Left In Lowell

I haven’t given much time to write about my experiences with the Getting to Zero contest like I intended, so I thought I would pen some of my impressions and what it has entailed so far.

First of course I got my National Grid energy audit, which was good but not as thorough as the audit I would get later on. A couple weeks ago, a team of four students from UMass Lowell and their professor showed up for a couple of hours of testing, measuring, and surveying.

They were very professional and courteous and had quite a lot of questions for us, as well as perusing our energy use from some of our latest bills. By and far the best physical test they performed is what is called the door blower test.

They set up a contraption made of plastic panels with seals into one of our doors, where one panel had a powerful fan built in. The process blows air out of your house at a rapid rate, lowering the air pressure in your home as compared to the outside. Because the day was fairly cold, the air outside, now at a higher pressure, comes into every crack and crevice of your home and is quite easily felt with your hands. So you are able to find all the worst air leaks so to seal them and prevent less heat from escaping your home in winter.

Our blower test surprised me in several ways. First, we had always assumed our myriad oversized windows were a point of major heat loss. All windows to some extent are, and though ours are vinyl, they looked to me quite old and outdated. However, the windows must have been carefully installed, because when they were properly locked and sealed, most of the windows felt pretty good. With no major leaks in the casings and having vinyl windows everywhere in the house, we could be confident that the last place we should be spending money to go green was on our windows.

Our funky front door, however, left a lot to be desired. It leaked like a sieve! But some inexpensive weather stripping will take care of that. We also found other odd places that leaked: the cut-off pipe-holes in our floors where old radiators had been taken out leaked pretty hard, as did our cellar, from which a wooshing breeze could be felt standing in the doorway to the stairs. One bad leak was where our heating system vents, and there are alternatives for these, but it’s also likely that where our foundation meets the frame there’s places open to the elements. Being a finished basement, it’s hard to know for sure. Of course, if we sealed the door to the cellar with stripping and/or a door cozy or whatever they are called at the bottom, at least in the meantime we can avoid some of the cooling issue we have with the basement (which in the winter we do not heat, finished or not).

We also talked to the evaluation team about the possibility of PVs, photovoltaics (aka solar electric panels) on our almost-due-south-facing second floor roof. In the report from the team, which is pages and pages of information, they outlined what such a system would look like, what it might cost (before and after rebates and incentives). Very useful.

In the report, there’s also information on better home insulation (estimated cost of stripping the siding, putting in 3 inch extruded foam, and residing). Obviously this is a huge expense, although it could reduce total energy usage by quite a lot.

With report in hand, I headed today into the offices at DPD to go over my application with Aaron and Sandy, who spent quite a lot of time with me, going over the students’ report and discussing my application and proposal with me. Since the contest does not require the finalists to spend the money up front (which we really cannot do), I’m definitely going forward and putting my second phase application in. It’ll take some work to finalize our proposal, as I’ll need quotes from some contractors to get a real sense of the total cost, and I have some homework to do (Sandy suggested I get more certain as to whether or not our finished basement is actually insulated, I’m guessing not), but there’s no real reason not to do this.

Even if we don’t win, the process was still worth it because now we will have a blueprint with which to go forward, for making many of the improvements ourselves over time. And given the incentives now coming available with the stimulus and other new grants, that could be sooner rather than later. It’s better to be prepared!

I just got an email from Aaron Clausen of the Lowell DPD regarding planned neighborhood charrettes modeled after the successful public planning meetings with Trinity Financial and the Hamilton Canal. This is a super awesome idea, and I hope that the public takes advantage of the opportunity to shape the future of their neighborhoods. From the email (bold mine):

The City of Lowell in partnership with Goody Clancy and Associates is pleased to extend an invitation to participate in a series of “City Building Workshops” scheduled for the Downtown/JAM area, Acre, Lower Highlands, and Back Central Neighborhoods.

