This is not news, but for the first time Sunday I noticed how Albany’s new Fire Station 11 has changed the view down Sixth Avenue.
It’s not news — not even to me — because the change was determined two or three years ago when the city council and others decided that in order to make the project work, the new and bigger station would have to stretch across the street so that the block of Sixth between Lyon and Baker streets would have to be closed. But until now I had not seen it.
So now, when you head east on Sixth, you look straight at the doors of the apparatus bays of the new station.
This has a couple of advantages. One is that fire crews responding to an alarm have a straight shot. No longer will they have to make a short right and then left as they leave the station. Seconds are likely to be saved.
The other is that drivers going east on Sixth can see the trucks coming from several blocks away. Plenty of time to get out of the way.
Construction on the station continues, but it’s nearing the finish line. The fire department expects to move crews and equipment into the station the first part of September. (hh)
You can see the equipment doors from several blocks away.
The other advantage – trucks returning will approach the station from the east and drive straight into the building.
Any bets on how long it will be before some drunk tries to drive west on 6th like they may have done in the past!? Mean while, the police are given a dead end street to call home! JE
So now we have a new FD, a new PD, and a 21-year GAPS bond to pay for. I can hardly wait to see next year’s tax statement. You asked for it, Albany. Don’t complain.
Look at the bright side for a moment. Some of our tax $$ are being spent here rather than on corporate welfare or meddling in some distant land like Afghanistan or Iraq.
Another stupid comment by hj the fake.
Look at your Linn County property tax bill. Not one payment is made to any taxing district dedicated to corporate welfare, except the CARA tax that hj seems to love. And not one penny goes to a taxing district that in turn sends the money to Afghanistan or Iraq.
hj – Here is some personal advise. Before you post on Hasso’s blog, take a nano second and think it through. I know this will be a challenge for you, but I’m an optimistic person, so I’m hopeful it will help you understand the difference between a stupid post and an intelligent one.
All three of which were needed. Part of living in a community is understanding that infrastructure is essential for that community to thrive. The need for a new FD and PD has been well documented, and the plan to build the school in stages will make the process slower, but will lower the tax bill. We always wish “somebody” would pay. Well, we are the “somebody”. What we build will make the future better for the coming generation.
Steven, you’d do really well in Corvallis.
Corvallis and Albany represent two extremes on the spectrum of public-financed projects and services. Corvallis has a phenomenal library, aquatics center, maintained parks, attractive/modern schools. But it is not an affordable community for many in the middle-class. Albany has a frugal, tax-resistant approach towards city government. But Albany finds ways to get more value from every dollar and still put on good summer concerts.
Neither is sustainable long-term. Corvallis has had to make cuts in services and vote on bond measures to close shortfalls in certain budget areas. Albany has had to face reality of crumbling infrastructure and schools. The economies of each are different, but the communities could learn from the other. Just sayin’.
Alan Watts may have hit it on the head when he wrote, “Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live.”
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
― Alan W. Watts