Melissa Schleig revisited

On 1/29/2020 the Northern Virginia Daily ran an article entitled “Town park accessibility a challenge for officials”. The article describes comments that Melissa Schleig, a resident of Madison Heights, made at a meeting of the town’s Recreation, Parks and Trails Committee. Ms. Schleig stated that her children don’t have a safe way to walk or bike from their home in Madison Heights to Town Park. 

Pedestrians and bicyclists from Madison Heights and the other nearby neighborhoods must cross East King Street (US Route 55) to get to Town Park. East King Street at this location is wide. Speeding cars and trucks make it particularly hazardous to cross for both children and adults, especially those who are elderly and handicapped. 

so what's been done in the year and a half since Ms. Schleig made her comments to the town's recreation, parks and trails committee?

answer: nothing to my knowledge. it appears that the committee blew her off.

so, let's pretend that you're a parent in madison heights and your child wants to go to the pool. you work--you can't drive your child to the pool. what are you going to tell your child?

are you going to let your child walk or ride a bicycle on route 55?

answer: no way! no parent in their right mind would allow their child to walk or ride a bike on rte. 55 from madison heights to town park (and vice versa). there are no sidewalks or shoulders in some places. where there are shoulders, they're narrow. the roadway is narrow. large trucks in both directions. speeders frequently exceed the 35 mph speed limit. there are no crosswalks except for the one all the way back at the route 55/route 11 intersection. 

what other alternatives are there for your child to walk or ride their bike to the pool?

answer: the good news is (or may be) that there may be one. if the shenandoah valley rail-to-trail initiative for a 48.5 miles trail becomes a reality, then a rte. 55 crossing at the old NS railroad tracks at the museum (near funk st.) will provide a relatively safe way for children, elderly and handicapped to cross rte. 55. the bad news is that it may take years--if it happens at all--for the trail through strasburg to be built. other than this, currently there is no safe way for pedestrians, bicyclists, children, elderly and handicapped persons to get from the madison heights side of rte. 55 to town park (and vice versa).

what good is town government that doesn't address the concerns of its citizens in a timely manner?

answer: at the very least, the town could have asked vdot to look into this matter. at the very least, the speed limit on east king street could have been lowered from 35 mph to 25 mph and crosswalks (with advance warning signs that pedestrians and cyclists have the right of way) could have been provided.

people who live and work in strasburg aren't here to serve the town. it should be the other way around. one and a half years ago Melissa Schleig voiced her very valid concerns at a meeting of the town's recreation, parks and trails committee. the town has done nothing. the town should be ashamed.

what you don't know CAN hurt you

 

blame the town if you don't know about this: 

Harmful algae bloom advisory issued for North Fork of the Shenandoah River  

more: Harmful algae bloom advisory for Shenandoah River branch | News/Talk 960-AM & FM-107.3 WFIR

progressive town governments, e.g. tiny stephens city, have two-way messaging to notify their citizens of important information in a timely manner. 

not the town of strasburg. 

shame on them!

where's the beef?

Councilman John Massoud's story in the northern virginia daily is an interesting one. it's a story of past failures, scandals, party politics and partisanship. it's also a feel good story about the new mayor, putting aside partisanship, working together and passing a juneteenth proclamation. 

all that's needed now are substantive changes that address strasburg's longstanding problems--e.g., communicating important information with its citizens in a timely manner, improving the business environment, improving the living environment for residents, encouraging citizen participation in town government and then acting on it, etc. 

citizens of strasburg: how did you hear about this IMPORTANT information?

Lord Fairfax Health District issues safety advisory for North Fork Shenandoah River Testing

you haven't heard? (I just happened on it.) 

wouldn't you think that the town would notify its citizens of this IMPORTANT information? 

not the town of strasburg. even though towns smaller than strasburg (e.g. stephens city) have messaging systems to inform their citizens, the town of strasburg relies on the "grapevine"--if and when you find out, then spread the word to your neighbors. 

unacceptable.

welcome J. Waverly Coggsdale

New town manager in Strasburg to take office in August  

WELCOME J. Waverly Coggsdale! we look forward to BIG things from you! 

Stephens City, with its two-way messaging system for its residents, and New Market with its podcasts--towns with populations around 2K--are smaller than Altavista and WAY smaller than the town of strasburg. maybe you can bring the town of strasburg into the 21st century. 

GOOD LUCK! 

3 things that I like about strasburg

1. fourth of july fireworks show 
2. fourth of july fireworks show 
3. fourth of july fireworks show 

we also like the beautiful views of the mountains and valley from our stony pointe neighborhood and quiet (most of the time--except for occasional noise--e.g. LOUD motorcycles on rte. 55 with LOUD music blaring, loud trucks, loud cars, lawn maintenance (especially loud riding mowers, trimmers and blowers), construction noise, factory noise, gunshots, etc.). 

yes, the fourth of july fireworks show is loud--and BEAUTIFUL! we'll take loud with BEAUTIFUL any time! 

