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Who if anyone is planning to attend tonight's village board meeting at City Hall? I want to ask what the long term plan is for Dorchester streets? Folks we need to do something. My daughter almost got stuck on our street this weekend. Can we start gap paving? Where is the property tax money from the cooperative going? We get more propety tax revenue than most towns our size. Why oh why is Dorchester the only town over 500 that I know of without improved streets?
ReplyDeleteI think the city board meets tonight if memory serves correctly, at 8 p.m. Let's get a bunch of people there to politely ask our town leaders some questions!!
If you don't get on the agenda they may not let you ask your questions.
ReplyDeleteHas the village adopted their annual one and six year road improvement plan? They are required to have that as a public hearing.
ReplyDeleteFYI the meeting starts at 7 p.m. tonight.
ReplyDeleteI'm told the meeting is at 7:00pm.
ReplyDeleteDorchester:
ReplyDelete2009 Taxable Value: $25,567,311
2009 Taxes Levied: $123,400.14
2009 Village Rate: .48264800
Do you know where the $123,400.14 is going?
At .48264800, the Village's levy ranks 4th highest in the County:
1. Tobias: .61246400
2. Friend: .54977200
3. Crete: .54189700
4. Dorchester: .48264800
5. Swanton: .44999900
6. Western: .42902400
7. Dewitt: .41891100
8. Wilber: .41034800
How does your quality of living compare to these other communities? Are you getting your money's worth?
I, too, nearly became stuck in my little car yesterday. I don't mind needing a 4X4 for the country roads, but in town. C'mon...
ReplyDeleteSome of these homes in town aren't worth more than $20k or $30k. You will never get new homes in town until you make the community more attractive to invest in.
ReplyDeleteWe're at a crossroads. I have a feeling its now or never for paving.
In your times poll on which street is the worst. They are all terrible so why vote?
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm shocked at the rankings of Swanton and Wilber. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteCan we please put down a little rock on the worst of the streets?? I know it is a waste to rock them all at this point of the year, but come on----we have to be able to do SOME damage control on the worst of them.
ReplyDeleteIf you need 125,000 to operate and your valuation is 50,000,000 your levy will be 50% of what it would be if your valuatio is 25,000,000.
ReplyDeletePick yer self up by the bootstraps. Run for the city board if youre complaining. Show youve got some integrity.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need a female or two on the town board.
ReplyDeleteThe April town board meeting will be held at the community building and paving will be on the agenda. Hopefully there will be people there to answer any question people may have. Everybody who cares about this topic (for or against) should attend this meeting. Let the board know how you feel either way.
ReplyDeleteI agree we need new people to run for the village board, but what do we do in the mean time. I thought we voted for the people who are on the board to help make this a good place to live. The people are already good people, but in a time when small towns are getting smaller and some small schools are looking for alternatives what are we going to do? How are we going to attract new people and new business when you can't even drive down the streets without the fear of getting stuck. Of course be careful because if you use the word "Change" that is an evil thing to some people.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone go to the town meeting last night? If you did what was talked about?
ReplyDeleteYes, I really can't blieve how our streets look. It is extremely sad. Our board will do nothing to improve it. I shutter at the thought of having to drive on the lake, mud, and pothole imbedded streets. It totally sucks.Someone asked what our quality of living was compared to the other towns on the list, do we even need to ask that question? Isn't it so obvious??
ReplyDeleteWake up Dorchester, do something for your community.
In response to Anonymous who asked if anyone went to the Village Board meeting. Joyce Karl & I were at the meeting. I was allowed to speak about the streets. I presented photos of the streets surrounding my home. I asked that the street issue be put on next month's agenda. The board agreed, the next meeting is Monday, April 5th at 7:00pm in the Community Bldg. Two of the board members believe residents, like themselves, don't want paved streets. One is for paving & 2 seem to be on the fence. Joyce & I will put on our muck boots & go door to door to find out. So be thinking about your questions & your response to when we arrive at your door.
ReplyDeleteWell on my street, the city crews came early this morning with their tractor and so-called blade and drug the frozen mud, which did absolutely no good. The mud is all soft now, and it was lovely to see my neighbor back out of his driveway with his van, into the mudpit at the end of his driveway. He almost got stuck, glad that isnt sitting at the end of my driveway or I would be complaining my $$$ off. He was absolutely flooring it to get out of that mud. Let's use common sense, drag the streets when the mud is soft, HELLO!!!!
