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Thank you, enjoy your visit and come back ya' heah.
May 14, 2012
DEAR PAM
We realize that you have limited resources available for pursuing cost reduction projects, so we have decided to help you with draft letters. This will free you up for important things, like dealing with all the serious problems of the police and fire department pensions. Hope this helps you formulate your position to the Mayor.
NOTES:
1. OPEN GOVERNMENT
Another week and they can not come up with a profit and loss statement for the Balloon Disaster.
2. MARINE DISASTER CENTER BACK ON NORTH CAUSEWAY?
We spent a couple of million to put them in new building and like bedbugs or roaches they are back. Cannot launch boats at new location? Besides, as noted above, the lease is invalid and the dock is open to anyone, first come, first serve. Take that in your Hallus and smoke it.
Mayor Barringer:
DEAR PAM
Adam, I think we need a couple more vacant lots where the owner can not remember what he did with the insurance money so we can prove we need another CRA. The idiots at the County are contributing $140,000. I am buying up lots on Rt.1. Where is the guy Norman Normal and what is he doing at FDLE. We need to cover our backs. But don't worry, the Balloon Fest financial report has been deepsixed.
PAM
VIGNETTES
1. ART DISTRICT OVERLAY
Two art porn shops with 10 foot signs of local women looking for companions. Legally clad, but just. E-mail with tracking. An art outlet, like Backpage, but local. One on third Ave. and the other on Washington. Wait for the CRA grant applications.
2 REFLOOD CANAL AND BRING IN THE DELTA QUEEN
Downtown housing and an attraction.
Thanks for Stopping By and You Are Visitor Number:
05142012-R1-051412-0908
The Shadow Runs Best Under Internet Explorer.
BLOGS: A STATEMENT BY THE SHADOW
The Shadow generally does not edit BLOGS. Very profane comments, even in only first letters, and attacks accusing anyone of a crime are deleted or reformed even when they are about public officials. Personal attacks upon the publisher that are devoid of content are deleted. But not always. Not all postings are essays on important subjects. Not all are fully cogent. On the real positive side, there are way more than 100,000 postings over the last few years and many are excellent tip offs as to funny goings on in Mayberry. Many also are excellent essays on relevant topics. Do our readers a favor and stop attacking the opposing political party as commies or reactionaries. The Shadow does edit for spelling.
behavior has little to do with some of the comparisons that have been made to the way Swentor was dealt with compared to Heller in terms of time to speak, although the Boy Mayor and the rest of the less than illustrious brain trust we call a City Commission continues down the path of a former German dictator by restricting free speech, in this case that of Mr. Heller.
The problem, however, lies more in the thought process used to evaluate the merits of the project being proposed. And the problem is there is no through process, only snippets of illogical questions and statements of support depending on whether you are running for election or not. What is missing is critical review of the project’s strengths and weaknesses, one of which is a deal breaker in and of itself. And that is can the vessel be docked where they want to dock it? That blunt question has not been asked nor answered by the Commission, with the possible exceptions of Jack Grasty's meanderings near the point when he suggested their are regulatory folks that might have a say in whether this BIG vessel can be docked permanently so close to the ICW. One would have thought that Mr. Heller, with all of his bragging about having lots of experience with BIG ships, would have not only checked out the Federal and State requirements, but that he would have stated the results of his research clearly and convincingly up front when all this started that
1. He had coordinated with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida DEP (submerged land lease; you remember this was also a problem with the Anglers Club and Mr. Gummey never caught that one until the SHADOW pointed it out), and the Florida Inland Navigation District or F.I.N.D.
2, That he would have included with his proposal some measure of documentation of initial clearances from these agencies in order to make the City more comfortable with his presentation. But no, not a word and based on the SHADOW's own investigation as of last week he had made no contact with any of the three regulatory agencies.
3. That City staff would have pointed out this problem during the first meeting where Mr. Heller made his impassioned pleas for a quick lease with no investigation.
4. And just what does Mr. Heller plan to do with the vessel after he drags it here and has no permits to dock it? Just tie it up at Riverview? we think not as it would definitely block the ICW at that point.
Let us dissect this from several points:
1. The current MDC claimed dock sits right in the way. As we have noted elsewhere in this edition, the lease of that dock to the MDC is illegal and since the dock was paid for with F.I.N.D. money, it must be available to the general public with no restrictions. Thus if the dock remains, the vessel cannot block it nor tie up to it. And if you move it, does it negate the grant and require reimbursement to F.I.N.D. Maybe the City manager, City Commission and the Boy Mayor should ask Mr. Gummey to check that one out and report back. Oh we forgot, the Boy Mayor "proudly" stands by his vote.
