<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16441" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>Tom,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A really informative answer to your question would take more time than
I have at this point.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But there are several ways to increase the pace and quality of work for
almost any city position, among them:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Use a method similar to that of Charles Schwab: Challenge the crew
(or single person) to work faster and better. Reward them in various ways,
suited to individuals, where practicable. Also: re-engineer the job or
allow the workers to help re-engineer the job.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>OR</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Solicit an outsource bid and allow the city workers a chance to match or
beat the bid with one reward being that their position is not eliminated.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Applying the above to marking the turning arrows on city streets, for
example:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. Stop marking the turn arrow outlines and then coming
back later to fill them in. Lay down the stencil; paint the damn arrow;
move to the next location. Move faster than centenarian pallbearers
at a particularly mournful funeral while doing so. Set a standard for the
number of turn arrows to be painted per day. Build enjoyable,
comradely teamwork and peer reinforcement. Reward when goals accomplished
or exceeded; do not tolerate sloth.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>OR</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. Solicit bids from private businesses to paint the turn
arrows. After calculating the cost of paint, overhead, etc, tell the
workers to submit a bid to match or exceed the labor portion of the best
outsource bid. Note to the employees that if the outsource bid is
accepted, then of them will not have jobs.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to see when workers are not
moving at an optimum rate of speed consistent with a given expected quality of
work. That's also an important part of the job of a
supervisor/manager. If the supervisor/manager is unable to do this and/or
resists learning, then it's time for a change. Maybe in their next job
somewhere, they will be motivated to do better.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Positions should have both position descriptions and standards of
performance. Most of the positions in city government are not dissimilar
in basic tasks to those in the private sector. A well managed private
sector enterprise optimizes its worker output and worker satisfaction.
There is no reason, except existent pigheadedness and egoism, that the City of
Moscow can not do the same. In my career I have worked with both private
and public entities. In my experience both well-managed public and private
entities foster high employee output and employee satisfaction well.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for benefits: They are not only a part of fairness and
maintaining good employee relations, they are necessary to retain qualified,
productive employees. It is like squeezing a balloon: One can reduce
expenses by skimping on benefits; resources saved that way will be expended
(most likely with additions) in dealing with less-than-optimum work attitudes,
turnover, and less qualified employees. The labor marketplace is no
different from the product/service marketplace: If you buy junk or fail to
maintain carefully what you buy, take the consequences. That doesn't mean
that one shouldn't be a careful, prudent shopper looking for the best
quality/price compromise -- both the cost and quality of services matter to the
taxpayer.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>W.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=the_ivies3@yahoo.com href="mailto:the_ivies3@yahoo.com">Tom Ivie</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 07, 2007 12:24 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] A Sad Night for Moscow</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>I didn't take it as terse at all. It was a good explanation
as far a motivation goes. Different things motivate different people. For
some it is pride, others -money, and for others it may be benefits. So if
you see your benefits sliding away -as with medical insurance coverage, could
that account for less productivity? Then there is the whole debate on
performance evaluations. There will never be consistency among departments
when it comes to performance evaluation. But that's another subject.
<BR> <BR>I am assuming most maintenance is done on a schedule. to
increase the productivity, do you increase the maintenance schedule? Does
that in turn add to the cost of maintenance? <BR><BR>And I only ask this because
I don't know the answer, how do you measure profit at a government level? Most
benchmarks for government are on spending or "customer satisfaction" surveys
because it is an intrinsic measure. How do you measure the extrinsics?