ReplyDeleteyou no we go through this every year, this year happen to be the worse, you need to have patience and let the roads, dry out, quit the complaning, when the roads are dry everyone will forget about it, and have something else to complain about. Why make a mountain out of a mole hill. But it gives everyone at the coffee shops, something to talk about, instead of other people.
ReplyDeleteLets see- They are charging Electric, and sewer. Now say they start charging for water usage. Dorchester has the greenest lawns in all the county- for those who choose to enhance their curb appeal. Yes the roads are not in their best condition. Yes something needs to be done with them. I believe the answer is not within paving, but first we must update the systems below the road. If you want to go further into the discussion- where will it go from here. Hmmm. Maybe you need to think where all your waste aka toilet matter goes, and see if we even have a town. Maybe the EPA will shut us down because of new laws, or something not up to date???? These are all good ideas and need to be addressed, but really; I feel they - the village board- are doing the best possible, for the community with the tools possible. Every meeting is open to the community. If you have some information please contribute it. If you’re not contributing to the solution, you are adding to the problem.
ReplyDeleteWhat about natural drainage???
ReplyDeleteNot working so well.
What about getting on the stick and applying for some of that money that could be available for our town????? Answer that.
ReplyDeleteNatural drainage would work in parts of town if snow wasn't piled in & in front of the drainage ditches. Common sense, please.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me that all the people complaining here should go to the village board meetings and complain or better yet, run for office
ReplyDeleteits easy to sit behind and anonymous name and complain.
The water system was improved a few years ago and the sewer plant is being dealt with now
Just goes to show you that somepeople like to be big shots, but when the going gets tough and tough descisions need to be made they hide.
How was the water system Improved? It still is bad.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling the $123.400.14 Is going to pay the city employees and buy equipment.
ReplyDeleteIN regard to the paving question, you do realize that the paving will be assessed to the adjoining properties. That is what stopped it back in the early years. It was going to cost more than some of the adjoining properties were worth.
ReplyDeleteYou also have a large number of eldely people who simply cannot afford the assessments.
I realize I have no horse in this issue, as I do not live in Dorchester any longer, but make sure before you throw all your eggs into the "paving" side of this, that you realize how much it is going to cost you. If you are a renter, the property owner is going to raise your rent to pay the assessment. If you own the property, your property taxes will go up dramatically, unless you defer the assessment, which will take the assessment out of your sale when you sell the property. If you defer, then the village has to cover the cost until you sell your property, and that means a bond, or everyone else's property taxes go up.
Are the people of Dorchester willing to make the sacrifice in tough times, that will move the paving issue forward? And is the Village willing to confiscate property that does not have the assessments paid?
AS I read the forum, I am impressed that folks are getting involved, and attending council meetings.
I think Dorchester would have a great asset if they paved the streets, and promoted lot sales and building. But that would mean an influx of outside people, and like most communities, some folks do not care for that kind of change. It is the same on a larger scale here in York. But sometimes to move forward, one must let new citizens with new ideas come in and make suggestions.
My greatest fear is that one day there are going to be small raffles to see who has the job of shutting the last lights out in some of our Nebraska communities. I can think of a half dozen once flourishing communites in Saline County that the last century closed down. I think it will be sad when our descendant genealogists walk the cemeteries we are buried in and wonder where the once thriving towns are.
My point, is that this is not just a Dorchester issue, this is a Nebraska issue!
JR
Some good discussion here. It would be nice to see some detailed research done on what it would cost to upgrade all our infrastructure, and several well thought out options developed. Something will have to be done someday by somebody, so we may as well start planning now
ReplyDeleteJR,
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding much needed light on the issue. The costs to pave the streets and to make other infrastructure improvements are indeed going to be a great expense. We'll need others to share the expense (new residents). More than a plan for paving, Dorchester needs a plan to attract people to the community. The catch is we'll need to invest in the infrastructure before we can attract others (no guarantees of course). But, the one asset we have is proximity to Lincoln, Crete, Seward...Yet, aren't there other communities that have the same proximity to Lincoln who have already invested more in their infrastructure? Why wouldn't potential residents just move to Wilber, Friend, or Milford? Can Dorchester offer less expensive housing options than those communities after it has invested in infrastructure? Perhaps it makes more sense to develop an acreage development in close proximity to town, where the infrastructure isn't such an expense?
