Friday, October 14, 2005

Another Evening At an Open House

Another evening. Another open house.

This time hosted by the Bureau of Land Reclamation about the Southern Delivery System (SDS); the plans for Colorado Springs to take it’s rightful water from the Arkansas River to slake its every expanding thirst.

It’s a complex issue. Including some people who suggest that Colorado Springs does not have the right to as much water as they claim. But that’s a tome in itself. We won’t address it here unless further evidence comes forward suggesting there IS a problem.

The people at Reclamation did a far better job of running an informative open house, complete with breakout groups and extensive comment-taking, than the event we went to the previous evening. Kudos to their team. I will also add that Reclamation did a good job at trying to be the honest broker during the event.

At this point there are seven alternatives being considered. I won’t bother to enumerate them here, as we determined that some titles to them are misnomers that only confuse your understanding of where and how the water will flow. And it came out that there are other alternatives they could have considered but, for some reason, didn’t make the final cut. But the people in our breakout group saw them and re-suggested them.

Furthermore, as was put forth in an editorial in yesterday’s Pueblo Chieftain, there is the idea that a flood control dam should be built on the Fountain between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Apparently no one involved with this project, heretofore, had thought of such an idea. [Note: I mentioned such a thing to a meeting of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy group over a year ago. Most of the official members of that group politely ignored anything mentioned by the public during the public comment period of their meeting. However, when I mentioned that, one guy started scribbling notes. Maybe he got to someone…]

I think the ideal location for such a dam would be at the ‘choke point’ in the Fountain Creek valley in the vicinity of mile marker 112 on I-25. More on the benefits of such a dam at a later date. Back to the meeting.

As I said, there are seven plans being considered at the moment. Several of these seem to be favored by one group or another.

Colorado Springs favors the one where they take water out of the Arkansas and return it there in the vicinity of Florence. This is likely to be a result of Pueblo’s favored plan

In light of all the sewage spills in the Fountain of late, Pueblo has been favoring placing the water intake for the system east of the confluence of the Fountain with the Arkansas; forcing Colorado Springs to either cleanup their act or Drink S—- And Die. But there are other plans that Pueblo would favor before the one Colorado Springs would like best.

The impacts on the communities and the environment vary dramatically based on each of the plans.

There is an alternative called No-Action. However, in light of the growth pressure on Colorado, this is hardly likely to happen. But, just to help people understand what is meant by Reclamation when they say “No Action”....it means that the proponents can do whatever they want; Reclamation will take “no action” in the affair, as far as I could tell. See what I mean by misnomers? I’m sure it makes sense to Reclamation, but it confuses the rest of us mightily.

There were a number of questions about how Reclamation is going to require Colorado Springs to cleanup its sewage dumping ways. However, I got the distinct impression that Reclamation wasn’t going to touch that issue with a 10-foot pole. Why? Well, because it seems to me that getting one city to clean up it’s problems with sewage treatment as they impact on another city within the same state is NOT a ‘federal’ matter. It’s a state matter. No state lines were crossed. So, instead of putting pressure on the feds to be all things to all people, we should be beating the State Department of Public Health up over this. Not to forget other departments that oversee water ways. And not to forget our elected officials as well.

All in all it was an informative presentation. We’ll be addressing some of the details a bit later, once we have more information on the various alternatives.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Action On Sewage in Fountain Creek

The DA makes his move.

The Pueblo Chieftain, today, announced the long overdue—in my personal opinion—law suit filed by our new District Attorney in response to the continuing failures on the part of Colorado Springs to contain its waste materials from cascading, untreated, down the Fountain Creek past our neighborhoods and downtown; not to forget into the Arkansas and down through all the towns along its path.

Our new DA, being less than a year in the job, was brought to us at the behest of the local Democratic Party because, as far as I could tell, his predecessor would not file a law suit against the Republican County Sheriff over allegations of sexual harrassment. The old DA claiming there was not enough evidence to prosecute. They didn’t like that answer, according to the Democrats I heard speaking on the subject. So they dumped him and got our current one, there being no Republican candidate running against him. It’s interesting to note that the new DA has yet to file any charges of sexual harrassment against the County Sheriff either.