<BR><BR><B><I>Art Deco <deco@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16441" name=GENERATOR>
<DIV>Tom,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tersely put:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For many years working as a system engineer or consultant my tasks
frequently included designing systems/work conditions/etc that encouraged
staff/management performance at high levels.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is no real secret in how to do this:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On a daily/weekly/etc basis reward in one way or another high
performance, do not reward or tolerate sloth. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In my experience, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>most</FONT></STRONG>
persons prefer to give high performance and actually enjoy their work better
when they do (and the time goes faster); <STRONG><FONT
color=#0000ff>most</FONT></STRONG> people do have natural pride in the fruits
of their activities. Mediocre or slow/poor performance only becomes a
bad habit when it is rewarded in one way or another, sometimes by ignoring it;
I believe that this is the case in the examples cited in the previous
post. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In companies and agencies where a carefully designed work environment and
skilled management combine workers are less motivated by anticipated bonuses
than they are by the quality/pace of their own work and the quality of their
working life. This has been true of many companies that do not offer any
or offer only small bonuses. There have been several studies showing
that the highest monetary rewards are not necessarily the highest
motivators. Reasonably paid, high performing employees will often choose
to stay in an organization with a high quality of working life which rewards
in many on-monetary ways high performance.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In addition, there is nothing wrong in my opinion, of offering government
workers reasonable bonuses for consistently high quality work. Why
should government be any different from many businesses in this regard?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I do not know anything about Les Schwab's bonus system. But from my
observation, the company has an expectation and culture of high performance
and rewards such daily in many ways, including supervisory/peer reinforcement,
teamwork, and intolerance for sloth.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In Dale Carnegie's <EM>How to Make Friends and Influence
People</EM>, Carnegie describes a famous application of the above.
Charles M. Schwab, founder of Bethlehem Steel, one day came into the smelter
area at the beginning of a shift and wrote "3" in chalk on the wall. An
employee asked "What does that mean?" Schwab: "That's the number of
loads the previous shift did." Without a further word, he left.
Soon the shifts were competing with each other, the result being that the
average number of loads per shift went from 3 to 7. Pride.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A more detailed explanation of this phenomena is found in <EM>The
Analysis of Behavior</EM> by B. F. Skinner (available through
BookPeople). The basic principles found therein have been many times
successfully applied to motivate high performance and to enhance the quality
and enjoyment of working life. Countless management books of various
quality have been written on this subject.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Note the use of the word "<STRONG><FONT
color=#0000ff>most</FONT></STRONG>" above. Unfortunately, some people
never seem to get it, more often at the management level. After fair and
reasonable attempts to motivate such a person to an acceptable level of
performance are not successful, then for the betterment of the organization
and the individual involved, it is time to give that individual an opportunity
to find their employment niche (and possibly to re-evaluate their past
performance levels/etc) elsewhere.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Though we having been discussing Moscow City government, the observant
will reflect that several area businesses need a bit (or a lot) of attention
here, particularly when it comes to customer service and/or encouraging
working at a speedier pace -- this is especially true of <STRONG><FONT
color=#ff0000>some</FONT></STRONG> that bitch about big box stores being
unfair competition.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>W.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">-----
Original Message -----
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: rgb(228,228,228) 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial"><B>From:</B>
<A title=the_ivies3@yahoo.com href="mailto:the_ivies3@yahoo.com">Tom Ivie</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 07, 2007 10:06 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] A Sad Night for Moscow</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>I was with you until the last paragraph. I think it is
apples and oranges but still all fruit. At the tire center they have
profit sharing. The more sales the store does, the larger the bonus at
the end of the year. How do you do that with a city type job? The
number of lines painted? Blades of grass mowed? Papers filed in the cabinet?
