Items of Interest

Here is a small compendium of things ACHD followers might find of interest. Certainly you will never see these reported in the media.

Remember the Blueprint for Good Growth? It's moving again, somewhat, and one figure that may shock you is that a review of all the comprehensive plans from the 6 cities and Ada County show a buildout of population in Ada County of 2.7 million people. Of course, that's in 75 years, however, since we are now at a little over 400,000 population, we're talking 8 times as populated. If you want to see what's happening with Blueprint go here and click on the update in the Work Session.

Construction projects bid by ACHD are coming in vastly under what was estimated. This is obviously due to the economy. Construction firms are hungry and there isn't a lot of work in the private sector for them to do. For example, the Ten Mile Rd project from Franklin Rd to Cherry Lane came in $2.5 million under estimate/budget. The savings will be put to the project on Eagle Rd from Victory Rd to Ridenbaugh to accelerate that construction. A lot of people will be happy about this, I'm sure.

Earlier this year, I told you that we had some surplus property for sale. The auctions on those properties are now a go. (You must understand that the wheels of government grind exceedingly slow.) This is a great deal for taxpayers since currently, the land creates no income for ACHD, has to be maintained and it's off the tax rolls meaning every other property makes up for it. UPDATE The properties are offered by silent auction from December 21st thru January 4. Good luck if you're bidding.

ACHD uses the Community Work Program inmates from the Ada County jail to help keep weeds down and pick up leaves from the sidewalks and gutters. This is really a win/win. If you know of a public location that needs attention, give ACHD a call at 387-6100.

I've noticed that the Statesman does not include the ACHD agendas in their "what's happening in government" section. You can easily access our agendas. This page also gets you to the archives where you can review documents presented at the regular meetings, view video of the meetings, and now can view documents presented at the work sessions or pre/post commission meetings. Anything not at the dais alas, is not officially recorded or taped - yet. Someday, someday ACHD will see the wisdom of transparency. Now I know that ACHD meetings seem dry as dust, but don't tell me you don't find this column pretty darn interesting!