Archive for December, 2008
One Way Or Another — You Will Go Roundabout
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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Roundabouts, traffic circles, calming devices; call them what you will. Some of them are touted and proven as efficient traffic handlers. There is a difference between roundabouts and traffic circles, so it is beneficial to get them settled in one’s mind. Here’s a webpage that will assist in helping everyone to sort out the differences between the twoÂ
Merry Christmas!
by John Weckerle
From NM-Central headquarters, I wish you all a merry, safe, and joyous Christmas – and happy holidays of any and all kinds you may be celebrating at this time of year!
Solar-Power Incentives — Bah, Humbug!
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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Of course, I’m not against incentives for solar or wind power. Let me explain. The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) has just approved regulations that requires Public Service Company of New Mexico (PSC) to pay commercial customers 15 cents for ever solar-generated kilowatt used by its commercial customers. This is in addition to a 13 cent scheme for residential customers. The PRC stopped short or refused to require PSC to pay for any excess power generated by the company’s customers. Whether this refusal is good for the customer and PSC is anyone’s guess, but one reason given by the PRC is that the PRC didn’t want the customers to become mini-utilities or words to that effect. On balance all the forgoing seems great for PSC’s customers and it allows PSC to comply with regulations that require it to be more green.Â
Town House Community Not Approved
By Bob Steiner
At a meeting of the Edgewood Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, December 22, a request to change a zone designation to allow the development of a town house community within current town boundaries, was defeated. The requested zone change from “R1 residential” to “multi-use”, would have permitted the erection of eight clusters of four town houses each on the Northwest corner of the the intersection of State Road 344 and Venus. »» Town House Community Not Approved
Grow Your Own – A Long Winter’s WHAT?
by John Weckerle
What does a would-be sustainable food gardener do when the temperatures drop too low to grow?
a) Stay home, sit by the fire and plan for next year.
b) Start collecting recipes for next year’s harvest.
c) Move to warmer environs so as to continue growing.
d) All of the above.
If you answered “d,” you were correct, even though a and c appear mutually exclusive; as long as you don’t have to move far, and one of your hobbies is house plants, you can have it all – or, at least, that’s what I’m betting on. »» Grow Your Own – A Long Winter’s WHAT?
“LIBRARY” —- Now Let Us Apply The Name It Deserves
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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The new location for the Edgewood Library is said to be ready to open for the enjoyment of Edgewood area citizens. All of the volunteers, board members, town councilors and Mayor Stearley deserve our thanks. The facility is designated “LIBRARY”. But, there is a conspicuous absence that should be addressed as soon as possible. »» “LIBRARY” —- Now Let Us Apply The Name It Deserves
Public Service Announcement – MS Support Group Forming
by John Weckerle
We’ve received word from Donna Seagrave on the formation of the East Mountain/Estancia Valley Multiple Sclerosis Support Group. The group will provide support and socialization for people in the area who do not wish to or cannot drive to Albuquerque. Meetings will be held at the Edgewood Community Center on the second Tuesday of each month, beginning January 13, 2008 from 6-8 p.m. and will be facilitated by Donna and Jacqueline. For more information, call 281-0996.
This is great news for area residents who are dealing with the challenges posed by a difficult and not always well understood medical condition. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Sometimes, joining a support group, where you can share experiences and feelings with other people, is a good approach.” We wish the group the best of success and hope those in the area with MS will benefit from it.
A few MS-related links:
Bacon Fried Is Pork Applied
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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The Rio Grande Foundation (RGF) has just published their latest piggy booklet
It’s A Bungle Out There
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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At a time when folks are jolly and throwing holly, you would think we all would exercise a little common sense when it comes to operating dangerous vehicles. Tain’t so Edgewoodians (hate that nickname). And, it is very obvious when you visit certain retail establishments. »» It’s A Bungle Out There
It Is All Bass-Ackwards
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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The title puts it mildly. Edgewood, has for some time, failed to convince Santa Fe County to return taxes to Edgewood that rightly belong to Edgewood. Additionally, Edgewood has missed opportunities to joint venture with Santa Fe County for a regional library, a public safety facility, a recreational complex and an animal control facility. »» It Is All Bass-Ackwards
Turbines Galore — But, Not Without Combat In San Miguel And Taos Counties
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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Pueblo, Colorado has just landed a wind-turbine factory which will likely employ 500 or more Coloradans. It is estimated that the facility will manufacture 1000 wind-turbines a year when it is operating at full capacity. You can read more about the good luck in Colorado. Click the colored text for more READTHESTORY
Meanwhile, some folks in San Miguel MaybeSpinNotWorthyInSanMiguel and Taos Counties WeHaveAHumAlready have been decrying the fact that wind energy developers are trying to install wind-turbines in those counties. You may wonder why the opposition is of interest to folks in the Estancia Valley (the valley). It is really quite simple; the valley already has its first wind-turbine farm and there will likely be additional turbines in the future. Which we deem to be a good effort. Edgewood and the Moriarty-Edgewood School District are both very serious about generating wind energy to power various aspects of their electric energy needs. That is not to say, that they are not interested in solar energy, but they have each seriously started the process of examining the viability of wind energy for the near future.
