Category: Mount Vernon

MVFD’s Station #2 is in bad shape

February 15th, 2007 · · General, Mount Vernon No comments - Tags: ,

First off, the city is aware of the issues at the station from my information and IS at some stage of getting these matters corrected. Secondly, the statements made below are based on information gathered from confidential sources. I just think that it’s garbage that the firemen in charge of protecting our lives and possibly dying while doing so are treated to conditions so deplorable and arguably unsafe.

To begin with, the roof had holes. A local company was hired to do the repair. The repairs were made as best they could be for the moment. Now, there are several more issues that still need to be addressed at this location by the city. I have photos, and will publish them as I can add them.

The list isn’t extremely long that I have, but it is full of rather important issues:

1. The support beam that runs between the garage doors at the front of the building comes at least an inch from making contact with the concrete.

I-Beam_Distance

I-Beam_Macro

2. There are many points just below the roof that leak/have leaked, including just above the sleeping quarters.

Cropped_Tiles

3. The drain in the concrete to the front of the building appears to be unstable. While one can’t be sure without digging, it seems to be caving-in. I believe that I understood correctly one of the ladder trucks had to be moved to another station due to fear of the pad not handling they weight if it was pulled out onto the pad.

Sinking_Cropped

4. Water pools to the front of the building in the bay instead of flowing down the drains as it should. This is likely related to the shifting of the building, but still needs to be addressed.

5. The front of the building appears to be pulling away from the rear based on cracks in the building that continue to grow over time.

I will say that the conditions are pretty bad. My observations and information are not from engineers or construction experts, but just from my experience. Like I said at the beginning of this post, the city did hire a local company to make the repairs, and they did the emergency repairs that they could. I was told they are examining the issues above in detail and will make suggestions for repairs once the evaluation is done. That is great, and good job making sure everything is done correctly.

I am making this post so that taxpayers can see something in the community that I believe should be fixed well and quickly. Is this how protectors of our homes and lives should be treated? I don’t think so and I hope you don’t either.

Some thoughts

January 5th, 2007 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon One comment - Tags: , , , ,

I took a personal day at work on Wednesday. No real reason other than to take a day off and relax after the holidays. I had a haircut late in the afternoon, but I could’ve just taken an hour for that, so mostly to relax.

After I got Erich to school and Amaya off to pre-K, I drove around looking at the city a little. I tried to remain objective and look at the parts of the city to see how things looked. Frankly, I was saddened.

While I will admit that there have been improvements to streets and some sidewalks, I did see a few issues. The southeast area of town is severely lacking in well-maintained roads and sidewalks. This may sound petty, but why are the streets in the north and northwest parts of town maintained so much better? Perhaps it is because these streets are less traveled? If that is the case, why doesn’t the city invest more money to maintain those roads at a higher level?

Another item that I found odd was the new landscaping rock and signs posted near the interstate in front of Hardee’s and again at the railroad tracks in front of Ford Square. Did we not have some other way to use funds than to buy and mount the sign, buy the rock, and pay to have it all assembled? I am sure that there could have been better uses of the money. Perhaps grading Optimist Park so that it does not flood all the time, or better yet adding some equipment to it? How about expanding the skate park? I don’t skate, but it is still semi-popular, involves physical activity and balance, and promotes exercise. Perhaps we could add a few bike ramps?

Maybe if there was more to do in the city, our children wouldn’t be so inclined to sit inside and watch television or play video games. I do realize that there are activities for kids, from school to the YMCA. However, what if the child wants to attempt BMX tricks? How about roller-blading?

The population of Mount Vernon is currently tilted to the over forty ages (according to census statistics). How long before their children go to college, graduate, and find jobs elsewhere because there is nothing here? Unless we plan to become a retirement city, there needs to be development of jobs above the minimum-wage level. How can we maintain an income base with only retired persons in a community? I’m not saying it cannot be done, but I don’t see anyone planning how to do it.

EDIT: The rock and signs I referred to here were provided by a grant the governor’s wife started. It is still stupid in my opinion that we can get monies for rocks and signs but not other improvements.