Our purpose is to expand on the success of the Hamilton Canal District charrette where we experienced an outpouring of public participation that helped shape the District in a way that creates a new, vibrant urban district befitting the City of Lowell. During the “City Building Workshops” we will be seeking input from the public to help create a vision for each neighborhood’s future. Specifically, these workshops are designed to help us prepare for the impacts of the Hamilton Canal District development, identifying opportunities for neighborhood improvement.

There will be four workshops conducted in each of the target neighborhoods; Downtown/JAM, Acre, Lower Highlands, and Back Central (see below for a complete schedule and workshop overview). We hope to see you at any one or more of the workshops, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at 978-446-7200.

The schedule is as follows:

Downtown: April 23, 6:30-8:30pm, Lowell High School
Acre: April 27, 6:30-8:30pm, 276 Broadway St
Lower Highlands: April 29, 6:30-8:30pm, Boys and Girls Club, 657 Middlesex St
Back Central: April 30, 6:30-8:30pm, Rogers Middle School, 43 Highland St.

Refreshments will be provided, translation services will be offered.

The ad in the email also says: “Learn about the new housing, retail, commercial space, parks, and jobs coming to the HCD. Share your thoughts on how this development might benefit your neighborhood…and the city as a whole. Voice your ideas about how you can respond to the opportunities and challenges coming from the HCD. Join your neighbors in helping to shape your city’s…and your neighborhood’s future regarding: economic development, housing, arts and culture, access, and linkages to other neighborhoods and communities.”

This seems to me to be quite short notice, so I hope the DPD is doing stringent outreach to the neighborhoods in question, if they want a good turnout. But otherwise, I think this is the right way to operate and I hope that people show up! If you live or work in one of those neighborhoods, you should plan to go. Your input is important to the process.

I have been watching the City Council for many, many years. Election season has begun. Take my word for it. Tonight’s City Council meeting launched the 2009 election season. Do some of these Councilors realize that face time on the television doesn’t always translate to quality face time?

It was a long meeting; that is what happens when you decide to meet only twice a month. It took over 45 minutes to go through the ceremonial aspects of the agenda and the meeting ended at 9:30 p.m.

The Double Tree and UML
Right off the bat, CC Rita Mercier stated her concern about the rumor that UML is moving into the Doubletree and wanted to know how is this going to effect Lowell’s tax base. CC A. Mercier stated I have not read this rumor, to which she replied, it was in the Column. He then replied, I do not read the Column.

That may be true but I think all political junkies or all of those who have something to gain/lose from Lowell political activity read the Column or have the Column read to them.

CM Bernie Lynch did mention that if that is the case, the City will have to look at how this will impact their tax base. Ouch. A lot of money to make-up if we lose that tax base.

And speaking of the Column, CC members asked the CM about the request to move the police training academy to the garage on Middlesex Street and they were concerned that the CM was not in favor of it because, guess what, they read in the Column. The CM answered that they are putting all of the facts together and perhaps he will have it ready in a week or two.

Group Homes
This is raised regularly. CC AK wants us to appeal the State Delegation to have them change the rules that apply to Group Home. The Mayor volunteered to have his office find out about group homes. Now mind you, both Andy Sheehan, Assistant to the City Manager and Christine O’Connor, City Solicitor, told them that they were limted as to what they could do. How many time is this issue going to come up; yes once or twice a term. It is a good topic to get the people excited but at the end there is not much we can do. We are mid-size City with a lot of large homes, a working class City. This is why these non-profit group homes come here.

Sub-Committee Meeting
CC J. Milinazzo reported on the Public Safety Sub-Committee meeting on the Fire Apparatus. I already posted on this meeting. CC Milinazzo always does an excellent job in reporting on meetings; detailed and factual. (Here is the link on blip.tv for this Public Safety Sub-Committee meeting.)

CC R. Elliott reported on the Flood Committee meeting. The residents asked that a formal motion regarding the “flash boards” be presented. Unfortunately, the motion was not part of the regular agenda so I was not able to get the jist of it. The residents of the flood area were pleased. (Here is the link to the blip.tv for the Flood Sub-Committee meeting.

