Council President Marcie Palmer spent time down at the city shops today to staff the phone and respond to callers. She sent a followup email about how things were going, and I’ve attached it below.

I also did some checking on my own today, in response to a Seattle Times article about the controversy surrounding the City of Seattle decision to not use any salt to thaw the streets. I found out that here in Renton we DO use de-icer in some areas, but it is not salt. It will not corrode your cars the way salt will. But it is a sticky substance which you may have to scrub off your fenders after the snow is gone, even though it will not cause any damage.

(I thought Seattle’s concern that the salt would get into Puget Sound sounded strange. I would think that the amount we are talking about would not affect the salinity of a such a vast body of salt water. But I haven’t really studied it)

Here is Marcie’s latest update:
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Gregg & Peter-
You must be so proud of your very hard-working Staff. I sure am!

As you know, I spent about 3 hours at the Shops, after having about a half hour tour of streets which had been phoned in as needing City attention. First, not only were all the major streets and arterials looking good, many neighborhood streets/”secondary” streets had been sanded this morning as well.

At the Shops, the calls had calmed down considerably by the time I got there to be a backup and take angry callers, so I helped wrap gifts for the adopted families and listened (& learned!) to what was going on. Gosh the Staff looked weary but they were in good spirits and ready for whatever the next 24-48 hours bring.

While the rest of us are worrying about last minute shopping, wrapping gifts, cooking, cleaning, how to get to/from Renton during the next couple of Christmas days, Staff was checking in for their next assignment, verifying who was going to be where & then either heading back out on the streets or heading home before reporting back in 12 hours. Yet the majority of calls this morning were from residents complaining the City had plowed their street and now there was snow blocking their driveway. There were also some folks with medical needs (i.e., in need of kidney dialysis, medication, etc.) and the Shop Staff was coordinating with Emergency Services & Human Services to get help to them.

The City of Renton has a higher standard in dealing with snow & ice, and our residents may not fully appreciate that high level of service compared to other municipalieties. When folks complain the City isn’t doing enough, they are unrealistic and/or unaware of what a good job we are doing. While it may not be perfect for some people, overall it seems residents were appreciative of the hard work and there were a number of those kind of calls as well.

To all Staff in ALL departments, your dedication and hard work is very much appreciated. I couldn’t be prouder to work alongside you. Thanks for letting me get a close-up glimpse of what goes on at the City Maintence Shops & on the streets during this kind of event. It would be my pleasure to help again, in any way, & I’d love to “ride along” to help write down the needed info. Hopefully in the next 3 years of my term I’ll have additional opportunities to experience what every department is really like. With the budget tight, having some first-hand knowledge at the “street or counter level” will help Council make increasingly tough decisions that truly are the best for the Citizens and Businesses of Renton.

Here’s wishing you a Happy Holiday Season, whether you get to spend it with family & friends or have to work. Thanks again!

Marcie

(PS- FYI, I started doing this on City email, but got timed out before I could hit send and lost it all. Since I really wanted to get this out, I resorted to my home email.)

The popular winter-time ice arena in Bellevue averted a near tragedy yesterday, when employees and firefighters quickly rescued 10 people trapped under the failed roof tent. The snow load exceeded the capacity of the roof structure, and the whole thing failed in the blink of an eye. While a fabric tent collapsing may not sound super dangerous, it’s easy to underestimate the tonnage of snow involved, the hazard caused by the metal support stuctures, and the electrical hazzard resulting from the lights and sound system plunging to the ice.

Fortuanatly, there were only minor injuries. I’m sure there we be an analysis to determine whether the tent supplier included proper instructions for snow clearing or not, and whether the users paid attention to the growing hazard. It seems obvious, at least in hindsight, that there should be some engineering which gives the user an idea of when to clean the tent roof or clear out if the tent was really designed for winter use.

I’m really glad there were not any serious injuries.

