Potpourri for a Sunday

About that Country Hen

Beth and I ran an errand on Friday and after, she was hungry. Because of reading Andrew Galarneau’s www.fourbites.com Website, we knew Country Hen was now in the Niagara Falls Boulevard plaza space that formerly hllield Como Airport and Parker’s Pit. We had a fantastic meal and a nice chat with Raquel, the owner whom I knew because she used to be my chicken dealer. No, really, she’s in my phone as “raquelchickenlady”. I had corned beef and eggs. Beth had French toast. Our meal was awesome.

Potholes

Last spring, the city council voted down an allocation of overtime for pothole repairs.

The idea was to take half the annual funding used on the Pothole Killer, an automated truck that sprays sealer and patch doing a bad but fast job of sloppily repairing more than a crew can with hot patch and a roller.

The overtime would enable public works crews to fill holes to see, even though they couldn’t do as many, which did a better job.

I hope the mayor brings forth the plan this year. The Pothole Killer is garbage. Give me a crew with shovels, asphalt and a roller.

About those lights

The city council last week voted to delay awarding a streetlight maintenance contract to an outside contractor. The contractor would be compensated per job, 24/7 as needs arise.

United Steelworkers President Tim Huether spoke to the council on the agenda item and questioned if the work could be performed by members of the city workforce.

It was a fair question but not likely realistic because even if city workers could do the work the ramp-up would likely be unrealistic. First, no one is trained to do the work. Second, the trucks involved are specialized – at minimum a lift truck and one to dig holes for pole replacements.

It makes about as much sense as the people who occasionally say the city should take back trash collection.

Granicus nightmares

The council Wednesday agreed to extend the Granicus contract for 3 years. The software provider monitors only listings for short term rentals so in theory they comply with zoning and housing codes.

Neil Reddien, told the the acting deputy corporation counsel told the council he has used the software and it performs as designed. He also said problems related to STR owners complaining about the system not working are likely “user error.”

I’ve spoken to multiple end users who call bullshit on that claim because the software, when they tried to renew a listing failed, requiring multiple emails and phone calls.
There are operators in the city who, knowing the software does not work properly for them as an end-user are simply skipping the process and taking their chances. The planned extension of the agreement certainly would have benefited from more scrutiny.