Couple of Quick Hits...

I’m still on the comeback trail trying to catch up with my day-job work which has definitely cramped my blogging production.  Under the circumstances, I figure that rather than worrying about waxing eloquently and being entertaining, I’ll be more like good old Joe Friday from Dragnet — just the facts — and get you up to speed quick.  So here goes:

1.  TO ALLOW FOR UNDERGROUND UTILITY WORK TO BE PERFORMED BY THE CITY OF KENT, STATE ROUTE 43 (N. MANTUA STREET), AT FAIRCHILD AVENUE, WILL BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE IN EACH DIRECTION BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8:00AM AND 5:00PM ON TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011 AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2011.

TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNS WILL BE POSTED.   TRAFFIC DELAYS ARE EXPECTED.   MOTORISTS ARE ASKED TO AVOID THE AREA AND TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL TRAVEL TIME WHEN LEAVING FOR THEIR DESTINATION.  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, RESIDENTS MAY CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AT (330) 678-8105.

2.  As of 9 am Monday, February 28, 2011, Cherry Street has been closed between Mogadore Rd. and SR 261 due to flooding and will remain closed until further notice.

3.  Habitat Re-Store In Kent Needs Your Help — I received an appeal for assistance from the good folks that run the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in Kent.  Here’s what they sent: 

HABITAT ReSTORE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Open Tues – Sat, 10am – 5pm
1510 South Water St. Kent, OH   (University Plaza)  (330) 677-8881

restore@habitatofportage.org
Donations Tax Deductible to the fullest extent of the law.   Will pick up most large items.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE RESTORE 

NEEDS: The ReStore is severely low on items to sell to the public. To keep up with the heavy traffic, consistent, quality donations are needed. Here is a list of top sellers that are in high demand:
Beds and bed frames (Out of stock)
Appliances (Out of stock)
Furniture (couches, dining tables, hutches, etc.)
Plastic Grocery Bags (Almost out of stock) 

FOR SALE:
2 sets of Mahogany French Doors with brass and glass handles measuring 50 in. $150.00/set
Office set – 6 office desks with chairs, file cabinets, large drawer file cabinet great for art work
Very nice desk with side table and matching shelves. $600.00. Delivery available.

PROJECTS:
3 houses have been identified for deconstruction. Work on the Kent home began Saturday, Feb. 26th. Volunteers secured the home and removed all of the copper water lines, the furnace, and the hot water tank. Still to be removed are the baseboards, molding, doors and bathroom fixtures.  Beta Alpha Psi, the Accounting Association at Kent State, as part of a larger project, has volunteered students to do an energy audit on the Restore Kent State University Architecture Students are beginning to redesign and remodel the ReStore trailers to be used both for ReStore purposes and also for building site use.

VOLUNTEERS:
The ReStore is always in need of reliable volunteers with all skill levels. Please contact the store directly during regular hours for more information on how you can help out.

Guilty Conscience...

I’ve worked so hard over the last 5 years to keep the Kent360 blogs fresh, current and steadily streaming, that it’s killing me that this month I’ve been lucky if I can find the time to bust out even 1 post a week.  So this is my guilty conscious calling. 

Compared to a lot of blogs even 1 a week is pretty good but I’ve always said Kent360 doesn’t aspire to be an average blog — we want to be better than the average bear.  I take great pride when people stop me on the street and say, love the blog, tons of information, keep up the good work. 

So now, as workload has pulled me in other directions,  I find myself not wanting to make eye contact with people on the street for fear they’ll call me out — dude what’s up with the blog?  Where’s the stories?  Or worse yet, just a defeated head shake side to side.  Ouch. 

Guilty as charged, and being a good Catholic, guilt burrows deep in my soul.  Like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, I keep waiting to hear the warden announce, what we have here is a failure to communicate.  Accch, there it is again, guilt.

