WKOW-TV of Madison reports on what everyone in Whitewater can see: that oil from a paving project has spread from that project. See, Pavement project causes lake contamination in Whitewater @ WKOW-TV.
Three key points:
1. Unobservant: city officials took two days to discover this. WKOW’s Gordon Severson reports that “the City didn’t know about it until Friday, two days after the rainstorm came through.” Honest to goodness, in this small city, where conditions should be easily visible to anyone, it took two days for city officials to learn of this, and then only from residents rather than from their own observations.
How far away is the municipal building that no one walks the distance to Cravath and the Mill Pond? (Answer: Three-tenths of a mile. A person in normal health and vigor could walk this distance in only a few minutes.)
2. Other, larger projects. If it takes Mr. Clapper’s administration days to notice oil running down a path into the lake, what hope is there that he will monitor adequately his project to import outsiders’ waste into the city?
Even at scheduled meetings, he often forgets key figures (the price of things, for example) or supporting documents.
3. City officials have neglected Cravath and the Mill Pond previously. Cravath was not in proper condition for the Fourth of July events, and a ski show had to be canceled. Independence Day visitors could easily see the lake was unusable for recreation that weekend.
There has not been enough emphasis on the basics around here. This is just one example. Roads don’t get fixed for days despite holes. It’s crazy that residents had to report this. We cannot attract new businesses with this level of government service. There is no way we should be thinking about some big idea if we can’t do the basics.
The whole story confirms the point about not trusting bigger projects.these stories are part of a bad pattern of neglecting simple things thatare really important.
Guess nobody at city hall walks to the lake ever.
Whitewater’s natural assets—the lakes and creek—continue in a dying state and in a disastrous deathward spiral, whilst the City now pumps all of its attention and money into its latest white elephant: the Aquatic Center…
Spot on! Fundamentals are neglected.
these guys are behind the curve.They are stuck with explaining afterwards. The point about not seeing it for days is the big one.Then they put out a long statement.It is the new pattern in 2016.It is not reassuring.
This city runs things pretty loose. I think it is time for somebody down there to pay attention. Not noticing the runoff for a couple of days. Come on people. Thanks Adams, for saying what the rest of us are thinking.
Thanks very much for your comments. Much appreciated.