Monday, July 10, 2006

The Wishing Well

Wow. We got more press this week than I know what to do with. Let's start with Saturday's Beacon. I guess the Canadians don't have a high standard of fact checking. First let's start with the well installation. The drilling goes on 24 hours a day for 5 to 10 days. It is a very noisy disruptive experience involving lots of dust and debris as well. Have you heard of an automatic jack pump? It's the thingy that goes up and down on a well. Some dude who really digs wells was telling me that he can't believe the wells he services has never had a child killed. Seems these pumps will be sitting there off and peaceful, and kick on with no warning. He also added that they are always fenced in but Newberry is a pretty kid friendly place. There are fumes and generally the landscaping can't survive the muck and fumes. Weeds seem to thrive at them though. Go figure. And just because you wont have to wake up and look at it… someone will.

I can't wait 'til Monday so I can find out where the $50K savings each month is happening. I checked Bolich's gas usage in FY 04. The entire year was $36K. Me thinks somebody misled the Beacon before he left for Alaska. Yes the truth will be hard to get to for a couple weeks. Maybe some sled dogs can race us a retraction. The board was told that the building on the site would receive free gas. Not both, but one or the other. Both sites marked are Newberry territory. Or are we going to run a pipe through Newberry hill and the track to Bolich? Free gas for Newberry is hardly beneficial to the taxpayer. We already give the Akron children attending Summit Christian school free water courtesy of the CF taxpayers. And reduced electric. And they have the nerve to brag that they "let" CF Park and Rec use "their" water! They let our city services use the free water our city gives them. How gracious of them. Rant over.

The board was also told that the wells could generate between $7K and $70K per year. Year. For anyone not listening I'll say it again. $7K to $70K per year. As it stands right now, even that piddly amount of money would go to the CF Foundation. Hardly beneficial to little old Fannie FixedIncome.As for the CF Foundation receiving the funds… I suspect this is an effort to keep something alive that is not self-supporting. Recent minutes from meeting's show problems with fundraisers and finances. Efforts are currently underway to bring the fund back into the fold of the District. I'm tired of wasting time on ventures like this that will do little to benefit the taxpayer and make an eyesore out of a wonderful piece of real estate. I can really save us $50K per month- by cutting about 7.5 administrators.

3 comments:

Molly Benedum said...

It's really a shame that the ABJ didn't check their facts a little more thoroughly.

One of the letters that my husband and I received in our public records request was to Holland from Moore Well Services, Inc. dated February 14, 2006. They give production figures for two wells in the area, and you have to figure that they are giving the best examples in the area.

The first well was drilled in 1985 and actual production figures through 9/30/95 were $1,744,887.45, but the landowner only gets 12.5% of that which was $218,110.93. Over 10 years time, that works out to $1,817.59 per month. The second example that was given was drilled in 1982 and actual production through 9/30/1995 was $2,113,010.00. The 12.5% landowner share on that one was $264,126.25, which over 13 years works out to about $1,693.12 per month. Those figures also include the value of the gas that the landowners received. Neither of those figures comes close to $50,000 per month.
The letter also states that “some wells were more productive than others.”

I will be scanning the information on the natural gas/oil drilling that I have and providing links on my blog very soon. It is vitally important that the community be getting the correct information on this issue.

www.tnl3000.com said...

Please allow me to comment on the process that our school leaders (pilot , cabin crew chief, and cabin crew) are using for making decisions.

Remember when we cannot state our mutual goals then we must ask for help to recover. A outside facilitator has been discussed as a possible source of help to recover.

Here is what a facilitator will do: 1. Help others to participate. 2. Accept others and respond in a friendly way. 3. Sense the relationships (feelings) of other team members. 4. Share your own feelings. 5. Offer to compromise and admit errors. 6. Try to reconcile differences and reduce tension in a conflict. 7. Suggest the standards for the team.

That is it. That is what Facilitator Jim did during the 'Plan for Excellence'. Any team member can do it. That is what we would pay an outside expert $1200 to come in and do for our BOE.

So, what keeps our BOE members from facilitating their own decision making process?

Lou Schott lschott@neo.rr.com

Kellie Patterson said...

First, applause to Molly Benedum for her mathematical skills. Eighteen hundred and sixteen hundred per month is a far cry from 50K per month.
To Ratpick- I wouldn't say we are being bent over a barrel just yet. But definitely false information has been fed to the public. And the gas and oil companies do not negotiate the MCF allotment depending on the entity involved. They will give away the same amount of free gas per well head regardless if it's going to a residence or the IX Center. You will pay the current market price above and beyond the allotment.