Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Firm to assess Black River tributary

The town of Springfield has received a grant to assess stream geomorphic conditions on a tributary of the Black River that runs through Valley Street.


www.eagletimes.com    

6 comments :

  1. More wasted tax dollars but hey, its the Springfield way. I am sure they can come up with projects that require even more tax dollars. Funny how that works.

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  2. chuck gregory6/21/17, 8:05 AM

    10:02, it is in the interest of all for the government to pay attention to the geomorphic conditions of the Valley Street brook. As Adam Smith put it, merchants (i.e., the profit-motivated mindset) are not suitable for running government.

    What profit is there in knowing what catastrophe might destroy the town swimming pool (which is why it isn't on Valley Street any more)? In the hurricane of 1927, the Black River caused $500,000 in damage ($7 million in today's dollars.) I estimate that was 25% of the total value of the grand list at the time. Today, to lose 25% of the value along those same streets and roads would be $21 million.

    We aren't going to find businesses plunking down their money to see what their 50- or 100-year prospects are or to protect the larger community. It's why we spend tax dollars. And spending them keeps businesses safer.

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  3. Chuck. The Valley Street Brook is not the Black River and it is not going to ever cause major flooding to the town of Springfield. The ole swimmmin' hole is empty and filed with silt. It was closed because of safety concerns and not flooding. Most of the corn-eyed brown trout that used to frequent the stream have become extinct although rumors surface occasionally of a unconfirmed sighting. This grant is just the start of another tax payer boondoggle with the tax payer getting no benefit for their wasted funds. Welcome to the swamp.

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  4. But the hurricane of 1927 was before the flood control dam was built! Did the town flood when Irene came through? No, because of the dam!

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  5. But the hurricane of 1927 was before the flood control dam was built! Did the town flood when Irene came through? No, because of the dam!

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  6. chuck gregory6/23/17, 9:00 AM

    1:20, Bunni Putnam of the Springfield Historical Society once wrote in the Springfield Reporter how the Valley Street brook did tremendous damage to downtown. You should ask her.

    11:27-- it was precisely because of "wasteful government spending" that studies were done to show that the industries of Hartford, Connecticut (Pratt & Whitney, especially, vital to our military) could be saved from flooding by a system of dams constructed to restrict the flow of the Connecticut and its tributaries. The study involved tens of thousands of man-hours (paid by our tax dollars) that measured (with devices paid for by our tax dollars) the season-by-season and situation-by-situation flow rates of every river feeding the Connecticut and computing where each dam (land expropriated at minimal expense (paid for by our tax dollars); dam built by using our tax dollars) needed to be located and establishing a system (paid for by our tax dollars) of monitoring flows to release waters to minimize the risk downstream flooding.

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