»» Turbines Galore — But, Not Without Combat In San Miguel And Taos Counties
Into Every Life, A Little Snow Must Fall…
by John Weckerle
And sometimes we get a good light show, to boot. A break in the cloud cover this morning gave us yet another spectacular sunrise to go along with our late Fall moisture (remember: winter doesn’t start officially until Sunday!). It looks as if the kids in our area will have some time to enjoy the snow – according to the KOAT school closings page, all the schools in our area are closed except for Mountainair’s schools, which are on a 2-hour delay. State offices are also closed today. According to my “more or less personalized” weather page, there’s an 80% chance of snow today and 40% chance tonight. It also says that less than half an inch of snow is to be expected – but that’s what it said yesterday, so it’s possible we could see quite a bit more today. Another storm appears to be taking aim at New Mexico, and the rest of the work week may see us getting even more. If the predictions hold true, we’ll see a return of “mud season” this weekend.
Lights Out … Quite Often
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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Green light, yellow light, red light, green light. That’s usually the way a traffic control signal cycles through to allow for the efficient flow of vehicles through high volume intersections. Why then does Edgewood have two signalized intersections that often blink red for days at a time?
The intersection at State Road 333 (Old 66) and State Road 344 and the intersection of State Road 344 and Interstate 40 have been “out of order” more than any signalized intersection I have ever seen … and I have seen many of them.
I recall that the Edgewood Town Council voted not to contract to maintain the lights, yet for some reason (I don’t recall a second vote) the town has contracted with someone who is supposed to maintain and repair the traffic signals when they become inoperable. I and others would like to know why a chronic problem exists with the intersections mentioned above and why the contractor takes an inordinate amount of time to respond to the problems and often takes days to rectify the problem.
Saturday Evening — Mourning For Section 16
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)Â
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Since shortly after Edgewood was incorporated in 1999, it has been the town’s policy to move forward to develop a center for town facilities on Section 16. It has been the policy, but nothing has been done toward that end. One of the facilities to be constructed on Section 16 was a library, either as a library alone or as some sort of combination facility. The governing body recently voted to move the library from its location off of Old 66 to a building adjacent to State Road 344 rather than to apply available funds to a new library on Section 16. The budgeted cost for this move, which included monthly lease payments and monies for remodeling amount to at least $70,000 for the first year, if there is not a cost overrun for the modifications. Of course, monies for the lease, maintenance and utilities will continue as operation of the library goes forward. Additionally, money for a full time librarian salary and benefits, along with a library assistant’s salary and benefits has been budgeted.
While I and others support the idea of a town library, we did not support the move mentioned above as we believed that it made economic sense to build a completely new library and money spent on the move and other elements of the library at its new location amount to throwing money away that could have been more sensibly spent toward a new library on Section 16. It should be said that the mayor and other volunteers involved in preparing the new location and moving the books to the new location deserve our thanks and appreciation and this new location for the library will be fine for a while, but the governing body needs to start now to plan a new library for Section 16, preferably so that it is ready within a three year period.
Free Christmas Eve Dinner In Moriarty
by John Weckerle
The First Baptist Church of Moriarty and El Comedor Restaurant are presenting a free Christmas Eve Celebration and dinner at the El Comedor Restaurant in Moriarty. Seating is limited, so tickets are required. Tickets are available on a “first request” basis by reservation only and include admission to a free Christmas dinner and time of worship. Tickets must be picked up at the Church office in advance. Tickets are required for all attendees – so make sure to reserve a ticket for each member of your party. Two seatings will be offfered – one at 4:30 p.m. and the other t 6:15 p.m. For more information and to reserve tickets, call 832-6385.