Does their work contribute to a "profit"? How do you measure the city's
"profit"? Low crime? Pedestrian and bicycle friendly? Fire hydrants that
work? <BR><BR><B><I>Art Deco <deco@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16441" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
<DIV>I enjoy Kit Craine's posts in part because of all the potential
political candidate's who write on V 2020, her posts exhibit the most clear
and intelligent understanding about how things governmental
should function in practice, and how they don't function
because of X, Y, Z, ...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I did not witness Aaron Ament's actions, so I cannot speak upon
entirely on their appropriateness. However, I have been in similar
situations.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In general, when I have been in situations where timely (or complete)
information was given not given to decision makers, the causes were:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. The preparation staff was generally overworked and struggled with
the best of intentions to get the work out,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. The preparation staff was poorly managed, did not work at an
acceptable work pace, and/or did not give appropriate priority to producing
the requested information on time or completely, or</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>3. The preparation staff intentionally, many times with the
covert or overt impetus of their management, produced information only at
the last minute (and sometimes incompletely) in order to attempt to sway the
decision under consideration one way or another. This is a classic
tactic used by a staff and their management to control a board who are, at
least by law or organizational structure, supposed to be ultimately in
charge of the staff and their management.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In one case, several of us served <EM>pro bono</EM> on an economic
development loan board for northern Idaho, an activity that took a bit of
time to do diligently. This board was administered by the well paid
staff of an administrative body (hereinafter AB).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If the AB staff had decided in advance that a certain loan should be
granted, but felt that it would not be granted if the application was given
diligent examination by the loan board, the AB staff would not present the
loan package until the meeting (sometimes the package was even then
incomplete), and then the staff would insist that the board must
act upon the application that night. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Unfortunately for the AB staff, the people first appointed to the loan
board by three sets of county commissioners were not quite such
fools. They always voted to table consideration of an
application until they had timely and complete information
(getting the latter was often a real struggle since the AB staff and/or
the applicant tended to not provide information that might have an
adverse impact on the board's decision). If the AB staff insisted
that a decision must be made the night we first received the loan
application package, we voted the proposal down. As expected, the
application was sent up again, and sometimes again and again until the
board felt it had adequate information and time to consider it and make a
diligent decision.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At first we gently tried to persuade AB staff to provide us
with timely, complete information for all applications. To no
avail. Whenever a risky or inappropriate application was put before
us, it was not timely and/or complete. After this happened several
times accompanied by our polite requests for more timely, complete
information, our patience ended. A stormy session ensued. It was
recorded and a partial transcript was given to the sets of county
commissioners. After that, information became more timely and
complete, although we had began to have more (intentional?) problems with
the integrity of the application materials which caused more delays in
processing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The AB staff had the last laugh, however. They
persuaded enough commissioners to replace some members of the board with
less technical, less qualified, more acquiescent persons. The result
was that more loans were made, but the failure rate of the projects they
were to support, and hence the repayment failure rate went up substantially,
although some favorite projects of the AB staff were funded (often followed
by failure and loan payment default).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Perhaps some Moscow citizens would care to speculate on the specific
applicability of 1, 2, and 3 above. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have not directly observed the pace of work of the inside city staff
so I cannot make an informed comment. I have observed the pace of
those working outside. While their snail-like pace is probably mostly
the result of incompetent, inattentive management, I would personally be
deeply ashamed to accept a paycheck for working so slow and/or inefficiently
as some do.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If the mayor, city council, or any citizen doubts the truth of the last
two sentences of the above paragraph here's a suggestion: Pay a visit
to the Les Schwab Tire Center; observe the pace of work there. Then
surreptitiously observe the pace of work of those painting lines and turn
arrows on the city streets, trimming trees, etc. Your city tax dollars
at work.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>W.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----
<DIV>From: "Craine Kit" <<A
href="mailto:kcraine@verizon.net">kcraine@verizon.net</A>></DIV>
