Downtown surveillance cameras. The Armory. The $1 senior center that costs a lot more.These are some things mentioned at Monday’s City Council meeting that we have heard about before, months ago or even years ago.
The downtown surveillance cameras have been under discussion for more than five years. Issues include where to put them, who will watch them and the little matter of how much they will cost to buy and maintain. Apparently they will not go in the Tepper’s basement, which has been in city hands for five years now. Monitoring the cameras is one of the uses that was floated and discarded, as was a senior center, City Council offices and a youth center.
The Armory on East Seventh Street was also targeted for use as a senior center, but the seniors said no, a thousand times no. Still, its purchase was talked up by the mayor and Assemblyman Jerry Green at various junctures, although the state price tag of $1.5 to $2 million stalled a deal. Now something is again in the works and may be revealed at the Nov. 22 meeting.
The seniors got their wish for a brand new center as part of development of a building with 63 residential condos. Somehow the $1 price tag has morphed into more than a quarter million dollars in payments for fitting out the center and for monthly fees, as the center is in fact a city-owned condo. There may be something up for a vote Monday on that issue as well.
Being in a contemplative mood lately, I wonder when we will ever see surveillance cameras (or should I say, when they will see us). I wonder why the notion of buying the Armory keeps coming up, when the city is under possibly the tightest fiscal constraints in decades.
The governing body itself has been wondering how the costs for the senior center were authorized.
So what does it mean that these and many other issues linger on so long? Part of it may be that the council feels blindsided when given what they feel is insufficient information to make a decision. The once-a-month meeting format does not lend itself to in-depth discussion of all items, so things may get tabled. Some items just seem to reveal a disconnect between the governing body’s general outlook (money is tight) and the wishes of the administration (let’s buy a building).
It’s hard to decode some of the mixed messages we get from those in elected office. It would be a lot easier if the two branches could agree on priorities and just make the most important things happen.
--Bernice
Unless the proposed down town cameras have night vision, they won't work well. The downtown lighting is so bad and the lights go out so quickly, they should be replaced with lights that actually give adequate light. Whose addlebrained idea was this anyway? I hope we spend what little money we have in the right places.
ReplyDeleteNo so sure there is little money. The fire department had a $500,000 mistake that the city has been able to fill. The Incubater is owed $100,000 in debateable costs. The city is coming up with $600,000 without blinking an eye. What else don't we know?
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