There’s been a lot of public discussion about possible monthly Albany utility fees to shore up future city budgets, and Mayor Sharon Konopa says she’d like to make her position clear.
“Have you been out Palestine Road lately?” Brenda Stevens Herbst asked on Facebook Wednesday. “Logging like crazy. Wonder what’s going on.” I went to take a look on Thursday afternoon, and the photo shows the result.
There are not enough votes on the Albany City Council to impose a monthly utility fee to support city services, at least not yet.
This used to be a “hazard tree” in Albany’s Bryant Park, dying or already dead and scheduled for cutting down lest its upper parts snap and fall on unsuspecting visitors below.
The details are still undecided, but if the city council follows through on the general sentiment it showed on Monday, Albany Station may finally get a public restroom accessible around the clock.
Sometimes the bike takes me along East First Avenue in Albany, and when it does I always check whether something has been done with the sailboat hull sitting there, near the corner of Oak. So far, the answer is no. Not yet.
A cold and gray afternoon, like the last day of November for instance, is a good time for a cycling tour of the Talking Water Gardens. Because pedestrians are almost entirely absent on the trails.
A question about a poorly lighted South Albany intersection, potentially dangerous to pedestrians using the crosswalk these dark winter nights, has not fallen on deaf ears at City Hall. Instead, Albany Public Works is working on a fix.
Albany Station may be in for a useful addition — a new public restroom — if the city council and ODOT can agree on the details.
Rail car graffiti: A three-minute wait
If the crossing arms come down just before you get to the tracks on North Albany Road, you get about three minutes to contemplate the paint on the boxcars as a short Albany-bound freight goes by. This may lead to idle questions.
Tags: boxcar vandalism, North Albany grade crossing, rail car graffiti