2. The vessel is 285 feet long (86.9 m), 58 feet (17.7m) wide, and draws 11.5 feet (3.5m). She weighs 1,650 tons , with a capacity of 176 passengers. Her cross-compounded steam engines generate 2,000 indicated horsepower (1,500 kW), powering a stern-mounted paddlewheel. (Wkipedia). Those statistics show us that the vessel will draw 11.5 feet of water at her keel which will be about 39 feet (29 plus 10 foot gangplank) from the riverbank at the old AOB site. That means that there should be say 12.5 mean low water depth at that point in order to prevent the vessel from going aground. Now where along that portion of the river do we find 12.5 foot of water at mean low water consistently, 39 feet from the shoreline? We do not believe where they want to put it.
3. Assume they do find sufficient water at where we have described above, where does this put the boat in relation to the ICW channel? Well the channel side of the hull would be at approximately 68 feet from the shore line near where the old AOB was. Looking a Google Earth shot of the ICW at that point it show the width of the water area from the AOB shore to the current floating dock to be 58 feet, while the distance from the ICW side of the floating dock to the shallows of Chick Island to be 275 feet. The ICW channel is not marked on Google Earth, so we cannot be sure of exactly where it is. Our guess is probably at the middle of non-shallow water, which, using Google Earth, it is closer to the AOB than the island.
4. The next question then is will the vessel docked with its keel clear at 12.5 feet of water, and sitting approximately 68 feet from the AOB side on the outside of its structure, be intruding into the ICW channel and/or be considered a hazard to navigation by the USCG or the Army Corps of Engineers who control the ICW? We don’t know and those questions have never been answered by Mr. Heller or even asked except in a passing comment by Mr, Grasty and that was never made part of any motions or direction by the Commission, thus there is still no "official" inquiry by the Commission as to the this status or review by the appropriate agencies. We think that is not responsible government nor in the best interests of anybody, including Mr. Heller. Oh yes, these are also questions that the advertising focused fish wrap called the News Journal never bothered to ask either. Another example of the lack of responsible journalism by Mr. Rice and company But then what else would you expect from a third rate newspaper that caters to its advertisers and not the "all the news that is fit to print."
5. Now to put any further concerns that maybe these questions have been asked, the SHADOW inquired last week of the Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville, F.I.N.D., and the Ponce Inlet Port Authority and they all verified that no one, including anyone from the City has made any inquires at all about the feasibility of docking the Delta Queen opposite the old AOB site as a hotel. We also make note that the vessel does not meet the USCG standards for the Safety at Sea Act and thus cannot carry passengers underway on the water. Although the vessel received several exemptions from that Act over the years, the last one expired in 2008 and thus her career as a hotel began. The USCG has gone on record opposing any further exemptions and the Obama administration, has a recent record of saying “what Delta Queen?” when being asked about the previous candidate Obama’s pledge to get the vessel another exemption. We can only guess that more of that “Change” took place after he won, like most politicians, including our own Boy Mayor and of course how could we leave out Hathaway who never follows through (except on the Flagler Ave Hotel issue) on what he says is his position.
So after doing the research that the New Journal should have done in the first place, we suggest that before we waste any more time with RFPs or Commission testimony, we simply ask what the position of the ACE, USCG, and F.I.N.D. is regarding the proposed docking of this vessel so close to or possibly intruding on, the ICW channel. We would also suggest that we ask exactly what the channel depth is currently at in that areas as it is well known that the ICW does not maintain its required 12 foot depth at all sections and Wikipedia states:
“Today, federal law provides for the waterway to be maintained at a minimum depth of 12 feet (4 m) for most of its length, but inadequate funding has prevented that. Consequently for larger ships, shoaling or shallow water are encountered along several sections of the waterway, with these having 7-foot (2.1-m) or 9-foot (2.7-m) minimum depths from earlier improvements.”
The bulk of the ICW channel is nearer to the AOB side than Chicken Island and if you VIEW the provided chart view you can see it is claimed to be 12 ft., yet the channel center seems to almost converge on the outside of the MDC dock, not leaving much room for a vessel of this size.
We ask what would have a responsible proposer (Mr. Heller) and a responsible city staff supporting the Commission done in terms of a presentation? Well one would think they would have done the following:
1. Done the needed due diligence and asked the ACE, USCG, F.I.N.D., and other approval authorities such as DEP, who would need to issue a submerged land lease to somebody, we assume the City as they are the upland owners of the property. (Don’t worry the SHADOW has already asked FL DEP if the City has a submerged land lease for the floating dock used by the MDC leeches and we will report on that later, including what sales tax revenue has been reported since the beginning of the MDC occupation and onward through the ill fated Mayor Sally fiasco Water Taxi). And reported the results of those inquires as city staff reporting; we find no record of such action by our city staff or City Manager, who apparently was asleep at the switch or too busy trying to keep anyone from talking to Henry over at the NSBNEWS.
2. Would have made a presentation chart depicting the proposed docking so that all could see what they were talking about and about where this vessel would sit, including an analysis of potential hazard to navigation status. Remember, a barge almost landed on John Hagood’s desk on at least two occasions we know about during the operation of the AOB. Again, no such action by our highly paid city staff or Mr. Heller; just words again.