The trouble is my day job as City Manager has been on overload the last couple of weeks.  It’s all important stuff, downtown redevelopment, Crain/Fairchild project, public art grant, EPA grants,  city/university partnerships, city/county partnerships, new Portage Development Board, the Edwards student housing project, new business tech park concept, new Police Chief, vacant building ordinance, Acorn Alley Phase II construction details, PARTA multi-modal phasing, land acquistion, land swap, new business recruitment, state representatives coordination, snow operations, public health discussions, and on and on. 

That list is long but that in and of itself is not all that different than normal; what’s been different is the amount of time I’ve been writing various proposals, reports and briefing papers.  I’ve come to learn that I’ve only got so many decent sentences in me each day and I’ve been using up my quota on all the other stuff so by the time I get to the blog, I’m spent.  Nothing in the tank. 

This would be my confession, asking for your pardon.  Forgive me fellow reader for I have been unavailable online. 

That doesn’t mean good things aren’t still happening all over town, they are, it’s just that I haven’t been able to officially chronicle them for you.  For example, in case you haven’t noticed, the break in the weather last week allowed the Crain/Fairchild Avenue bridge contractor to re-stripe SR43 and Fairchild.  Huge improvement.  It was getting pretty hairy over there and the striping goes a long way to keeping the cars in their lanes rather than in on-coming traffic. 

If you’re heading in the direction of the Crain Avenue bridge be forewarned, the contractors are now on the east side of the river doing a lot of the same kind of utility work that caused traffic confusion on the west side for many months, so while heading up to Streetsboro on SR43 is now a breeze, the same can not be said for traffic coming down Lake Street, Crain Avenue or Water Street.  Traffic through that area is a little bumpy, both literally and figuratively.  My advice, stick to Haymaker Parkway, and use Gougler and N. Mantua rather than cutting across the old bridge. 

Thanks for your patience and I’ll try to get back on track. 

Studying the Lincoln Street / Main Street Intersec...

- We have contacted the design firm for the project and asked them to give us a proposal to updated their previous analysis to determine the impacts of adding the all red phase. We could do the work internally, but we would not be able to complete it in a timely manner.

- We also asked the firm to consider other changes to the signal to make the intersection more pedestrian friendly in the proposal, if the addition of a pedestrian only phase impacted the signal detrimentally.

- We contacted ODOT and they agreed that the analysis would be considered eligible for funding with the SR 59 Project (therefore we pay 20%)

Please note the existing intersection is functioning at  (for cars) a Level of Service (LOS) of “E” with an average delay of 65.4 sec. The minimum design LOS is “D” with a maximum delay of 55 sec (preferred is “C” with 35 sec of delay). Knowing this I believe the results of the analysis will show a more unacceptable LOS with the addition of the pedestrian only phase.

However, we think the addition of a “Pedestrian Lead” phase may be possible. In this situation, when a pedestrian pushes the walk button the signal will provide a brief phase where all traffic movements will have a red light and the “called” pedestrian movement will get a “walk” signal. This phase will provide for the pedestrian to occupy the crosswalk before the car. The impact to the traveling public for this type of change may be acceptable. We have already included this “Pedestrian Lead” phase for the signals at SR 59/Horning and SR 59/Midway.

In summary….we are working on the request, it will be a few months before we get enough information to make an informed decision, it will cost us a small amount of money that is already budgeted and any changes will be made with the new signal installed this summer.

Kent Parks and Rec Wetlands Grant Application...

As you read this blog post go to your music library and pull up your favorite version of Little Help From My Friends (personally, I like Joe Cocker’s rendition) because that’s what this story is all about.   

Kent’s Public Service Department...

In the spirit of full disclosure I have to come clean and admit that I have a bias for the men and women in hard hats wearing City uniforms.  I hold all City employees in high regard but as someone that was born and raised professionally in Public Works (aka Public Service Department) it’s hard for me not to sing their praises any chance I get.  

The good news is I can sing their praises without audio so you’re in luck.

This time of year we actually see more of the Public Service employees than any other time.  Winter brings out the worst in our weather and the worst weather brings out our Public Service employees.  

Last night as I shoveled for the bizzillionith time this winter, I could hear the sounds of a City plow truck operator working the neighborhood.  Round he went, pushing and scraping along the way — and like the lone ranger he was done and gone before I had a chance to wave goodbye and say thanks.    