Let's hire a firm to survey potential new families to town. What do they want in a community? Good Schools, Paved Streets, Sidewalks, Parks, Libraries, Swimming Pools, Fitness Centers, Shopping Choices. While your at it conduct a study of the costs and benefits of an infrastructure study of the whole town. Although it seems that some already know what it will reveal.
Rock and a Hard Place
I sat behind Rahm Emmanuel today at the Shakespeare Theatre. However, I did not give him a piece of my mind as I was afraid he would send me a dead fish in the mail.
ReplyDeleteNext up: Tyne Daly as Maria Callas at the Kennedy Center. I wonder if there will be any Obamatrons in the audience?
JR,
ReplyDeleteI'll add my 2 cents worth. I am not convinced that the older people in town can't afford paving. We've been told many times by the Board that Dorchester doesn't qualify for certain grants because our community residents are 'worth too much', me thinks that's the older residents. The residents I'm concerned about are the young ones, the future. I have a child who says they won't live here because they are tired of living on mud streets they are going to buy a house on pavement. Kind of like when I was growing up in a house without air conditioning & only one bathroom. If we aren't going to invest in our community to keep our young people I don't believe we'll draw in any new ones, except for the ones you don't want, the ones who are trying to find a place to hide in a community that looks like it doesn't care.
paving the streets will be expensive and will put on the property owners to foot the bill but I think it is something that has to be done. Our streets have no crowns for drainage they lack rock and gravel and its only going to get worse with every rain and snow we get. Paving the streets will save this community money in the long run it will pay for itself with less maintenance.
ReplyDeleteAs for our other infrastructure problems, we need a new waste management system a new water system and more green space here in town. Downtown is starting to pick up a bit but it needs spruced up. Our old buildings are crumbling our sidewalks lack character and we have a mechanic shop that throws junk cars out on the street and in the car lot that they sell cars in. To me this is an eye sore, when I first come into town. Its now very welcoming!
If we add trees and landscape to downtown and fix up our crumbling old buildings this would be a step in the right direction is we want to make this community grow.
8th street is in terrible shape. The road just north of the football field looks like a mine field.
ReplyDeleteIt appears immigation issues are nothing new to Nebraska. Here is an excerpt from the Journal/Star:
ReplyDelete"About 50 percent of Czechs who immigrated (to America) had no religious affiliation."
"They were agnostic and called themselves ‘free thinkers.' Because of this, Catholics and Protestants refused to bury them in their cemeteries. So the Czechs had their own."
What's more, it's not unusual to see Czech communities that didn't assimilate into dominant American culture during spikes of immigration in the 19th century.
As a result, many Czechs carried on their customs in isolation, farmsteading in rural Nebraska, away from the pressure to be more Americanized that people in cities experienced.
http://www.journalstar.com/entertainment/arts-and-culture/visual/article_
97d22af8-32f0-11df-
9513-001cc4c03286.html
I just saw a picture of Joe's Place on Facebook. The place looked like it was "rockin" this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI also read the article in the Lincoln paper, and I find it wanting.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, only about 20% of Bohemians and Moravians were "Free Thinkers". Many more Slovaks were though, although I would even argue over the 50% mark for them as Slovkia was strongly Catholic.
My paternal grandfather's side of the family were Evangelicals, tracing their faith back to Jan Huss. My paternal grandmother's Bohemian side were Catholic. My mom's side is where the Free Thinkers come in. The Stirba (Sterba) men were agnostic, but the women they married were strong women of faith, though they stood by their husbands leanings, they sent the children to Sunday School. And there is another anomaly with Bohemians, many just were anti-organized church and had their secret closet, or tree where they worship and read their Bibles. All of this was because of the persecution of our Bohmeian and Moravian ancestors for their faith in Christ outside of the Roman Catholic church in the early 1400's. When Huss was burnt at the stake for his faith in Christ, and his preaching of the Word in Czech, and offering the chalice to the congregation, my Bohemian and Moravian ancestors fought to preserve their independence from the Holy Roman Empire for thirty years. They had a democratic republic, and their flag was emblazoned with a chalice. The first fight for religious liberty took place on the plains and hills of Bohemia and Moravia 600 years ago. The great blind general, Jan Zizka would be emulated by George Washington 300 years later. The presecuted Moravian Brethern sent missionaries to American in the 1700's, to spread the Gospel in the American British Colonies! If you really want to know what drove the Bohemian/Moravian sedentary ideology once over here, was more of an anti-German attitude. The German Austrian Hapsburgs, treated Bohemia as a serfdom. Ironically, many of the Germans who came over here in the 1800's came because they were religiously persecuted in their German States as well.