EXCELLENT SHOW!!!

unimpressed with W/M

today marks the second time that W/M failed to empty our trash can completely. We follow all of the rules:

1. all trash bagged.
2. all bags tied shut.
3. all bags in the trash can.
4. lid closed with plenty of room to spare.
5. back wheels of the trash can firmly against the curb.
6. no cars or obstructions near the trash can. 

W/M failed to empty the trash can again. the old trash service never missed taking all of the trash.

we're so unimpressed with W/M.

note to town: I'm sure that we're not the only ones in town who expect all of our trash to be collected each week. after all, that's the service that we're paying you to provide. 

is our drinking water safe?

why would I ask this question? 

1. stomach viruses. Drinking Water Safety – Drinking Water
2. the town's recent advertisement for a water plant operator. Licensure Information – Drinking Water
3. the town's history of a lack of forthright communication with its residents.
4. town misinformation, e.g. when the town posted on its facebook page that the town's trash was being converted into energy. there isn't a resource recovery plant within 90 miles of strasburg. https://www.theidioms.com/pull-the-wool-over-eyes/
5. does the town's drinking water meet all testing requirements?  Drinking Water – To promote and protect the health of all Virginians 
6. are drinking water test results verified by an independent third party?

pitiful

Town of New Market broadens its outreach efforts with podcast series (NVD) 

what about the Town of Strasburg's outreach efforts? 

answer: nada 

population (2019):

Town of New Market = 2,180

Town of Strasburg = 6,609

pitiful.

town of strasburg: you snooze, you lose.

50-Mile Northern Shenandoah Rail Trail in the Works | Chesapeake Bay Magazine 

town government

no problem with communication when the town is looking for your $$$--taxes, water and sewer fees, trash fee, etc.

but, when it comes to keeping their citizens informed:

Paul Revere did a better job letting citizens know when the British were coming. 

even tiny little Stephen's City has an online messaging system for its citizens.

what the heck! put your trash out on the designated trash day--they'll pick it up eventually. pretty soon people will be leaving their trash cans at the curb permanently. blame it on the pathetic town government.

what's next?

Strasburg man arrested for firing gun outside a bar | Winchester Star | nvdaily.com 

crabby maggie's seafood restaurant

a REAL family restaurant. Jenny and I can't thank Maggie, her husband, her daughter and her son enough for helping us through this pandemic. for the past year plus we've looked forward to our weekly dinner from Maggie's at our kitchen table. 

on May 5 Maggie's reopens their inside dining. congratulations, Maggie's, on your reopening! congratulations to you for helping us and many others through the pandemic with your excellent takeout food! you are a credit to Strasburg and to wonderful people everywhere.

Jenny and I look forward to many more delicious dinners at Maggie's--both at your place and ours. Thank you so very much. 

relic

 a relic is defined as an object surviving from an earlier time.

that's strasburg. 

the world has left strasburg behind. in the rest of the world: 

• people open water and sewer accounts online--they don't have to physically go to town hall to open a water and sewer account.
• there's real-time communication between local government and its citizens. they get timely messages from their local government on their smartphones--like when trash won't be collected on the regularly scheduled day.
• streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure are maintained in good working order.
• parks are maintained and are safe. laws requiring dogs to be leashed and owners to clean up after their dogs are enforced.
• in the civilized world firing a shotgun from a boat in the river next to town park would never be allowed.
• forget about gun control, light control (Lighting | International Dark-Sky Association), noise control and enforcement, etc. "we didn't have gun control, light control, noise control, etc. 100 years ago. we don't need it today."
• progressive local governments engage their citizens. they promote transparency. they recognize that their citizens have other concerns than local government. they make it easy for them to participate with timely, open communications between local government and its citizens. when a citizen asks a question or makes a comment, local government follows through. good citizens understand that not all of their suggestions will be implemented, but they expect thoughtful and truthful answers from local government to their questions and comments.
• progressive local governments thrive in a competitive environment. they attract quality businesses as well as quality residential development.  

if you like living or operating a business in a relic, then you'll love strasburg.

if tiny stephen's city has a messaging system for their citizens, then why doesn't MUCH larger strasburg?

Stephens City launches two text messaging systems for residents | Winchester Star | winchesterstar.com 

congratulations, Stephen's City town officials!

here in the town of strasburg when the trash isn't going to be picked up on the regularly scheduled day, our citizens are told to figure it out on their own--as if we're mindreaders. then we're directed to call town hall or look on the town's pathetic website, if we think that the trash might not be picked up.

it must be nice to have town officials who care enough about their citizens to provide a two-way messaging system for them.

