Just to kickstart this morning's discussion, we'll zero in on this eye-opening story in the Standard-Examiner, wherein Scott Schwebke reports that the administration is moving full steam ahead toward construction of Boss Godfrey's coveted 36th street water tank, which many Ogden residents believe will be the next key step toward the launch of an ambitious administration plan to bulldoze and redevelop Ogden's heretofore pristine east bench:
OGDEN -- Preparations for the construction of a controversial 5 million-gallon concrete water tank at the top of 36th Street will start next month.The first step in the $2.8 million project will include clearing of brush and additional site preparation, City Engineer Justin Anderson said Tuesday.Work on the tank will be completed in summer 2011.In a mind-bending display of administration alternate reality, City Engineer Justin Anderson says, with an apparent completely straight face, that he is "unaware of any planned development along the foothill."
Anderson obviously doesn't get out much, we guess; and unlike those of us who've been following this boondoggle over the years, he evidently reads neither the Standard-Examiner nor Weber County Forum. Hard to believe that this Boss Godfrey boondoggle somehow slipped by our otherwise sharp-eyed City Engineer.
Although the administration boasts it's saving $700,000 on this project, we'll never really know how many taxpayer dollars (bonded taxpayer dollars) could have been spared, if only the council and administration had looked at other less costly alternatives or asked for a second engineering opinion.
Alas, that's not how it works here in Emerald City, where our conflict-averse City Council remains mostly asleep at the wheel, and Boss Godfrey ultimately gets dang near whatever he wants.