But, that’s beside the point. It’s good to see that after all this time in position, and so much filthy water having passed ‘under the bridge’, we are finally seeing something coming from his good offices to deal with this continual problem. This, after a group of local citizens and even the State of Colorado were taking up this matter. The state actually fining Colorado Springs for past spills. Somehow, I get the distinct impression that had not the Sierra Club threatened to file a suit, our DA might still be waiting. It would be very bad form for the civilians to have beat him to the punch.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Referenda C & D? No

It’s sooooo confusing!

My little blue booklet on the state ballot election arrived today and I plowed through it. It discusses Referenda C and D. I’ve decided to vote against them.

Whoever put these ballot proposals together does not have his priorities straight. Referendum D depends on passage of Referendum C. Referendum D would allow the state to borrow X amount of money in order to satisfy certain OBLIGATIONS it has regarding police and fire pensions and the repair of public school buildings. It also allows money to be borrowed for other things, like highways. Note that an obligation is something the state has to pay. Yet this request was put in the secondary referendum, not the primary one.

What I got out of Referendum C was that because of the recession in 2002, the state hasn’t been allowed to spend as much money as it would have if there wasn’t a recession because of the passage of TABOR. Well, duh. For some reason which I don’t feel was adequately explained, somebody, who is not clearly identified, but I assume it’s the General Assembly of the State of Colorado, feels that the state should be allowed to play catch up by keeping revenues collected in excess of what TABOR allows. I personally would be a whole lot happier if they just said, “TABOR was a mistake for the following reasons and we want to repeal it” instead of dinking around with a 5-year moratorium, which sounds like it won’t exactly end if D also passes because it allows the state to spend more money regardless after a certain year. If I understood the booklet correctly.

I would have been willing to vote for keeping the “excess” money if it was simply to pay off the obligations the state has regarding pensions and school repairs. The obligations are clear-cut, well-defined and limited, if large. I’m not saying I’m against paying these obligations, I’m just not willing to do it in such a complicated way, with several other things tacked on.

And, if I understood the booklet correctly, the loans taken out in D will be repaid, in part, by the “excess” funds retained by C, except, of course, there’s no guarantees that there will be “excess” funds to be retained.

The booklet was prepared by the research staff of the state legislature and the staff is supposed to be nonpartisan. I didn’t think the booklet was particularly well-written, since some of the statements were unnecessarily vague and I thought the over-all tone was that these measures should be passed.

And I wonder how many voters will spend time trying to figure out where to vote on Referenda A & B?

Full info is supposed to be at ballotbook.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Referendum D [November 2005 Election] and Roadways in Southeastern Colorado

And what does Pueblo get out of this?

An article in the Pueblo Chieftain today, on improving the road network in the state.

The idea looks interesting, however, I get the distinct impression that all those people who were reputedly “up in arms” over the idea that Denver would get the lions share of the benefits, while the rest of the state bore the majority of the burden, seems to be just about right.

Admittedly, the final talley of what projects would be funded has yet to be released. But looking at what the article reported, there’s NOTHING for Pueblo. And little else for the southeastern part of the state.

We’ll keep an eye on this one….

Friday, April 29, 2005

Congress Approving Toll Roads

What does it mean?

A blurb up on the Drudge Report mentioned that toll interstates could become more common.

Seems that the House passed an amendment to a highway bill that would allow states to establish tolls on federal interstate highways. The reasoning behind it is that the federal gas tax (1) is not doing enough to keep the current road network at their proper level of maintenance and (2) not generating the funds necessary for the construction on new roads where they are needed.

Somehow, this looks like it is related to the discussion of the Super-Slab. I’m curious as to how the Salazar Boys are involved….

Monday, March 28, 2005

Oops!?!?!!!???

Be careful about what you pray for….

I have been informed that I have been appointed to the Pueblo Area Council Of Governments (PACOG) Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) for Transportation.

I received the notification of my appointment by the council last Friday.

I’ve been in something of a state of bemusement since then, as I gave my chances of appointment a probabilty of less than .1. [Note: For the non-math-inclined less than 10%; closer to 1-in-100.