***************************** UPDATE ***************************

it's now been one month since we learned that Stephen's City has two text messaging systems for residents. what's happening in strasburg?

1. water and trash assessments are going up. 
2. king st. between massanutten st. and the railroad tracks continues to be torn up and is barely passable. 
3. grills in strasburg park will be banned. but, firing a shotgun from a boat in the river next to the park is permitted. 
4. presumably the security, unleashed dogs and dog waste problems on riverwalk trail haven't been addressed.
5. presumably Melissa Schleig's concern about access to town park that she expressed at a meeting of the town's parks, recreation and trails committee over a year ago hasn't been addressed--buried deep within the town's culture of producing buffalo chips and of not responding to its citizens' concerns.   Strasburg VA underground: town park accessibility  and   Strasburg VA underground: facts of life
6. the town manager has resigned.
7. the town still doesn't have an acceptable way of communicating with its residents (e.g. notifying them in advance when trash won't be picked up as scheduled).

maybe stephen's city's town manager would be interested in the strasburg job. one can only hope. 

what we've got here is failure to communicate

snow plows have cleared the streets.

neighbors have cleared their driveways and gone to work.

sidewalks are clear.

police are on the job.

firefighters are on the job.

USPS is delivering the mail. 

trash is out.

where is trash giant W/M?

nowhere to be found.

and, as usual, no notification from the town.

what we've got here is failure to communicate-- AGAIN!

some things NEVER change. 

so, what's wrong with this picture?

the town says: "when bad weather strikes, please check the town's website, facebook or call the town office to see if there is a change in collection days." like we work for the town. in most of the rest of the world when schools close because of snow, parents get an email or a message on their smart phone that schools are closed. the problem with the town is that they're operating in the last century. Paul Revere did a better job letting folks know that the british were coming than the town does letting it's citizens know that the trash won't be picked up as scheduled. can you imagine Paul Revere saying "if you think that the british might be coming, then contact us and we'll let you know."

so, town, let's get this straight: 

1. why would we think that the trash won't be picked up? (read again from the top.)
2. most of us have better things to do than to "check the town's website, facebook or call the town office" to find out if W/M is going to pick up the trash on the regularly scheduled day. can you imagine a business where employees are told by the owner to "check with our website, facebook or call the office" to find out if you need to come to work today?
3. town, we pay taxes to YOU to have the trash picked up.
4. that makes us the customers and YOU  the vendor.
5. YOU outsource the job to W/M.
6. it's up to the town or the town's contractor to notify the town's customers when the trash won't be picked up as scheduled.
7. figure it out.

SNAFU & FUBAR

I put our trash out last night--as I do on every Thursday night. it's supposed to be at the curb at 7 am on Friday morning.  

at 11:33 pm we got an email that says the trash will be picked up tomorrow instead of today. 

nice timing!!! what good is an email that is sent out at 11:33 pm when the trash is supposed to be out at 7 am the next morning? most residents have put their trash out and are asleep.

DUH!!! 

the snow storm was MONDAY. W/M and the town knew WAY before last night that our neighborhood's trash wasn't going to be picked up today.

some things NEVER change!!!

winchester city council to vote on proposed gun ban in winchester's public buildings

https://www.winchesterstar.com/winchester_star/city-council-poised-to-vote-on-proposed-gun-ban/article_14697261-ba00-5e56-a132-8147374f68ff.html 

On may 31, 2019 a gunman killed 12 people at a city of virginia beach complex. I applaud winchester city manager Dan Hoffman for initiating a proposal to ban guns in city of winchester public buildings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Virginia_Beach_shooting

Virginia the 'only state reporting significant increases' in COVID cases: report

Virginia the 'only state reporting significant increases' in COVID cases: report 

speaks for itself. 👎👎👎👎👎

SNAFU? FUBAR? or both?

This morning my wife met me as I was coming out of the shower. She had her coat on and car keys in her hand. "I'm going to chase after the trash collector. They didn't empty our trash can." 

WTH. The trash can was exactly where it was supposed to be--in front of our house, back to the curb, not a car within 50 ft. of it. all of the trash was bagged--as it's supposed to be.

My wife caught up with the trash truck operator. "Sometimes the trash bag doesn't come out of the trash can when it's emptied." 

Well, Einstein, then YOU need to fix the problem! it's YOUR trash truck and YOUR trash can. it's YOUR job to pick up ALL of the trash in YOUR trash can once a week.

Pick up all of the trash once a week. Is there any more basic service that the town is paid to provide? 

SNAFU? FUBAR? or both? 

answer: definitely both.