Cable TV Sub-Committee Meeting: CC B. Martin gave a report. I also posted on this meeting. Here is the link to the blip.tv video on this Cable Sub-Committee meeting.

Motions
CC. M. Lenzi Request Council ask School Dept. develop curriculum re:Excise & Other Tax Procedures. CFO Tom Moses volunteered to go to the schools and teach students the seriousness of credit and paying your debt.

CC. Kazanjian Request Manager update Council on new Trash/Recycling Program. The CM will report on the progress but he gave good news that he was able to negotiate a new contract and save additional money.

CC. Kazanjian Request Manager update Council on Spinners Contract. The Spinners RFP response was given at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. The CM gave it to the CC, $180,000/year, 1% adjustment fee for 10 years. Spinners have agreed to ticket surcharge to go for capital improvement. All told, the City will receive about 2.5 million. Yes, that was the number that the City wanted. Spinners will continue to maintain the field.

CC Broderick-Req. Mgr. update Council on speeding on Andover St. I am sure that everyone in Ward 1 was happy that nearly all City Councilors expressed their concern about speeding on Andover Street.

CC.Elliott-Req. Youth S/C meet re: Summer Youth Job Program. The CM announced that the Career Center will be working with the Parks Department to have young people run the summer recreation programs at the City Parks and other facilities. Details will be provided later. If I am not mistaken the funds will come from the “Stimulus Package.”

CC R. Mercier/M. Caulfield Request Council take action to rescind previous vote on 3/24 to increase demand fee under MGL Ch. 60, Sec. 15 (2). Wants a warning sent that a fine will be forthwith if they do not pay in a timely fashion. The problem is that if we do not get revenue, we will have to lay-off more employees.

It is very simple, you reduce the amount of revenue, therefore you are limited in your income and have to reduce your expense base; i.e. layoffs. As CC K. Broderick said, this is not about the hardship; it is about those who do not care or even worse want us to front them the money. It is costing me and you, those who pay on time, to collect those who are irresponsible.

I have no idea how the City Council is going to determine the good guys (the ones in financial difficulties) from the bad guys (the habitual offenders). For the record, we are talking about people who are 38 days late after they had a month to pay for the invoice.

CC members should pay attention and know what they are voting for and they should know what the City is allowed to do and what the Commonwealth asked them to do. It is amazing what the CC does not know. The Administration asked people to pay an extra fee of $30 for being 38 days late. It does not sound to unreasonable to me.

Here is a part of the 25 minute discussion that preceded the 8-1 vote at the March 24th meeting. Now this issue was revisited and sent to a Sub-Committee. The CC discussed this for 25 minutes at their March 24th meeting. There wasn’t a failure to communicate; it was a failure to understand.

Closing Comments
Don’t forget to check out the “packet” on the City Council web site and you will probably be able to watch the entire proceedings tomorrow on blip.tv. You can also catch reruns on LTC. By the way, in case readers of LiL have not caught on, I have a deep and abiding respect for CC Jim Milinazzo; his knowledge, sincerity and devotion; a true class act.

I was googling about tilapia after a friend warned me he’d heard they are chock full of the wrong kind of fats and pose a health risk, not a health benefit. Basically, there’s a study which looked at the fish, which is rapidly becoming the seafood of choice in the US, and found it wanting, rich in bad omega-6’s and not so much in omega-3’s.

I’ve attached a podcast. below, from NPR’s Living On Earth show about the issue. It’s worth a listen.

Guess what? Most of the imported tilapia isn’t fed its natural diet, but a corn-based one. The expert interviewed on Living On Earth says wild tilapia is very healthy, it’s the farm-raised fillets that are the problem. LoE also interviewed American Tilapia Association president Bill Varano, who says US-raised tilapia is fed and cared for better, and produces fish that are nutritionally sound.

So there’s your health tip of the day…buy American-farmed tilapia, and you can still enjoy this popular fish. The trouble is finding it.

(You can find the podcast here (direct link to the MP3), I tried embedding it, but its audio settings don’t work with this podplayer.)

