASONABLE PERSON put down BRAND NEW blacktop and risk damaging it by tearing out the curbs right next to it?

I guess it is the ONLY WAY!!!!

I am not a traffic engineer, but I do have considerable construction experience. If I was remodeling your bathroom in your home and it was the only bathroom, how would you feel if I told you that you couldn't shower or use the toilet for a month? It's the same thing that the public is being told by not being able to make turns at inersections!

Now you may be someone who would just say OK and go live in a hotel for a month, but that is now how it is done in the REAL WORLD AND YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT. Staying in a hotel for a month ADDS A CONSIDERABLE COST FACTOR to the job.

Why did the contractor even bother putting down blacktop on the western sections of the road when it is still doing concrete curb and sidewalk repairs that dont require two lanes being shut down for the entire length of the project????

ANSWER THAT!!!!

Road contracts typically spell out that the contractor is responsible for redirecting traffic and if the inersections have problems that are too much for the contractor to handle, put a police officer there when the traffic is at its worse and back charge the crap out of the contractor and pay for the officers from the contractors monies he is going to get.

That's what bid bonds are for, aren't they?

I've been driving for thirty years, and never have I seen suck a screwed up way of resurfacing a road. I am not a traffic engineer, and it is OBVIOUS that one wasn't hired to maintain traffic flows during this job.

Someone should have thought this out and since this project has been an ongoing one for the last three years, I bet you the traffic situation is being done "in house".

This project is a hodge podge of two administrations trying to cobble together a road project. What department in our city is running this job? The mayor doesn't build roads, there is a city employee that does that!

Ha ha ha! You are soo funny that I am laughing boggers out my nose!!!!

What are you? A third grader?

The metroparks is planning a walking trial along the old railroad right of way thru the property. Wouldn't it be really cool if an upscale campground was built nestled in the more natural area?

A clubhouse with rental hall facilities so they can serve food, an attached inground pool, and possibly a driving range would be a nice addition for the public to enjoy. No one is going to want to camp on the old dump site, but if the clubhouse is located correctly, maybe the old dump can be converted to a small golf course with some of that grant money the city gets for brownfields?

Developing the back acerage would promote development of the front acerage and vice versa.

Now, the East side Commerce park isn't being used much...

Two major car dealerships, ummm, the cities only new car dealerships, are leaving Lorain. This leaves two new EMPTY holes that most likely will not get filled soon because the properties were built to be car dealerships.

While selling new cars may no longer be an option, the properties would be conductive to selling new and used boats if the ceiling heights in the maintenance bays are tall enough to accomodate the bigger boats for service. Also, the large PAVED lots would accomodate both boat and RV storage to weather the off season.

Please remember this, while the jobs from the store are not necessarily high paying, the construction workers that will be erecting the commercial building are not going to be getting paid min wage.

Also, Commercial Properties pay a much higher property tax rate than most residential structures and this will be new revenue for the schools and other entities. The more others pay into the millage pool means that the residents may pass less on the property taxes on some of the levies.

Lastly, Lorain will never be defined by the amount of dollar stores that it has, it has an image problem addressing the amount of empty commercial properties that it has. Joe Firment and Joyce are in the process of empting out their buildings and I guess some folks would rather have less of everything.

Many times when they are unplugged and rehooked up, the conductor wire is damaged if it gets bent up trying to reinsert it into the tv, box, outlet, splitters, and other devices.

With that being said, I actually noticed a brand new fire hydrant the other day in Lorain, that's the first one I have ever noticed since I have moved here. Another welcomed accomplishment.

I am still somewhat disappointed with the lack of effort that the road crew puts into their so called repairs. The vibrator that was mentioned that was to tamp every repair is no longer being used and not a single road has been crack sealed.

Good news compared to bad, it appears that this administration has been able to avoid the appearance of collusion by allowing the processes that are in place to investigate and remedy alledged inapproperiate behaviors.

The folks that are doing the housing inspections are getting some cooperation from many of the folks that they cited, it is just that many vacant and abandoned buildings are going to only look wose next year, and the streets are going to be the same or worse if the levy doesn't pass.

In the meantime, the schools are staring to crumble under the threat of collapse because it cannot balance its budget.

Not a single solution to the problems have been presented, just bandaides for now to put off dealing with disaster.