Tag:Green
Dale Dauten Quote on Bureaucracy
“Bureaucracy gives birth to itself and then expects maternity benefits.”
– Dale Dauten
CFL’s
Although compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s) still offer a large amount on energy savings, it turns out that they might not last as long as expected.
According to the Wall Street Journal, when PG&E Corp. first started the CFL rebate program, it expected the bulbs to last 9.4 years. But, the company has decreased the estimated lifespan to 6.3 years, therefore limiting energy savings from the bulbs. Higher burnout rates were experienced in certain locations throughout the home, like in bathrooms and in recessed lighting. Turning them on and off a lot also seems to impair longevity.
From Hardware Retailing Magazine, March 2011
Culver Garden Court Ground Breaking Ceremony
Breaking out the gold shovels. Left to right, Beth Barrett (Congressman Donnelly's representative), Ralph Winters (Councilman), Ed Pinder (Councilman), Ronald Liechty (Garden Court President), Casey Howard (Clerk Treasurer), Ginny Munroe (Council President), Kevin Berger (Easterday Construction) – Picture by Pam Fisher
Today we had the ground breaking ceremony for Culver Garden Court. As you can see in the picture, actual ground breaking occurred over a week ago and we already half completed rough grading and have the building pad in place. There was a pretty good turnout including dignitaries from Culver and Plymouth as well as a representative from Congressman Joe Donnelly’s office. I was pleased that Culver Council President Ginny Munroe attended along with Council Members Ralph Winters and Ed Pinder. The Culver Town Manager, Michael Doss, was there as well as the Culver Clerk Treasurer, Casey Howard.
Culver Garden Court, Inc. is a HUD 202 project. It is a 13 unit assisted living facility for senior citizens. It is sponsored by Garden Court, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation located in Plymouth which has worked to provide affordable housing to Marshall County residents for over 40 years. It will be the 7th Garden Court built by Easterday Construction. We have been working for years trying to find suitable property for a Garden Court in Culver and are extremely pleased that the Culver Town Council had the foresight to help with this project and that Wade and Claudia McGee chose to make property available for this project.
Our contract with Garden Court and HUD allows us 12 months for completion, but we will strive to complete work in the 9-10 month range. We will work to have the facility weathered in quickly which will allow us to proceed with interior finishes even in inclement weather conditions.
Culver Garden Court Start-up
Culver Garden Court had a project closing yesterday at the HUD offices in Indianapolis. FINALLY!!! The closing for this project was similar to a closing on a house where the mortgage is finalized, the previous property owner receives a check and the ownership transfer is made. In addition to this, the HUD closing for this project included the finalization of contracts for the construction of the new Garden Court facility. I was back in the office about 4:30 yesterday afternoon and the first round of purchase orders were sent releasing the surveyor, excavator and concrete contractor to begin work.
Culver Garden Court Site Plan
HUD requires the project to break ground within 10 days. This should not be a problem at this time of year. Everyone has been waiting for this project to be released for months. There will be a separate ground breaking ceremony on April 8th at 2:00pm for anyone interested in attending. Odds are there will be actual construction going on in the background at that time too.
The project has a 12 month time line. We anticipate being out of the ground within a couple of months. We should be weathered in before winter allowing interior finishes to be completed regardless of the weather.
You can see a previous entry on Culver Garden Court here.
House Democrats walking out
I was amused when I saw that the Wisconsin State Senate Democrats were hiding in Illinois. Their new moniker as the FLEE Party was funny. Now I am ashamed to see that our Indiana State Representatives, including our local District 17 Representative, Nancy Dembowski, are doing the same. If you’re as embarrassed by her method of representing us as I am, please take the time to send her a note here: h17@in.gov
This is poor government, poor sportsmanship and just plain poor leadership. I received an email from the Indianapolis TEA Party that has a lot of interesting links if you want to follow up with them. You can see the email here. They are not only taking on the missing Democrats, but also the Governor and the Republican led Senate, asking for better leadership from our representative government. I don’t think this is an unreasonable request.
There is a billboard at the corner of S.R. 8 & S.R. 17 that I pass every day on the way to work. It has Nancy Dembowski’s smiling face telling me she’s my Representative. If that’s the case, why is she hiding in Illinois?