Tonight, the Lowell Film Collaborative (who are suddenly all over the city it seems!) are rescreening the documentary film they showed during their recent film festival, The Garden, tonight at 7PM at the Lowell National Park Visitor Center, 246 Market Street. This is a free event.

Bob Forrant sent me a note about this event, with the words, “I guarantee that if you come to see it, you will walk away a changed person! It is that significant a film experience.”

Tomorrow night you can view The Gay Marriage Thing, co-sponsored by the LFC and Christ Church United (180 E. Merrimack Street) where the event is being held, tomorrow April 15 at 7pm. The suggested donation is $5. You can hear my interview with the director of the film, Stephanie Higgins, here. Stephanie will be at the event as will the executive producer, Lorre Fritchy.

C. Rita Mercier is rethinking her previous support for the increase in late fees for delinquent taxpayers. That increase took the fee from $5 to $30.

As someone who frequently pays late fees (being chronically disorganized), I do not think $30 is an inordinate fee for paying late. As the article states, collections on delinquent accounts is expensive. It costs us, the city, more than $5 to chase someone down. Therefore, the late person is costing us money, and should be charged accordingly. (And really, it’s not like your credit card or bank doesn’t charge you that much or more for being late.)

Now, I would be all for a rules change that allowed someone in true hardship to contact the city and get an extension on paying their taxes, but come on. At some point you have to take responsibility for yourself, and if you’re late, you pay. I should know, I do it all the time, and some of that time has been because I didn’t have the money to pay it before its deadline.

And let’s face it, if you’re that broke, you aren’t buying the sorts of cars or whatever that costs that much in excise taxes to begin with. Despite occasional (relatively minor, but still painful) hardship in the last six years, my excise tax for the PoS (piece of sh*t) car (please don’t tell her I called her that!) we’ve been driving was like, the cost of two decent lunches downtown. If you own a house, you should be putting money into escrow. If you own a house and can’t afford the water/sewer/trash bill, well, as I said, I wouldn’t be adverse to giving people extensions, but the ball has to be in their court to contact the city and let them know their situation and to keep them up to date as to when they can pay.

I might swear like a drunk sailor every time I have to pay some late fee, even one I didn’t expect, usually at the poor person behind the counter, but if I can’t keep track of my own life, that’s my fault, and I should be angriest at myself. Just because Mercier was in line at the tax office behind someone who felt that way, doesn’t mean we stop being fair to the people who pay on time, whose just-as-hard-earned tax dollars were going to chase down people who weren’t, before the fee was raised.

Reporting in the Lowell Sun, Gunther tells us the first quarter numbers for recycling and trash savings are up significantly.

Compared to the first three months of 2008, bottles and cans recycling is up by 5.2 percent, paper recycling is up by 12.1 percent and trash (citywide) is down 14.2 percent.

The data reflects a savings of $96,000 at the incinerator.

Given that we only had one actual month in the previous quarter of having our new trash bins, this is great news.

Also, Gunther tells us some good news about Hazardous Waste Day, scheduled for Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot at Cawley Stadium.

For the first time, the Health Department will be on-site to collect medical sharps and unused/expired medications. Simply remove your name and medication name from containers. Better yet, place pills in unmarked zipper-type snack/sandwich bags. Bring your sharps (syringes and lancets) in a puncture proof, leak-proof container (such as a bleach bottle) with screw-top lid.

Also new this year is that the city’s waste contractor, Allied Waste, will be on hand to collect TVs, monitors, passenger tires and propane tanks. These items are on the city’s fee schedule and payment will be required at the time of drop-off. Visit www.lowellrecycle.org for more details and pricing.

I know I have some pills that I have wondered what to do with, since pouring them into the wastestream either by wastewater or by solid waste seems rather anti-environmental, especially given how drugs are being found in our drinking water.

I assume that tires must be removed from any rims…so I still haven’t been able to get rid of what the previous owner(s) left under my porch. *sigh*

But congrats to the city for the largely successful rollout of the new waste system, and for expanding HazWasteDay to be even more useful for residents. Let’s hope for even better recycling numbers this quarter now that we’re all settled into the routine!

