Survey Says!

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I just took a survey on local workforce quality and availability.  Question17 and my response to it are below.

17.  Additional obsticles that limit your ability to attract and rectuit talent:
 
Pride in work and work ethic.  I’m not sure which is more important, but I would say taking pride in your work probably covers both.  Want an easy example?  Look at this question.  There are two typo/spelling errors!  Did the person writing this not care enough to run spell check or have someone check their work?

Butler Manufacturing Company SunLite Strip

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We have always promoted Butler Manufacturing Company’s (BMC) MR-24 Roof System for new commercial buildings as well as large reroof projects.  In Culver we have installed this roof on the Edgewater Grille (now Lakehouse Grille), the Culver Ambulance Garage and part of the Culver Street Department Facility.  In Plymouth we have installed this on the Grace Baptist School, the Boys & Girls Club Gym, the Marshall County Highway Department Garage, Pioneer Auto as well as others.  We’ve installed this roof throughout the region with excellent results.  We’ve been pleased with the Pittsburgh double-lock standing seam that is used to make the panels weathertight.  (See GIF at right)  BMC now has a Sunlite Strip Daylighting System for use with MR-24 roofs.  It can be retrofitted to existing roofs as well as included in new construction.

Daylighting has become one of the “Green” initiatives, allowing natural light to be brought into buildings.  The new systems harvest natural light in a much more efficient manner than traditional skylights and the old translucent panels that were often installed on metal buildings.  The raised profile is also safer, since it is visible when walking the roof on a day when the roof is snow covered, or the panels are otherwise obscured by roof debris.

BMC has also created a program called SunLite Calc which allows modeling of different levels of daylight.  The program then generates simple payback calculations to determine if the system is right for your facility.  Let us know if you are interested in discussing these options for your facility.  With the Sunlite Calc we can help you determine if this is “Green that Saves Green“.

Culver Firemen’s Memorial at Town Council

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Public Service AnouncementFor those of you looking for the Firemen’s Memorial post I discussed at the Town Council this evening, I’ve conveniently linked it here.

For those of you that couldn’t make it to the meeting, I presented the Firemen’s Memorial to the Town Council this evening.  The project is proposed for the northeast corner of the intersection of Slate Street and Lake Shore Drive.  The lot is owned by the Town and is currently used as a parking lot for the firemen.  The lot is zoned C-1.  The basic conundrum was that Culver’s Zoning Ordinance doesn’t have a designation for Monuments or Memorials no matter what the zoning district.

I had discussed this with Russ Mason, Culver’s Building Commissioner, and we agreed that the best solution was to request the Town Council to accept the structure as a Municipal Sign.  (The Town Council is exempt from ordinance requirements for their signs.)  I presented it as such to the Council this evening.  Russ was there to back me up.  After a brief discussion, the Council agreed that this was an appropriate designation for a worthy project.

This knocks down another obstacle, so the project is moving forward.  Now we’re just held up by the minor problem of fundraising…

This has been a Public Service Announcement…  If I were a little more ambitious this evening, I would find a mpg of NBC’s “The More You Know” tag music to play in  the background…

Firemen’s Memorial Sketch by Mary Ellen Rudisel Jordan of Scearce Rudisel Architects in Warsaw.