The Hydraulic Canal....Again

Today's Journal....

Canal project stagnant as the smelly, mosquito-ridden water

MIDDLETOWN — Repairs to the city’s defunct hydraulic canal will likely remain as stagnant as the water in it after City Council members quashed a proposal to fix the problem

How many councils are going to "visit" this topic and how many times are they going to "table it" or just "wish" it would go away?

"Wilbraham Road Resident Gary Barge, who has been fighting to fix the canal since the 1990s, said he thinks the repair would have helped. Residents have had to deal with odors and excessive mosquitoes as a result of the stagnant water. Many have already spent money cleaning the canal and filling in the sides to protect their backyards from being eroded"

"Councilwoman Anita Scott Jones said she would “bet her paycheck” most people would not want the canal in their backyard".

And because it is not in any councilperson's backyard, it will be ignored. If it were in back of Mulligan or Kohler's house in S. Main St., it would have already been taken care of.

This next statement from Tom "Quiet Man" Allen is astonishing!!!!

"Councilman Tom Allen said he was not in favor of rerouting Aeronca’s water. However, he encouraged Barge to pursue a solution with his neighbors, especially if they are already spending their own money to protect their backyards.

“If you have 2,000 signatures and you get $2,000 a piece from (those people), you fix your problem,” he said"

WHAT????? Encourage Barge to pursue a solution with his neighbors.....???What in the hell do you think they have been doing for the last ten years Allen, playin' "hippity hop at the barber shop"? What an ignorant statement to make bud.

Then he follows with...

“If you have 2,000 signatures and you get $2,000 a piece from (those people), you fix your problem,” he said"

Yeah Allen, I would suspect most of those folks along the canal have 2 grand laying around on the kitchen table waiting to fix the city's problem.

Like the city asking the residents to pave their own street with the city shirking their responsibility, now Allen wants the residents along the canal to pay for the solution to another city problem that is being ignored. Allen's a fool for even suggesting this IMO. Hey Allen, here's a clue....it isn't THEIR problem. The dam city owns the canal. It's YOUR (the city's) problem. YOU own it. YOU (the city) are in violation of the health codes with the stagnant, mosquito infested water.