This is a great reminder about the hazards caused by overburdened roofs. Back in engineering school, we were given a great deal of education about how roof loads can quickly accelerate in bad weather due to accumulations of snow and ice, frozen drainage systems, and general “ponding” of water. This “ponding” phenomena remains one of the most common and most dangerous roof failure modes. It occurs on flat or nearly flat roofs, when obstructions like leaves or ice reduce the normal drain paths for water. The weight of the accumulated water on the roof will then “deflect” the structure, causing support timbers to bow under the weight, and creating more opportunity for ponding. The more the pond grows, the more the boards deflect, and the more water the roof will contain. Many people have seen this mechanism where they have tried to string a tarp up over a picnic table while camping, only to see the whole thing collect water. “Ponding” represents an engineering instability, in that the more it occurs, the more likely it is to get worse. The only protection is the keep the drains open, inspect the roofs frequently, and be extremely aware of how things are holding up when there is any kind of load on the roof. So, if we get more snow, and when the inevitable rain comes, be very aware of the conditions of your low-pitch roofs. Even if conditions are too dangerous for you to clear your roof, you can still make sure loved ones are not sleeping or spending large amounts of time under anything suspect.

If you are concerned that your roof is not holding up, and you need advice, the city building department can give you some recommendations.

Here is the story about the Bellevue Ice Rink roof tent collapse

MSNBC has a sad and educational article about the plight of Detroit in today’s Economy.  The article explains that some inmates released from jail are intentionally getting re-incarcerated rather than live in the conditions they are finding in the inner-city  neighborhoods.  And that the average price of a home in the city has slipped to $18,513.  Some owners can’t give their homes away.  There are better circumstances in Detroit’s outlying suburbs, and in areas undergoing government-sponsored redevelopment, but the majority of the City of Detroit is in crisis.

It’s a sad piece, but I think all Americans should be aware of this state of affairs.  It  helps us understand why managing jobs, the economy, and US industry is important to our nations stability and welfare.

It also makes me really glad to live here in the Seattle Area, where our economy is still relatively strong by comparison.  We still have a chance to keep it this way if we make smart decisions.

Here is the story

In further evidence about stress at the newspaper offices, a Seattle PI blog columnist has lashed out at a rival in today’s online edition. Before the day was out however, it was taken off-line. I suspect the pressure of another round of lay-offs is at the root of this tiff.

While the Newspaper blog was taken down, this blogger sponsored by the Puget Sound Business Journal wrote an article on this exchange and includes a link to the Google cache of the subject article (the one that was removed).

We got this interesting bit of new from our parks department recently. The Coyote statues have worked at the airport to keep birds away, so we will be trying the same thing at Liberty Park. They may surprise park visitors– especially kids. They look pretty real.

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FYI–for councilmembers

>>> Kelly Beymer 12/05/2008 11:56 AM >>>
Hello everyone,

Over the last several winters we have been seeing an increase in the amount of goose droppings on the ballfield located at Liberty Park. A small flock of geese have been utilizing the area during the early morning and evening hours. The ballfield is completely fenced and offers a very safe place for the geese to congregate.

This winter we are planning to utilize two coyote decoys in an effort to disrupt their ‘comfort level’ and scare them away. Up close it will be easy to tell that these are in fact decoys, but from a distance or late at night it may be possible for some citizens to mistake them for real coyotes which may generate a few phone calls.

The parks crew plans on placing the decoys within the fenced area of Liberty Park ballfield beginning the week of December 8th. The decoys may be removed intermittently but will be seen in the park through February 13th.
Should you have any concerns or feedback please contact me at 425-430-6803 or Steve Brown, Parks Maint. Supervisor at 425-766-6190.

Thank you,
Kelly

The city of Renton is surviving the economic downturn so far. We are able to keep services strong and avoid staff layoffs. Most residents will not notice much change. However, our largest employer has so far been able to maintain a strong order backlog and keep up its impressive production rate. This has kept our job base strong, and helped local businesses keep these workers as valuable customers of our restaurants and retailers. This article gives some indication that these good times may not hold if the economy does not rebound soon.
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Boeing likely will suffer from global airline industry slump
Revenue decline will mean cutbacks in plane orders

By JAMES WALLACE
P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER

GENEVA — The global airline industry, which has ordered record numbers of jets from Boeing and Airbus during the past three years, is facing the worst revenue crisis since the end of World War II, the International Air Transport Association warned Tuesday.

Get the full story here