Move to Adjourn.

The Public Services Committee met for what is possibly the longest committee meeting in City history last Monday evening in Memorial Hall. The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 p.m. after lasting nearly five hours.

The bulk of the time, around three hours, was spent going over final details of architectural plans for renovation of a large part of the Hall. Plans call for complete remodeling of the basement, the installation of an elevator, and remodeling of the upstairs American Legion quarters and new bathrooms. The front of the building will be restored to more original condition and the roof will be replaced.

After a short break, the Committee moved ahead to recommend that a contract with the Hispanic Soccer League be accepted if the organization meets various requirements as do other recreation contractors; recommended that food vendors be allowed at the soccer fields in the Myers Park Development; recommended approval of golf cart advertising; recommended appropriation of $10,000 to repair sewer lines at the Civil War Museum; recommended Art in Heartland be allowed use of the City Hall rest rooms on May 12; recommended payment for the Fair Acres Sports Complex softball multipurpose building, member Jackie Boyer voted no; recommended accepting a bid from G&G Construction for the construction of the Park Department maintenance building; recommended accepting the lone bid of $27.50 from David Waller for $27.50.

The Committee then heard staff reports and a report from Committee Chair Larry Ross concerning the duties performed by the Park Department during the month of March.

Made the spring rounds to assess the winter damage to the home place the last couple a days. All in all there hasn’t been too much ground lost from the projects started last summer. The biggest problem is the projects are still there, just waitin’ on me.

Usually durin’ the winter there are a few warm days to finish up those loose ends that got postponed. This winter not much got done to the outside after the first frost. Spent most of the time just keepin’ the inside tightened up and huddlin’ by the fire.

With the daylight in the evenin’s now, I suppose it’s time ta start workin’ out the long list of leftovers and get to ‘em.

This year it’s a lot of little ones. Hopefully as the days grow shorter next fall, the list will be shorter too.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

My future brother-in-law claims that it’s more cost-effective to use your brakes rather than downshifting. He says this is true for both hills and normal driving. He argues that it only costs him a couple hundred dollars to replace his brakes, while engine overhaul may cost thousands. Is it more cost-effective to use your brakes? -Eddy

TOM: It totally depends, Eddy. "Hills," and "normal driving" are two completely different situations in this regard.

RAY: Let’s take "normal driving" first. It’s not the engine that takes the brunt of downshifting. It’s the clutch that takes the punishment. Think about it. If you shifted up from first gear to fifth then downshifted all the way back down again, you’d be using your clutch twice as often, and therefore wearing it out twice as fast, right? And a clutch can cost hundreds of dollars.

TOM: So in "normal driving," it is much better, as your wise brother-in-law says, to use the brakes to slow and stop the car.

RAY: On steep down hills, however, it’s a completely different story. And you’d be crazy to listen to the advice your knucklehead future brother-in-law.

TOM: If you overuse your brakes on long, steep hills, you can cause the brake fluid to boil. If the brake fluid boils, you can lose your brakes entirely. And if you check with your local body shop and emergency room, they’ll confirm that having "no brakes" is not a very cost-efficient way to go down a hill.

RAY: So on steep hills, you’re much better off putting the car in a lower gear and using the natural braking action of the engine to keep the car at a reasonable speed.