But that’s no surprise.  The folks that are attracted to a career in Public Service tend to prefer working behind the scenes, at least until we need them. 

I’ve worked in enough cities to know that Public Service/Public Works type — salt of the earth, pragmatic, humble, strong backs, vice grips and proud of what they do.  As they should be. (cue the Alleluia chorus here).  

In a less visible, but no less courageous way, Public Service Employees are fearless.  When we talk of fearless City employees I’m sure Police and Fire come to mind (and they deserve to be at the top of the bravery on our behalf category) but I would make a case that Public Service employees have an every day fearlessness to what they do that is no less impressive than their Police and Fire brethren.  

National occupational health and safety figures for on-the-job injuries and fatalities rank construction and street maintenance employees at the top of the list for high risk professions – even higher than either Police or Fire.  Yet outside of the employees that work in the trenches few people appreciate the dangers in the work of Public Service/Public Works. 

Public Service/Public Works is a full contact sport.  Whether it’s climbing 60’ up to remove weakened tree limbs, squeezing down manholes to clear debris stuck in sewer lines, or descending into failing underground pump stations that are half submerged in human waste and water with electric circuits exposed – it is not for the faint hearted.  Nor is it for the unprepared. 

Public works employees are not headline hunters, they’re problem solvers.  If it’s broke, they climb in and fix it without giving it a second thought. They’re heroes in hardhats whose courage is easily overlooked because it is dressed in coveralls and looks too much like work to be heroic. 

Wherever people are and whenever they need us, Public Service is there for them.   It’s  employees that go where others won’t go because it has to get done and they’re first in line to help.

It’s selfless acts – not for glory’s sake – but for the sake of knowing that you’re a person who has what it takes, and the guts to use it. 

True heroism isn’t found in glory received, it’s found in humble acts of service to others that depend on Public Service to do what they do best.

 Don’t Try This At Home

It takes a special person to climb 12’ below ground, crawl through half-frozen mud, while ½ ton sections of pipe swing overhead and only narrow trench boxes stand between them and the weight of thousands of cubic yards of soil.  But that’s exactly what Public Service employees do.  

The work is done with little fanfare.  There are no parades or medals for these acts of everyday courage; they are done out of a sense of duty, honor and pride. 

These unheralded sacrifices don’t make the headlines; instead they just quietly go about their business of putting the community on their backs to reach its goals. 

Prescription Discount Cards...

Over the last year I’ve seen an increasing number of city’s promoting the National League of Cities (NLC) prescription discount program for their residents as a way to save them money.  At Kent City Council’s request we looked into this program to see if it had value to Kent residents.

We discovered that prescription discount programs are popping up all over the place.  I thought that perhaps the National League of Cities had negotiated some unique deal but once we starting checking around it turned out that prescription discount cards are being offered all over the internet and in stores right here in Kent. 

The fact that the National League of Cities is a respected industry association lends credibility to their program but we were surprised to see that the types of discounts on common pharmaceutical offered in their program is comparable to discounts found in a number of free on-line discounters. 

The discount cards are not a health insurance card but if you’re paying cash out of pocket for prescriptions you should definitely look into them, they can probably save you some money.   The City’s HR Manager says that generally these cards can be used if you are uninsured, or your prescription is not covered by your plan so she recommends asking your pharmacy or searching discount prescription cards on line to see what’s available.  Many of the cards can be applied for on line and printed right off your computer.  

A couple of years ago City Council chose to not renew the City’s membership in the National League of Cities (NLC) as a cost cutting measure (especially since we belong to other professional associations with similar purposes) which means in order to jump on-board the NLC program we’d have to re-join the organization at a cost of $1,500. 

When we reported this back to City Council, they suggested that given the wide array of free discount programs out there, perhaps the best option right now was just to help spread the word about the availability of prescription discount programs and let the residents select the one that best fits their needs.  So look around and see for yourself:  

Google Prescription Discount Cards