I know my Bohemian and Moravian ancestors came over here for the religious liberty, and the idea that they could live under their "own olive tree". That with their own hard work, and the blessings of God, they would prosper.
Sorry for the sermon, just could not let the 50% thing go.....
JR
Does anyone know if the community group is planning to have more steak feeds in the future? I think that was a wonderful time and a great fund raising idea.
ReplyDeleteWas curious if there will be an Easter Egg hunt again this year, and if so when? The fire deparment always does a wonderful job and are generous every year and sholud be thanked.
ReplyDeleteJust noticing your article on school and gym improvements.
ReplyDeletewhy werent these things done when the new school was built.
It looks like to me that the people behind the new school were in such a hurry to get it pushed through that all areas were not adressed and now we are begging people for their money.
In regards to the article concerning the "Free Thinker Czechs", it is probably difficult to determine the exact number. (20% versus 50%) However, I DO know that the article reflects my experience growing up in Saline County. My maternal great-great grandparents and great-grandparents were "Free Thinkers" along with many others, especially in the Wilber area. The only reason I was raised Lutheran is because my grandmother moved to a house next to a Lutheran church after her divorce in the 1940's. The pastor paid a visit, and she and her children joined the church. As for now, I have reverted back to the "Free Thinking" philosophy of my ancestors.
ReplyDeleteGypsy:
ReplyDeleteDo you consider yourself spiritual or are you an atheist?
Most people my age and younger tell me they are "spiritual, just not religious." They say they don't like the church "telling them what to do," etc. Or they just "don't have time for organized religion." Or they say they just don't want to buy the whole "Jesus thing."
But I say spirituality is religion without the accountability. That accountability aspect is what people my age and so-called "free thinkers" really resent about the church and organized religion. It's easier to say you're spiritual and not think that there may be a creator who is taking note whether you repent and resent your less-than-ideal actions.
Not a sermon, just a thought.
Follow-up to 90s grad: I would say neither; I am an agnostic. But like my forebearers, one who is a responsible, hardworking citizen. Especially at at my age: forty-something.
ReplyDelete'White men shunning Democrats'
ReplyDeleteMillions of white men who voted for Barack Obama are walking away from the Democratic Party.
Today, among whites, only 35 percent of men and 43 percent of women say they will back Democrats in the fall election. Women's preferences have remained steady since July 2009. But white men's support for a Democratic Congress has fallen eight percentage points, according to Gallup.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=915922&category=OPINION#ixzz0jP6LNoG6
I find the arguement for or against paving unique. When I married Fred Vossler, Jr. in 1982 the topic then was when are we going to do something about the streets. It appears the same in many places the more an idea is talked about nothing gets done. The stop gap paving was talked about then also. But we all understand the $$ involved. The block where our street(11th & Jefferson) was paved increased the value of our home. Making it easy to sell. It would only make sense if you do something to beautify or better that it would raise value of your home. Then it is a win win situation. Peg Vossler
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know when the dorchester Easter egg hunt is?
ReplyDeleteEleven current and former Lincoln City Council members turned out Tuesday to voice support for a plan to redevelop the historic Haymarket district, including building an arena to house Husker basketball, concerts and other public events.
ReplyDelete"If you stop growing, you start dying," said Joe Hampton, a real estate developer who served on the City Council from 1977 to 1998.
...Dorchester should pay attention to that quote above...
I moved to Dorchester from another small Nebraska village. There, too, paving became an issue. Sadly, I was not aware of the affect on an older gentlema in the village, until after the fact. Sadly, I saw this man loose his property, his house; his home; and he bought a mobile home instead; and moved to the other side of the highway where there was no paving, as he was unable pay the increase in property tax due to his set income. Caution; how is this going to affect my neighbors?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree paving sounds and looks good. Yet, it is no guarantee their will be an increase in our village population. There has been no difference in the population in the last fifteen years even with the paved streets in the small town mentioned above.
Now, I would like to know how much the new well and sewage facility will increase my property taxes, and all Dorchester village residents. I will then consider the paving issue.
I can live with gravel streets, thank you, for another couple of years.
Where are you considering to put the sewage mains? I hope not under the concrete streets. If there is problems, then the street has to be broken up and repaved, right! Is there another alternative: alleys, maybe. They would still be gravel.
Lots to think about now isn't there? Lots of ideas to be shared with neighbors and friends. In the multitude of counselors is wisdom. amen