Dorchester Times: EDITORIAL: Put Paving On The Ballot

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: Put Paving On The Ballot

On the issue of paving, it is time to let the people decide. Let's put the question on November's

ballot.

This is the position of the Times staff.

Monday's townhall and public meeting held by the Dorchester Village Board -- and attended by approximately 75 residents -- revealed several challenges facing our community. Not only are the streets a mess, but the village will soon need to devote some dollars to repairing drinking water infrastructure, including the water tower.

But comments from the public made it clear: There is a strong resolve to at least begin the process of paving Dorchester's streets. (After our many rants on community appearance, we take satisfaction in knowing we have lots of company.)

As one Dorchester resident told the board, we have a choice. We either address Dorchester's street problems today or we pass them off to next generation. And if we chose the latter, there may not be a next generation.

Also, as another townhall participant commented, there will never be another time in the next 30 years when materials and interest rates are as low as they are now.

We were very disturbed to hear a small handful of Dorchester property owners who live in other communities are opposed to Dorchester residents attempting to improve their quality of life. This issue needs to be decided by the citizens of Dorchester -- not by real estate owners who reside in Friend or elsewhere.

We are hopeful more young people, those under 40 years old, will speak up. In 1979, it was primarily the opposition by young families that killed paving. This time around, let's hope that it will be the vocal support for paving from this age group that pushes the issue through to fruition.

With paved streets will come new home construction; more home improvements; increased property value; less damage to vehicles; better air quality; less money spent on gravel and city employee labor; a renewal of community pride; and a better quality of life in general. Supporting paved streets is the easy call. Finding the means to pay for them is a much more difficult task. But to delay the project would be Dorchester's ultimate folly.

It's time to let the chips fall where they may. The well-being of Dorchester is in the balance.

(Note: Due to the numerous posts regarding paving, street-related reader comments may be found here.)

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."