<DIV>To: "Vision 2020" <<A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 12:09 AM</DIV>
<DIV>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A Sad Night for Moscow</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>> Excuse me, g.<BR>> <BR>> First, I am not "hansen". If
you want to piss on him, do it in <BR>> response to one of his
posts.<BR>> <BR>> Second, reread my comments. I, as a taxpayer in this
city, expect my <BR>> elected representatives understand what they
are voting on before <BR>> they say yea or nay. I, as a citizen,
need to know what information <BR>> will be used in a decision IF I
am going to make an informed comment. <BR>> Neither I nor the
Council can fully consider the consequences of a <BR>> decision if
essential facts are presented as the Councilors walk into <BR>> a
meeting. Staff being allowed to insert information at the last
<BR>> minute is a question of TIMING, not a target of someone's
"pique."<BR>> <BR>> A decision based on last minute input is NOT
necessarily a good one.<BR>> <BR>> Kit Craine (a female who always
provikes a negative response from g.)<BR>> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Original Post:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I agree with Aaron Ament. The City Council is conducting the
people's <BR>business: making contracts, passing laws, and--most
importantly-- <BR>spending our money. Just as a smart person takes time to
read and <BR>understand the fine print in a contract before signing
it, I expect <BR>our representatives to do no less when committing our
community and <BR>our dollars to something.<BR><BR>Furthermore,
we--the people--have a right to participate in our <BR>government. We
should be able to review the same information the <BR>Council will see
so we can make informed comments.<BR><BR>Neither the Council nor the people
can do their jobs well when <BR>pertinent information is not available
until just before a decision <BR>is made. That has nothing to do with
the competence of the staff and <BR>everything to do with timing. When
important information arrives too <BR>late to fit into the packet,
perhaps the matter should be tabled <BR>until the next
meeting.<BR><BR>Kit Craine<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>> <BR>> On Jun 6, 2007, at 3:42 PM, g. crabtree
wrote:<BR>> <BR>>> "When important information arrives
too<BR>>> late to fit into the packet, perhaps the matter should be
tabled<BR>>> until the next meeting."<BR>>><BR>>> So why
does Ament not simply make that motion? In what way is the
<BR>>> process improved by his treating the staff and the audience
both <BR>>> televised and in attendance to yet another of his
famous fits of <BR>>> pique? I would think that there will
always be the potential for <BR>>> new or updated information to
come in after the meetings agenda has <BR>>> been set and the
packets put together, running down the staff for <BR>>> trying
to make sure he has the most up to date information possible
<BR>>> is unappreciative and crass.<BR>>><BR>>> As an
aside for hansen: As a youth, had I told one of my peers to
<BR>>> "shut up" I would have likely been admonished and sent on my
way. <BR>>> Had I thrown a public hissy fit, spreading my
juvenile attitude <BR>>> over people who were trying to help me,
I'd most certainly have <BR>>> been shown a far harsher
discipline.<BR>>><BR>>> g<BR>>><BR>>> ----- Original
Message ----- From: "Craine Kit" <<A
href="mailto:kcraine@verizon.net">kcraine@verizon.net</A>><BR>>>
To: "Saundra Lund" <<A
href="mailto:sslund@roadrunner.com">sslund@roadrunner.com</A>>; "Vision
2020" <BR>>> <<A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>><BR>>>
Cc: "Stout Bob" <<A
href="mailto:bstout@ci.moscow.id.us">bstout@ci.moscow.id.us</A>>; "Ament
Aaron" <BR>>> <<A
href="mailto:aaronament@moscow.com">aaronament@moscow.com</A>>; "Lambert
Bill" <<A
href="mailto:blambert@ci.moscow.id.us">blambert@ci.moscow.id.us</A>>;
<BR>>> "Chaney Nancy" <<A
href="mailto:nchaney@ci.moscow.id.us">nchaney@ci.moscow.id.us</A>>;
<<A href="mailto:sears@moscow.com">sears@moscow.com</A>><BR>>>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 10:41 AM<BR>>> Subject: Re:
[Vision2020] A Sad Night for Moscow<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>>
I agree with Aaron Ament. The City Council is conducting the
people's<BR>>>> business: making contracts, passing laws, and--most
importantly-- <BR>>>> spending our money. Just as a smart
person takes time to read and<BR>>>> understand the fine print in a
contract before signing it, I expect<BR>>>> our representatives to
do no less when committing our community and<BR>>>> our dollars to
something.<BR>>>><BR>>>> Furthermore, we--the people--have
a right to participate in our<BR>>>> government. We should be able
to review the same information the<BR>>>> Council will see so we
can make informed comments.<BR>>>><BR>>>> Neither the
Council nor the people can do their jobs well when<BR>>>> pertinent
information is not available until just before a decision<BR>>>> is
made. That has nothing to do with the competence of the staff
and<BR>>>> everything to do with timing. When important information
arrives too<BR>>>> late to fit into the packet, perhaps the matter
should be tabled<BR>>>> until the next
meeting.<BR>>>><BR>>>> Kit
Craine<BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>> On Jun 5, 2007, at
4:12 PM, Saundra Lund wrote:<BR>>>><BR>>>>>
Visionaires:<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> No matter how you feel
about the issue that was under discussion, <BR>>>>> I
am<BR>>>>> absolutely appalled at John Weber's behavior during
last night's <BR>>>>> City<BR>>>>> Council
meeting :-( For him to publicly tell another
Council<BR>>>>> member with<BR>>>>> whom he
disagrees to "shut up" is simply beyond the pale.