I do love practicing the skills necessary to put things in their proper place at the proper time. That’s what logistics is all about. The military teaches it with a certain sense of ‘fervor’. It gives you a sense that peoples’ lives might, actually, heaven forefend…depend upon it.

So be it….

...I’m appointed. I’ll serve here for the duration; a year. I’ll find it educational and an interesting exercise of all the skills, that ALL of you, whether you, like-it-or-not, have paid to equip me. [Note: I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the Army’s Logistics Executive Development Course (LEDC). I got so bent out of shape that whatever it was that came out of it was so much better than what went in.]

I hope to apply everything I’ve been given, by the Army and authorities higher than that, is exorcised, properly….

Regards….

Monday, March 14, 2005

Chickens Rule!

Them chickens come home to roost in a most poetic fashion.

See Cox & Forkum’s latest contribution to the world of politics and political correctness. I think it is particularly interesting that Churchill chose the title of his paper so ‘well’.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Money Solves [Almost] All Problems

Good news for Nebraska U….

Watching the on-going fiasco at Colorado University, from the perspective of a Nebraska U alumnus (class of ‘75, double major microbio/chem), I can feel nothing but joy for my alma mater. [Note: I do appreciate a well honed sense of school pride. I see it every year here in town with the annual Bell competition between the distaff’s school and the school that serves where we live now. It fills me with hope for the future. In the Army, we refer to it as Fighting Spirit and it is what wins battles and wars. Hey! Aren’t we in one of those now?]

As some wag put it in the form of a toast in some drinking bout amongst officers of an army in contact with its enemy, “Confusion to the enemy!” And I agree….in a friendly sort of way. And face it, what can be more confusing than the politically-correct environs of the Republic of Boulder? Seriously. Look at what PC has got them into. Sex scandals, fraud and perhaps, as of recent reports, even worse.

I’m not surprised that the CU president has resigned. It probably should have happened a long time ago, when the damage to that great educational institution would have been less tramatic. But that’s PC for you. There is a higher bar for the concept of ‘shame’ amongst the PC. Just look at Paris Hilton. As some pundit put it, “Paris Hilton is proof that one cannot die of ‘shame’”. [Note: It probably has something to do with the aluvial ground they ‘stand’ on. They’ve learned how to jump. As opposed to people who stand on a form of ground that is set in stone.]

So now CU’s approach to dealing with the cretin is to pay-off the character and ‘Move On’. Nothing about public hearings and ‘disbarring’, or whatever they do to ‘defrock’ a tenured professor, for being a lying [and possibly worse] so-and-so.

It can only bode well for the University of Nebraska, in the long run; barring their falling into the same trap the denizens of Boulder have forced CU into.

One would think that since CU is the educational institution of the entire state, the rest of the state would try to do something about it. But I suspect that since most of the rest of the state thinks of the Republic of Boulder the way I do, ignore it, not much is going to change. That is, unless the rest of us get our act together to say we’re sick and tired of this silliness that subjugates our childrens’ education to the ever-changing winds of PC.

However, from the Nebrasakan perspective, this is ‘great’ news. And most especially if CU persists in its PC proclivities. Who knows? In a couple of years time, we’ll clobber THEM in a series of Thanksgiving Day rivalry games.

P.S. I’m game for friendly wagers on future football games between these two schools. Just e-mail me. You should be an alumn of CU to wager against me as a one of NU. My usual wager is a six-pack of the winner’s favorite carbonated beverage in 12-oz containers.

Friday, February 04, 2005

The Super Slab, Politicians and Economics

Who pays for the super slab?

In the Pueblo Chieftain article, I mentioned the other day, the state legislature taking up the idea of a ‘super-slab’ to the east of town, Representative Buffie McFayden (D-Pueblo West) expressed concerns that truckers not be charged so much for use of the toll road that they would not care to use it. I didn’t think much of the concern.

Today, Mr. Rawlings’ editorial reminds me of McFayden’s concern. So I thought I’d explain why it should not be such a concern to us.