It was less than 3 years ago, that the Lowell Plan, the private/public agency, embarked on a feasibility study that evaluated moving the high school out of downtown. Now, I read in the Sun’s Sunday Column, that the same group, working with the University, is “preparing a request for proposals for firms interested in performing ‘a comprehensive analysis’ on the potential economic impact of an expanded university presence in the downtown.”

So the first study was to determine if we if we should move the high school kids out of downtown and the second study is to determine if we should move the college kids into downtown. I want LHS to stay where it is and I welcome more college kids downtown. Of course all this depends on the definition of “expanded university presence.”

Today’s NY Times has a fascinating article about “hyperlocal” news web site. Is this the future of “journalism?”

Currently, the more successful sites (such as EveryBlock) have had a financial backer, to launch the venture. But if this model succeeds, then with a little bit of tweaking, maybe others can copy the format requiring limited financial investment.

Of course, the new journalism faces the same problem as the old journalism, bringing in ad revenue. But with such a limited staff, a few computers and a couple smart phones, your overhead should be manageable.

According to the Times’ article the other obstacle is “the need for reliable, quality content.” I am optimistic that this emerging media will attract the same quality of journalists as print newspapers, radio and television did and still do.

UPDATE: Some commenters on AMERICAblog report the guy admitting to doing this as a troll himself. But the probability that this was a script exploitation of the report adult content feature of Amazon was still to blame, and the discussion point still stands. Also, how fragile reporting in general in, on, and about the internet still is.

UPDATE II: Link to the guy who thinks the guy admitting this is a liar. This starts to get into the realm of meta-ing the meta…

UPDATE III: More interesting exploration of “scalability problems,” and another blog post noting Amazon’s “highly distributed” structure.

A fascinating picture is emerging of the Amazon-deranking-GLBT books debacle. If you don’t know what I am talking about, AMERICAblog posted about it this morning, then posted about what Amazon had to say about it this afternoon (calling it a “glitch” - which it apparently is, but not just a glitch).

In comments Robin posted this link to a guy calling himself brutal_honesty who seems to confess to rigging the “report this as an adult item” reporting system that Amazon has on its pages for books and other goods. He used a script, some friends with high traffic sites, and some brute force to do it, he says. This delisted those books he targeted (using a script, not direct targeting) from the rankings, which GLBT authors began to notice, then complain, then activists online angered at what seemed to be an Amazon policy run amok started to write about it.

“brutal_honesty” links to someone who was “the only person to figure it out,” someone called “dely,” writing at another livejournal blog (why does anyone use livejournal? God I hate that format).

Basically, #amazonfail is the name for a brewing Internet shitstorm that started some time on Easter Sunday regarding Amazon.com’s sudden decision to blacklist any books with LGBT(QQI) content from appearing in best-seller lists or search results. The blacklist also apparently extends to books with feminist themes, books about dealing with rape, etc. Initial complaints to Amazon resulted in the following stock response, which just angered people more:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

He describes some previous examples of this tactic by ultra-trolls, including one against Six Apart, who dely worked for (they do Movable Type/Typepad , the blogging software/community). He then goes on (bold mine):

Amazon will spend weeks cleaning up this PR mess. Trust will be destroyed for many, and may not ever be repaired for some. People have already mentioned canceling orders and canceling accounts, and by this time the controversy has found its way to MSM blogs and newspapers. […]

This whole event also brings to mind an ongoing debate I’ve had about the merits of trolling, which I define in its simplest form as “exploiting and demonstrating the weaknesses of online trust relationships“. In this case, it is Amazon’s trust relationship with its users, upon whom they rely to flag objectionable content.

In other words, on the internet, where no one knows you’re a dog, trust is built up by using such things as repeating names/nicknames, by the strength of your argument, but also, by tools that various platforms use to allow feedback, ratings and other user-generated content and data. But online trust is fragile and prone to quick breakdown.

To my mind, this really isn’t that far from actual in person human relationships, but it is an interesting discussion none the less.