Stupid<BR>>>>> mistakes<BR>>>>> like that do far
more to harm our community than do honest<BR>>>>>
disagreements.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> What happened to your
manners, Mr. Weber? Did you not stop to<BR>>>>>
***think***<BR>>>>> about your behavior being televised into
homes in our community?!?<BR>>>>> Even my<BR>>>>>
17-year-old knows it's incredibly rude and disrespectful to
tell<BR>>>>> another to<BR>>>>> "shut
up." She, BTW, was gleefully (I'm sorry to say)
horrified<BR>>>>> reading<BR>>>>> about your
spectacle last night. I had to explain to her I
was<BR>>>>> sure your<BR>>>>> mother *had* raised
you better, but people sometimes make mistakes<BR>>>>> in
the<BR>>>>> heat of the moment or not, as she well knows, and
that when you <BR>>>>> make a<BR>>>>> mistake,
you apologize, learn from the mistake, and carry on.<BR>>>>>
"Where's his<BR>>>>> apology?" was her question. It's
mine, too.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> We're waiting for an
apology, Mr. Weber -- one is certainly due<BR>>>>> from you
to<BR>>>>> all who witnessed or read about your rude and
disrespectful<BR>>>>> behavior last<BR>>>>>
night.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>><BR>>>>><BR>>>>>
Saundra Lund<BR>>>>> Moscow,
ID<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good people<BR>>>>> to
do<BR>>>>> nothing.<BR>>>>> - Edmund
Burke<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Moscow-Pullman Daily
News<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Big-box changes
nixed<BR>>>>> By Omie Drawhorn, Daily News staff
writer<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - Page
Updated at 12:00:00 AM<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Tempers
flared at Monday night's Moscow City Council meeting,<BR>>>>>
during which<BR>>>>> the council rejected any amendments to the
large retail <BR>>>>> establishment<BR>>>>>
ordinance.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> "We already have a
dark-store ordinance in there that is stronger<BR>>>>> than
what<BR>>>>> planning and zoning brought us," Councilman Aaron
Ament said. "I<BR>>>>> want to see<BR>>>>> a cap. A
cap would serve this community well. We have a big-box<BR>>>>>
shopping<BR>>>>> culture that's just about run its course in
this country; we're<BR>>>>> making sure<BR>>>>> they
mitigate for problems they cause the community. Moscow
would<BR>>>>> be crazy<BR>>>>> to drop all the rest
and just let them come into the city on <BR>>>>> their
own<BR>>>>> terms."<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>
Ament went on to say he was frustrated that Moscow city
staff<BR>>>>> members hand<BR>>>>> him important
documents just minutes before the start of a
meeting.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> "I'm so tired of coming to
sit down and have people flip papers for<BR>>>>> me
to<BR>>>>> read," he said. "I seriously read everything put in
the packet, and<BR>>>>> I find<BR>>>>> it insulting
for them to expect me to read it in a couple of <BR>>>>>
minutes."<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> At that point, Councilman
John Weber interrupted Ament.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> "We
have pretty qualified people over here who do a very good
job;<BR>>>>> I don't<BR>>>>> need you running off on
them," he said. "Why don't you just shut <BR>>>>>
up?"<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney said
Weber interrupted Ament at "the<BR>>>>>
appropriate<BR>>>>>
time."<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> "I hope we can retrieve a
little civility on all sides,"<BR>>>>> Councilwoman
Linda<BR>>>>> Pall said.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>
The amendments recommended by the planning and zoning
commission<BR>>>>>
included:<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> A large retail
establishment would have to expand by at least 30<BR>>>>>
percent<BR>>>>> before it would be required to apply for a
conditional use permit;<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Big-box
stores between 40,000 and 65,000 square feet would be<BR>>>>>
subject to the<BR>>>>> design manual - which includes standards
for the exterior and<BR>>>>> interior of<BR>>>>>
buildings - at the discretion of the board of
adjustment;<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Any business requiring
140 or fewer parking spaces would not be<BR>>>>> subject
to<BR>>>>> the parking requirements of the design
manual;<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Size be based on gross floor
space as opposed to projected roof <BR>>>>>
area,<BR>>>>> thereby eliminating outdoor storage areas from the
calculated square<BR>>>>>
footage.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> The planning and zoning
commission also recommended a guideline for<BR>>>>>
stores<BR>>>>> that go dark in Moscow to
follow.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> The large retail
establishment ordinance, passed in February 2006,<BR>>>>>
requires<BR>>>>> retail stores with more than 40,000 square feet
of gross floor area<BR>>>>> to apply<BR>>>>> for a
conditional use permit.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> The council