3. Developed a clear cost benefit analysis to the City in terms of jobs, tax revenue and tourism attractiveness for evaluation. Again. No such action by a government that claims it has economic development at the center and pays our good old boy Tony Otte to perform that function. Where was Tony on this issue? Out to lunch with Holly we assume.
So we have but another example of the failure of this government, its Boy Mayor and City Commission to do anything the way it is supposed to be done and with the best interests of the taxpayers in the forefront. We have a City Manager that fails to oversee a city staff that can produce anything close to an expected level of professional work. No graphics, no written reports that make sense, etc. But we are not surprised as they can’t even prepare a budget that makes sense or really displays where the money and what it is being spent on.
We will keep you updated.
3. MY, MY, SOMEONE REFERRED TO MR. McQUIRCK AS McWEASAL? WHY?
We know someone who runs an ice cream stand for his parents and thinks Adam is doing a good job. Why a weasel? Why not a ferret?
1. ASK GUMMEY FOR A LEGAL OPINION ABOUT RENTING THE CITY DOCK BUILT WITH F.I.N.D. MONEY
They built the dock on the North Causeway with public funds. It is a public dock. The roaches can not lease it. Where is the City sign saying it is for public use? Go ahead citizens make use of YOUR DOCK and tell the leeches to go back to their taxpayer funded mansion at the Old High School while you are at it.
2.THE DELTA QUEEN IN A BATHTUB!
More Bad Business by The Mayor and the City Commission, Including Hathaway
The recent lack of thinking by the Mayor and the City Commission continues with the Delta Queen fiasco. While the possible benefits of using the Delta Queen as a floating hotel have been bantered about in both the print and Internet press, the City Commission continues to demonstrate a total lack of understanding of what should be part of any initial discussions on the subject of allowing the project to go forward. This
NORMAN’S CORNER
Hey Chairman Bruno,
Got held over in Tallahassee at FDLE. They had some questions about this SVAA contract fiasco and wanted to know if you were going to do anything about it. I told them I would pass it on, but that was all I could do.
Any news on those vacant positions at the SVAA? Seems like you would want to move on those and get some new, untainted blood in there quickly before that Media guy screws the work completely up and Dinneen tries to transfer the blame to you.
Anyway I will be home next week and get back to work on the various project you have lined up for me.
Your trusted servant,
NSB Norman Normal
PS: Snitches tell me that a short guy with raggedly cutoffs, a three day old beard, and a video camera has been hanging out at the City Marina looking for a shot of Koleszar and the FED guy with him. But he was late and missed the opportunity and has had no luck. It seems Koleszar has been in Tallahassee (I saw him yesterday at FDLE) on some mission. Had lots of papers with him a was muttering about somebody called the Boy Mayor; any ideas who he is talking about? Beats me as the only Mayor I know is a middle aged guy trying to look debonair, with Clark Gable slicked down hair and throwing around words "proudly do I stand."
Anyway see you next week.
THE SVAA, AGAIN!!!!!!
WE BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION AGAIN WHAT LAST WEEK WE STATED ABOUT THE SOUTHEAST VOLUSIA ADVERTISING AUTHORITY’S CONTRACT WITH THE CHAMBER:
THE SOUTHEAST VOLUSIA ADVERTISING AUTHORITY CONTRACT WITH THE SOUTHEAST VOLUSIA CHAMBER OF COMERCE PROVIDES:
“IN EXCHANGE FOR ABOUT $35,000 OF SVAA MONEY……… THE CHAMBER AGREED TO LOBBY FOR THE REAPPOINTMENT OF THE CURRENT SVAA BOARD MEMBERS.”
OK, HERE IS THE ACTUAL CONTRACT CLAUSE:
"With these relationships with government officials the Chamber will continue to : support the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority Boazd of Directors for reappointment and /or lobby for appointment of other potential Board Members that wlll support the mission and philosophy of the Authority."
WE ALSO ASKED:
MR. LARRIZA, IS THIS AN INAPPROPRIATE, OR WORSE, CONTRACT FOR SPENDING PUBLIC TAX MONEY ? ARE YOU GOING TO WHITEWASH THIS LIKE THE BERT FISH SUNSHINE VIOLATIONS? ATTORNEY GENERAL BONDI, THIS IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY; ACTION IS REQUIRED HERE AS APPARENTLY NO LOCAL ACTION WILL ARISE. COUNTY ATTORNEY ECKERT, HOW ABOUT AN OPINION REGARDING FLORIDA LEGAL REQUIREMENTS HERE? OR DO YOU JUST HANG OUT IN DELAND?
ANYBODY HEARD A PEEP ABOUT SPENDING TAX MONEY TO PAY SOMEONE TO LOBBY TO KEEP YOUR SPOT AT THE PUBLIC TROUGH?
ANY THING CHANGE SINCE LAST WEEK?
WE THOUGHT NOT!!!!!!
THE BLOGS FOR THE WEEK
W2's Coming Soon; UC Remains Defiant of Request
No Blogs This Week- Sorry
