Strasburg council moves forward with zoning rewrite, considers overlay districts

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/strasburg-council-moves-forward-with-zoning-rewrite-considers-overlay-districts/article_8b5704bd-7839-5241-80f7-225b412a8441.html

LONG overdue, especially considering the debacle with Cedar Springs and the impending debacle with the Holtzman property.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/3588926209/

attribution: Seattle Municipal Archive and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

taxes and inflation

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/strasburg-council-to-advertise-4-5-cent-tax-hike/article_0ef5a848-8868-590b-b972-ba9e4735c3d9.html 

In 2022 real estate taxes went up a whopping 22%. 

https://strasburgunderground.blogspot.com/2022/05/figures-dont-lie-but-liars-figure.html 

The town is advertising a 29% increase as part of its effort to balance the fiscal year 2026 budget.

Talk about inflation! 

Hey, town council, have you ever considered reducing spending? Have you ever considered the council's reckless spending--e.g. buying the vacated bank building before evaluating the cost of renovating said building? and failing to address the need for two entrances and the high pressure gas pipelines that run through the business park property? like running up a half million dollar deficit? like ignoring the needed $1.4 million capital improvements program? 

https://strasburgunderground.blogspot.com/2025/02/voice-of-reason.html

If we ran our households like you run the town we would lave been bankrupt a LONG time ago. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/92269745@N00/6331925743/

attribution: Ralph Daily and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

more nonsense from town hall

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/strasburg-residents-responsible-for-clearing-sidewalks-after-snowfall/article_16ef5e3c-dcf0-5011-bdda-41dac549d01e.html 

The snow removal ordinance says that business owners and residents must clear sidewalks after it snows.

"The law also prohibits residents from shoveling snow onto sidewalks or streets, ensuring that cleared pathways remain usable."

Take a walk along King Street. Go south from Massanutten Street. Sidewalks in front of many buildings have NO space between the building and the sidewalk and NO space between the sidewalk and the street. 

Town council, what are business owners supposed to do with the snow that they shovel from the sidewalk? Eat it?

C'mon, town council! Look before you leap!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomwachtel/9677680029/

attribution: Tom Wachtel and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

SHOCKING!

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/strasburg-planners-defer-stover-avenue-apartment-decision-amid-flooding-preservation-concerns/article_d54dcc32-f87a-5e36-a3dd-bf5118b9905f.html

Here's the shocking part... It's not that the sewer is overflowing. It's that the town hasn't fixed this problem. It's simple physics--more specifically, hydraulics and fluid mechanics. 

Potential energy is mechanical energy acquired by an object due to its position. It's stored energy that depends upon the relative position of the object and a reference point or level. Potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy and vice versa. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt_Bold_Reservoir_Dam.JPG

attribution: Diceman, via Wikimedia Commons

CC BY-SA 3.0

The potential energy of impounded water at the top of this dam is enough to drive turbines to create electrical energy. When the water is released at the bottom of the dam the potential energy has been spent.

Consider Niagara Falls.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niagara_falls_maid_of_the_mist.jpg

attribution: Eheik via wikipedia 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

The potential energy of the relatively slow moving water at the top is released at the bottom of the falls when it crashes into the rock bottom.

Sometimes bolted manhole covers are used to keep sewer lines containing sanitary sewage from overflowing. However, this can result in sanitary sewage popping up somewhere else--like in someone's basement or someones' basements. 

Besides damage to property, needless to say, there are serious health hazards for people who are exposed to raw sewage. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cholera_rehydration_nurses.jpg

attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Also needless to say, it's up to the town to fix serious problems with its public utility lines.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sokwanele/3093242062/

attribution: Sokwanele - Zimbabwe

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

voice of reason

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/strasburg-council-explores-housing-moratorium-amid-rapid-growth-concerns/article_dc190015-3faf-5fc9-9f72-9b6fb91475ea.html

Thank you, Jonathan Price. Finally, a voice of reason comes to town council.

Thank you, Northern Virginia Daily, for covering this.

"... $500,000 deficit in the general fund and $1.4 million in capital improvement plan (CFP) requests."

Town council, what are you doing? is this what you consider to be good stewardship? spending on signs and flower baskets? the time for ACTION is WAY overdue.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timevanson/6239092252

attribution: Tim Evanson and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Thank you, Tim Evanson, for your photograph and for sharing it with the public. And, thank you for the story of Adolph Weinman's statue. And, thank you, flickr and google blogger.

facebook

Once again the town of strasburg, the largest in Shenandoah County, is using facebook to notify its citizens of changes in the regular trash collection schedule. 

• The town's citizens pay the town to collect trash.
• It's the town's responsibility to provide each citizen with timely advance notification of changes to the regular trash collection schedule.

facebook is NOT adequate because:

• not every citizen has, or wants, 24/7 access to facebook.
• for those who do have facebook, the town places the burden on its citizens to know when there's a change in the regular trash pickup schedule. 
• how are citizens supposed to know when there's a change to the regular trash collection schedule???
• does the town think that its citizens are clairvoyant???

The REAL problem is with the town--NOT with its citizens.

C'mon town! DO YOUR JOB.

see something, say something, DO SOMETHING

 The first major snowstorm of the season may have been uneventful for first responders, First responders say first snowstorm of 2025 was 'uneventful', but the same can't be said for the cleanup. 

I spent the better part of the day yesterday shoveling snow from my driveway. Yesterday evening, after dark, I noticed that plowed snow that I had removed from the entrance to my driveway earlier had reappeared. I also noticed the culprit--a blue SUV was driving in the snow that the plow had piled along the curb. After several circuits I flagged the person down and asked her what she was doing. She replied "I'm making it easier for folks." 

I informed her that she wasn't making it easier for me as I had removed the snow that the plows had plowed to the curb that blocked my driveway and she had blocked my driveway again with her vigilante snow plowing antics. I told her to stop. She refused to do so. I told her that I was going to call the police and she said "Go ahead".

I reported the incident (including her vanity tag number) to the police. Later I observed a police car drive up and down the street, and then disappear.

It reminds me of when I was walking on Strasburg River Walk and a shotgun blast came from the direction of the river. I thought that someone was shooting at me. I reported it to the police. They responded to the scene and spoke with a man at the boat dock. The shot gun in his row boat was clearly visible. It turned out that firing a shotgun from a boat on the river isn't against the law. Go figure. 

Apparently vigilante snow plowing isn't against the law either.

With recent incidents of vehicles being driven into crowds in the US and elsewhere, we've heard "see something, say something" frequently. Needless to say, a woman who would use her POV as a snow plow at night, driving her car through already plowed snow "to help her neighbors", needs help and supervision. She's a danger to herself and to the community. "seeing something and saying something" only works if there's follow through. If there's no follow through, then why bother to report what you see? https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title37.2/chapter8/article4/ 

1. see something. check.
2. say something. check.
3. DO SOMETHING! ???