heard public testimony on the proposed amendments May
7.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Councilman Bill Lambert said the
conditional use permit process<BR>>>>>
already<BR>>>>> gives the city enough control on which
businesses are allowed to<BR>>>>> locate<BR>>>>>
within the city.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> "The big-box
ordinance as it stands now is a tough enough ordinance<BR>>>>>
we're<BR>>>>> not going to need (amendments) like this to
prevail," he said. "The<BR>>>>> dark-store issue can be dealt
with at the time the conditional use<BR>>>>> permit
is<BR>>>>> requested."<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>
Weber agreed.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> "With the dark store
ordinance, what we have done here is put in <BR>>>>>
some<BR>>>>> verbiage that would make it almost impossible for
anybody from the<BR>>>>> city to<BR>>>>> enforce or
get a handle on," he said. "We've choked it off to the<BR>>>>>
point that<BR>>>>> nobody really wants to come here
anyway."<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> In other business, the
council reversed a board of adjustment<BR>>>>> decision
that<BR>>>>> granted a conditional use permit for a proposed a
Dutch Bros.<BR>>>>> coffee outlet<BR>>>>> with a
drive-through window at 525 S. Jackson
St.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>
QUICKREAD<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> WHAT HAPPENED: The Moscow
City Council rejected amendments to the<BR>>>>>
large<BR>>>>> retail establishment ordinance recommended by the
planning and <BR>>>>> zoning<BR>>>>>
commission.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> WHAT IT MEANS: The large
retail establishment ordinance will not<BR>>>>> include
a<BR>>>>> size cap. The original dark-store provision remains
the same.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The
ordinance will remain as originally
written.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The
ordinance affects businesses greater than<BR>>>>>
40,000<BR>>>>> square feet that want to move into
Moscow.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>> Omie Drawhorn can be reached
at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-<BR>>>>> mail
at<BR>>>>> <A
href="mailto:odrawhorn@dnews.com">odrawhorn@dnews.com</A>.<BR>>>>><BR>>>>><BR>>>>><BR>>>>><BR>>>>>
=======================================================<BR>>>>>
List services made available by First Step
Internet,<BR>>>>> serving the communities of the Palouse
since
1994.<BR>>>>>
<A
href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</A><BR>>>>>
<A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>>>>>
=======================================================<BR>>>><BR>>>>
=======================================================<BR>>>> List
services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>>>> serving the
communities of the Palouse since
1994.<BR>>>>
<A
href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</A><BR>>>>
<A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>>>>
=======================================================<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>
<BR>>
=======================================================<BR>> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>>
<A
href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</A>
<BR>> <A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>>
=======================================================<BR>></DIV>=======================================================<BR>List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities
of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net
<BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
<DIV></DIV>
<HR SIZE=1>
Be a better Heartthrob. <A
href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=48255/*http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/_ylc=X3oDMTI5MGx2aThyBF9TAzIxMTU1MDAzNTIEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNCQUJwaWxsYXJfTklfMzYwBHNsawNQcm9kdWN0X3F1ZXN0aW9uX3BhZ2U-?link=list&sid=396545433">Get
better relationship answers </A>from someone who knows.<BR>Yahoo! Answers -
Check it out.
<DIV></DIV>
<HR>
<DIV></DIV>=======================================================<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>
http://www.fsr.net
<BR>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>==============================================================================================================<BR>List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of
the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net
<BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
<P>
<HR SIZE=1>
Luggage? GPS? Comic books? <BR>Check out fitting <A
href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=48249/*http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=graduation+gifts&cs=bz">gifts
for grads</A> at Yahoo! Search.
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>=======================================================<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>
http://www.fsr.net
<BR>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================</BODY></HTML>