Today's Feature

Approved Penalty Rate Structure.

The Public Works Committee met Tuesday evening and approved a motion to forward to Council a recommendation to approve a penalty fee rate structure for contractors working without a construction permit.

Public Works Director Chad Wampler told the committee that he had checked with City Attorney Nate Dally concerning the ability of the City to revoke contractors’ licenses as a penalty for four-time offenders. Wampler said that Dally pointed out another instance in City code where license revocation is used as a penalty, proving that it is an option for the City.

"It is within the capability of the City to do that," said Wampler.

Dally was reported to be in the process of determining the necessary wording for an ordinance which, according to Wampler, should be complete before the next Council meeting.

The committee approved a motion to recommend the changes to Council, contingent on the wording for license revocation. The recommended penalty fee rates are as follows: 1st offense, $25; 2nd offense, $100; 3rd offense, $250, 4th offense, license revocation.

The committee also approved a bid for the City hazardous material drop-off event. Wampler said that only one bid had been received for the event, from Haz-Mert, the company that has conducted the collection previously. The date for the hazardous waste disposal day will be either September 13th or September 20th, according to Wampler.

Street Commissioner Tom Shelley also gave an update on the City contract paving situation. At the previous meeting, Derrick Stokes with Blevins Asphalt Paving told the committee that Blevins would be unable to honor its contract for paving in the City, due to increased cost of oil.

Stokes said that the companies from which Blevins obtains oil to make asphalt had recently notified the company that they would not be honoring their contracts, and that the rates for oil would be increasing by approximately $24 per ton.

There were 6 street projects on the City’s contract list, and when the increase was announced, Shelley told the committee that the options included reducing the number of streets for the project, or waiting and rebidding the projects next year.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Shelley said that the contract would have to be re-bid regardless of the time frame, and he recommended waiting until spring. Shelley noted that doing the projects in the spring would still be within the City’s fiscal year. The committee agreed to wait and rebid for the projects next year.

Public Works Director Wampler also showed the committee a tentative design for a Public Works Department website, which would allow citizens do download permit forms online and resubmit them to the Department in the same way. City Administrator Tom Short noted that the site should be included as a division of the City’s official website.

Mornin'

With all the fuss over warnin’ label, it’s obvious that the toothpick industry has a savvy lobbyin’ organization at work.

I can’t believe that such a dangerous implement is allowed on the market without the appropriate caution bein’ spelled out in detail for the protection and safety of the consumer.

They obviously don’t belong in the hands of minor children. No tellin’ what the imagination of an eight year old could devise. Sure they can be carefully molded into innocent objects for the creation of small toys or crafts, but that only leads to a false sense of security. They should be only distributed in a child proof box with an appropriate warnin,’ "Only For Use in Your Mouth." They also need adequate instructions on teeth pickin’.

This is some fact, but mostly,’

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a huge rust spot on my car, a "95 Subaru. It is not really a rust spot, but rather a missing part of my car that has rust around it. I tried to sand it down and put Bondo on it and repaint the car, and it actually looked pretty good for a while! As impressive as my Bondo job was for a first-timer, the Bondo soon fell off, and now the huge rust hole is back. I am wondering if there is any other option besides replacing the whole part of the car.-- Shannon.

TOM: The first mistake you probably made was not removing the rust completely. Bondo is pretty amazing stuff, and it’ll stick to just about anything. But if you left some rust around the edges, the edges would continue to corrode, and the patch job would eventually fail, as it did.

RAY: You have to sand the area surrounding that hole down to bare, shiny metal. Then, what body shops will do is they’ll tack-weld a piece of sheet metal over the hole and hammer it in so it’s somewhere between flush and concave. Then they’ll grind down the welds so nothing’s sticking up. An there’s actually some BODY there to do WORK on!

TOM: That’s what body shops do for old heaps like yours, Shannon. If this were a 2005 Subaru, they’d replace the whole panel.

RAY: You don’t need it to look perfect. It’s an old car. You want to keep it from looking decrepit.

TOM: You might be able to find a local body shop that’ll weld on the metal for you, then you can do Bondo.

RAY: You can also take a larger piece of sheet metal and rivet it right over the whole area. Then paint it.

TOM: The rugged, armor-plated look is in these days.