September 20, 2007
By: Sid Riley
This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items that are impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope that you will read the column regularly and that it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"Has A Growing Danger To All Of Us Been Created By Political Ineptness?"
I have harped on this subject several times in the past, but I enjoy playing my harp, so I’ll play the song again. My concern and ire related to this subject continues to be triggered by events around me. The subject is the continuing increase in the size and frequency of water detention ponds, which I affectionately refer to as "Mosquito Breeding Ponds". I sincerely believe that they constitute a growing danger to public health.
One item that triggered this topic this week was the article that appeared in another local paper on Sunday, entitled "Encephalitis, West Nile Cases Quadrupled Since Last Year"! I have read similar notices about increases in problems across the country from mosquito borne diseases. In some areas even Malaria has reappeared. I believe that the fact that our federal EPA mandated that all states begin requiring construction of water detention ponds to control run off, is the cause of this growing health threat.
Personally, I had rather deal with run off problems, and the miniscule pollutants that they might contain on the rare occasions heavy rains occur, than to be dealing with health threatening mosquito’s every night. The bureaucrats recommend that we cover ourselves with stinking mosquito dope every time we go out as their clever solution. My solution would be to put some common sense into the regulations concerning control of run-off.
The "Crats" seem to be very adept at measuring the ground "percolation" when we want to build a septic tank, but they conveniently ignore that science when they apply the rules to the water detention ponds. As I understand it, the codes require using about 30% of the involved land space for construction of the pond…regardless of the type of soil. You would have to build a retention pond if you were constructing inside a sand pit!! Bolderdash!!
In my opinion, these unsightly bomb craters inflate the cost of every project by thousands and thousands of dollars, make many projects not occur, and on top of it all they are creating a potentially serious public health problem. In many cases the taxpayer is forced to build the pond when there is no run off, and the thing never receives enough water to wet the bottom. In other cases there is a need. This type of judgment is never exercised. The code-a-crats blindly follow their books of rules and relentlessly force the construction of the pits.
I feel that the whole concept developed because our politicians reacted to over zealous environmentalist. They wanted to be sure their political records demonstrated that they were "environmentally friendly and correct", so they let the environmentalist write the codes, unfettered by any logic or common sense. Then the local bureaucrats took these codes and eagerly applied them to the maximum. Our local planning and permitting department is one of the fasting growing bureaucratic departments in the county.
Folks, look around at what we are creating here in the Marianna area. Look in front of the bowling alley at that monster, look behind the new Zaxby’s, look in front of the new high school at that beauty, look behind Lowes and Wal-Mart, look in front of Winn Dixie, look behind almost every building in town once you leave the mid town area…we are creating an expensive swamp in the city! The breeding mosquito no longer has to look for a water-filled tin can or discarded tire because there is a lush pond behind every building in which they can raise their millions of larva.
I have talked to many builders-developers who have constructed anything in our area in the past few years. Almost all of them feel that our local code merchants harassed them, were unresponsive and unreasonable, created unnecessary costs and delays, and at the end of the project feel a smoldering dislike for the treatment they were given. The county and the city of Marianna bureaucracies both have a reputation among many business owners for being anti-business. Many builders are afraid to voice their feelings due to fear of future reprisals from the "crats". However, in private conversations spoken in low volume, they will tell you how they really feel. Many have a direct comparison of building a unit here vs. constructing the same structure in another county.
To me, this is more bureaucratic lunacy. They are hurting the creation of new building that will add to the tax base, which will put more tax revenues to the trough full of tax money from which they so generously feed.
I just heard that Zaxby’s wasn’t even able to put up it’s normal sign on the front of it’s new restaurant because of Marianna’s strict sign ordinances. The antique store that was in the old Stone Hotel related their closing directly to business they lost when their advertising around town was eliminated by that ordinance. That store drew visitors to our area. They used those convenient benches that used to be at many street corners. Additionally, I have heard that the Barnes Tire Rebuilding Project is behind schedule and is at a standstill due to the actions of our city code merchants. This sounds like an anti-business attitude to me. We need to hold our city and county commissioners responsible for this situation.
I feel that it is the duty of our city and county commissioners to assure that every bureaucratic department is working to help and benefit any new project in our area. They should visit the sites and solicit opinions from those that are investing in our county. If they find any county or city agency being hostile, over demanding, or unresponsive, they should take immediate action. Their job is to protect and serve the taxpayers, not the herd of bureaucrats.
I was recently informed that our local "code-a-crats" are applying the detention pond rules at a level above and beyond what the minimum requirements are. I plan to research exactly what is required by law and then compare that to what is being actually required. If our local bunch has unilaterally expanded the requirements based on their own interpretation or wishes without authority from the commissioners, terminations should result. The extra costs and damages to relationships in the business community that they may be creating through over-application would be inexcusable.
As you drive around, please pay note to these mosquito hoarding, undesirable holes that builders are being forced to build. Speak to your politicians at the national, state, and local level to encourage some logic and judgment in approaching this environmental issue that may be placing you and your family in danger. Help in this matter and you will be "Getting It Right". Or you can ignore the situation and invest in 6-12 common stock.
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