It’s all about economics. Yes. Taxpayer money will be used to build it, but the tolls will pay the taxpayers back; one way or another. And then some, if this beastie is built and operated properly. The only difference is the rate at which the taxpayers will realize the return and that will be based on usage, which will, in part, be based on the level of the toll.

The higher the toll, the lower the usage. However, remember this, the trucks and trains are not going to ‘eat’ the tolls. No indeed. Not by a long shot. They are not that altruistic. They are going to pass all of those tolls on to whomever is buying the supplies and services they are carrying. They are already doing it, today, with every drop of fuel, wear on equipment and minute wasted in traffic in Colorado Springs and Denver and other such choke points. Not to mention all the ancillary joys of diesel exhaust pollution and congestion they give back to the cities.

So, I don’t worry about the expense of the tolls being a serious threat to truckers. There may be some independent/wild-catter operators that will avoid it. Indeed, I’m curious what sort of percentage that could be. But I do not see it as a threat to the vast majority of outfits involved in over-the-road transportation.

I’m confident that people who manage the super slab will come to a toll rate that will squeeze as much out of the users as they think they can get away with. They’re not altruistic either. And I’m equally confident the truckers and rail roads will pass all of those expenses onto those who ultimately use whatever it is they are hauling.

Whatever the rate is, I’m sure it will be less than what we are paying now. That includes the delights of additional pollution and congestion at those choke points. I just wonder how long it will be before we consumers see the benefits in terms of savings passed on to us by the haulers, distributors and retailors? Anybody want to start a pool?

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

The Super Slab Is Coming

And what shall we do?

So much to write about today. Where to begin? Ah. Yes…..the Pueblo Chieftain’s article on the super-slab project.

Seems like that massive project to re-route the heavy road and rail traffic to the flatter lands to the east of town is going to come true in the not-too-distant-future after all. This years legislative session is taking up the issue today.

Personally, I think it’s a great idea and its time has just about come. During the, what I called TRANSPLAN 2030, meetings I kibbutzed last Spring it was talked about in almost hushed tones, but I could see the necessity of it. Especially after hearing the reps from the railroads expressing what they had to contend with in moving trains up and down the Front Range, through burgs like Colorado Springs. It sounded like a logistical nightmare to me.

[Hystorical Note: I even had a glimpse of the sort of masstyeria the Imperial German General Staff had to contend with in their planning mobilization for World War I. It was a running joke with them that their best young minds graduating from their military academy went into the railroad planning division and from there into an insane asylum.]

At any rate, the most interesting impacts of this project, when it comes to pass, are going to be as follows:

[1] The new Wal-Mart distribution center. Is it REALLY smart to build the center so far away from the planned route of the super-slab? Doesn’t look like it to me. It’ll just cause the trucks to travel so much farther, if they are coming from out of state. It would be much smarter to build the distrubtion center at the municipal airport industrial park, where it will be conveniently located for both the truck and rail loads.

[2] The plans to widen I-25 through Pueblo proper to ease traffic. The planned super-slab puts all of this planning on its proverbial ear. The need will not be to build a wider and faster road through Pueblo. It will be to build a better connection from the super-slab to the northern part of town. This is because the southern part of town would be serviced by the proposed connection at Stem Beach. So, looks like CH2MHill will have more time on the contract as they re-write their plans to accomodate something any rational person could see coming last year.

[3] Expansion of the industrial park at the municipal airport. Here’s a great thing for the city. And something that will bring in more business as well. As commented earlier, the Wal-Mart distribution center would work better out there. So it will need to be expanded. Maybe for no better reason than to make it inconvenient for the people at the Target distribution center to get into a turf war with their competitors.

[4] Speaking of expanding the industrial park. I understand that Denver doesn’t want any stenkeng piggy-back railcar transfer facilities anymore. The railroad built a huge activity south of C-470 off Santa Fe some time back and the word at the TRANSPLAN 2030 meeting was they didn’t want it there anymore. Here’s a great opportunity for the city. Expand the industrial park, near the super-slab, and get the facility to be moved there. After all, if we don’t know railroads, we don’t know jack.

This thing has great potential, if we have the vision to see it and the courage to seize it.