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<DIV><FONT size=2>Good points!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>While we are talking about insurance, why doesn't the city
require performance bonds on all public and development projects instead of
allowing the favored not to do so? For example, how much will the Michael
Hoffman mess on Mountain View cost the city?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>W.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=bear@moscow.com href="mailto:bear@moscow.com">Wayne Price</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=deco@moscow.com
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">Art Deco</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 09, 2009 11:11
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Ode to the City
of Moscow Public works Department</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Wayne,
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>While we're on this particular topic, what ever happened to "Quality
Control" or contract oversight on city projects? Easy examples are
located all over the city in plain sight, let alone the ones below ground that
we'll never see until </DIV>
<DIV>the City Council sticks its collective hand into the tax payers pockets!
Next time you're downtown, take a look at the recently paved alley way
between the buildings located on the west side of Main Street and the parking
lot. I don't know a lot about engineering road ways, but I can tell you
this much, water runs down hill and the drains to the storm water sewer is
UPHILL the way it has been paved! Water lays on the roadway, and during
freeze-thaw cycles will eventually tear up the roadway and require repaving.
IF only that would have been checked BEFORE the final check went to the
contractors who paved it! And if you take a look at the storm drain in
front of Buccer's on Main Street, and the storm drain in front of Sisters on
the northeastern side of Main, the lips of the drain are well above the street
level! No matter how much Public Works would like for it to happen,
water does not run UP HILL! Granted, the city didn't pave the streets like
that, but where was the oversight of the contractors that did? What
happened to contract compliance? OR wasn't it in the various paving contracts
that the streets be paved so that the water runs down hill to the drains?
Doesn't the city require insurance be provided by the contractors on their
work? Has anything been initiated so that the contractors so that
IF THEY WON'T their shoddy work, they never get awarded a paving contract
again paid for by the taxpayers? No, the current sitting council is more
concerned about smokers being 20 feet from an entrance door or God
forbid we have too many chickens being raised in the city! Our esteemed
city attorney can study and write legislation for chickens but can't go after
sub standard performing contractors that fleece the city!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>WMP</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR>
<DIV>
<DIV>On Dec 9, 2009, at 10:24 AM, Art Deco wrote:</DIV><BR
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<DIV><FONT size=2>Chuck,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>You might compare the pace of work of the city public
works employees with that, say, of those employees at Les Schwab, who
understand the importance of working at a reasonable pace to satisfy their
employers and to satisfy their employer's customers (who ultimately pay the
employees' wages, like the taxpayers who pay the wages of the public works
employees).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>For example, several of us watched the city doing work on
Jefferson between 3rd and 6th this summer. What a joke.
Generally, not only was the one person actually doing the work moving slow,
but there were some public works workers just standing around or sitting
under a tree. Those of us who come to the post office daily observed
this on several occasions and remarked upon it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Then there are the street markings workers. How slow
can you move without being confused with snails or
statues? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Why does it take three people to trim low hanging branches
from a tree?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>My comments are not about how<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><STRONG>well</STRONG><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>the work gets done (although in the
case first cited above among others, there are were some serious
questions<STRONG>*</STRONG>), but how<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><STRONG>slow</STRONG><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>the workers are. During my
summer travels, I can assure you that in some cities and other places, I see
city/county/state workers actually work at a reasonably good pace and
without an overabundance of standees. Can you imagine this: In
one city it took<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><STRONG>one</STRONG><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>employee just five minutes to
replace a street sign! Good luck in seeing this in
Moscow.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Slow workers or standing around workers mean higher taxes
for residents, or in the alternative, less money to spend on other
items. One would hope that in these recessionary times workers and
their<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><STRONG>supervisors<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></STRONG>would show enough concern
and sensitivity to public perception/pain to perform at a reasonable
pace. I view this as a supervisory/management problem, and one of long
standing. It is also one of certain other city officials being in
denial about the problem.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>If the public works department head or the underlying
supervisors do not promote/insist upon a reasonable work pace, it is
unlikely that the actual workers will voluntarily adopt such. I cannot
say from personal experience in the city of Moscow (but only by anecdotal
evidence), but it is possible that certain city public works workers who
want to work faster or smarter are sometimes discouraged from doing so by
their peers who have been employed longer by the city.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Wayne A. Fox<BR>1009 Karen Lane<BR>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow,
ID 83843</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><A href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR>208
882-7975</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>*</STRONG>Why was the excuse of not knowing about
the lack of suitable Jefferson substrata used to explain the delay in
resurfacing Jefferson when the city had dug (and redug) several very deep
holes in Jefferson when working on the water mains several weeks (months?)
earlier? The long delay in paving/reopening Jefferson not only was
inconvenient for those using the federal building, including the post
office, but most likely impacted the businesses at 3rd and Jefferson
where the ingress/egress from the parking lot was a hassle.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----</DIV>
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<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(228,228,228); FONT: 10pt arial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial"><B>From:</B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A title=ckovis@turbonet.com
href="mailto:ckovis@turbonet.com">Chuck Kovis</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A title=deco@moscow.com
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">Art Deco</A><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>;<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision 2020</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Wednesday, December 09, 2009 9:07
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Re: [Vision2020] Ode to the City
of Moscow Public works Department</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>What a cheap shot. This city is as well
run as any I have ever seen. Chuck
Kovis</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>=======================================================<BR>List
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