On an evening bike ride Friday, I was surprised by the sight of five Corvallis police cars and about as many officers assembled near the west end of Ninth Avenue in Albany.
Like the major supermarkets, Albany’s gas stations are clustered in the north half of town. Now a rezoning action completed this week opens the way for a new fueling station to be built on the south side.
For months, commuters on North Albany Road have driven past the closed Express Lube and car wash business at the corner of the Albany-Corvallis Highway. Now there’s a sign the corner may not remain dormant too much longer.
It will be another two weeks before the Albany City Council makes the decision whether to impose a new city services fee after the ordinance creating the fee stalled Wednesday night.
About 50 years ago, whoever laid out the Lafayettte Acres subdivision in southeast Albany had a good idea: These are very long blocks without cross streets, they may have thought, so let’s put in some footpaths so kids can easily walk to school.
Albany’s proposed ordinance imposing a city services fee or tax includes an emergency clause, meaning it will take effect as soon as the council passes and the mayor signs it. This could happen on Wednesday night, when the ordinance is on the agenda of the council’s regular meeting.
Substation security: No climbing that fence
Odd little things I see from the bike strike me as noteworthy sometimes. One of them is the fence around the construction site of the Hazelwood electric substation in southwest Albany.
Tags: 17th avenue, Albany council, Hazelwood substation, Pacific Power, security fencing