Swimming upstream in 2017: The 2017 Proposed Budget

Well, it's time. The big reveal, the bottom line, full disclosure. This Tuesday evening, the 2017 Budget for the City of Chetek will be presented at the budget hearing held in council chambers at 6:30 p.m. prior to our regular monthly city council meeting. For the past two months the budget committee comprised of Carmen Newman, City Clerk/Treasurer, Cassandra Larson, Deputy City Clerk/Treasurer, 2^nd Ward Alderman Cliff Bronstad, 4^th Ward Alderman Mark Edwards and myself, the mayor, has met a couple of times, crunched some numbers and had many an informal discussion in search of a budget we can live with. I even presented it to the folks at the Chetek House of Prayer to pray for us during this process (which they did.) As I noted in an earlier post (see The Bottom Line), I was hoping a relatively painless solution would emerge. Unfortunately, it hasn't. Like the old saying goes, “if wishes were fishes we'd all swim in riches” and it looks like in 2017 we'll all be swimming upstream a bit.

The most significant change the general public will experience next year is that beginning January 1, 2017 (assuming the full council will approve the budget this Tuesday night) the City of Chetek will reduce its full-time police force by one full-time officer. That's a big deal. But in stating as such, the commitment remains to offer 24/7 protection. How so? I'm assured it's how we work our schedule as well as offering more regular hours to part-time officers. I'll defer to Chief on that one. Clearly, he and the department would rather stick with the force we currently have but “if wishes were fishes...” er...you get what I mean. Otherwise, city residents will continue to be offered all the regular services they are used to receiving – weekly garbage pick-up, friendly and personable service at City Hall open Monday thru Friday, a small but capable crew of public works' guys who diligently go about repairing and maintaining city property and a dedicated unit of police officers who work hard to keep us all safe.

Rod and Mike - the two guys on either side
of me - have 65 years of service to this city between them!

These same people who answer our questions or plow our streets or pick up our trash or make sure our sewage continues to be treated properly or respond to a 911 call were all informed in October that their health insurance premiums would be going up and they would only be receiving a 1% increase in pay in 2017. It wasn't the result of extended negotiations. It was just the hand they were dealt reluctantly – but dealt all the same. Still, I'd be surprised to learn of a drop-off in the quality of the service they will, no doubt, continue to provide. They are that kind of people.

This picture tells a story of the rising costs of health care

If you subscribe to The Chetek Alert and read the lead story in the October 26, 2016 edition (see Committee votes to reduce police force), I thought Carl did a good job of summing up the issue pretty succinctly. In fact, that little graph they ran pretty much tells it all. The biggest culprit behind our budget woes is the Affordable Care Act. An employer must provide health care to their employees or face stiff penalties. In 2017 alone we will experience an increase of 70% in our health care costs. If you're a fish, that's a big worm to swallow. After only presenting a 1% pay increase as a token gesture to our employees who will be paying higher premiums next year, after cutting back on outlay accounts such as replacement monies for a new squad car for the police department as well as new equipment for the City Shop, that still left us $80,000-some in the hole. Given that we are already working with a skeleton public works' crew we are reluctantly recommending we lay-off one full time officer come December 31.

There are other ways to fix the current budget dilemma but none of them are smart ones. You could use outlay accounts or fund balance or even what monies we hope to realize because of the sale of Knapp Haven. But using those monies is something like paying your water bill with a credit card. Sure you paid this month's bill but by next month you're really two months in arrears – with interest accruing. That is financially dumb. Fund balance is really for emergency needs or one-time purchases not ongoing expenses.

To the person who sent in a letter anonymously begging us to raise their taxes so we would not have to lay off anybody I'm afraid to inform you it doesn't work that way. Since 2006, the State sets the limits on how much a municipality can levy. Even if we wanted to raise your taxes, we couldn't. Well, that's not totally true. The max the State is allowing us to levy for 2017 is $4,200 spread out over the tax rolls. That's it. No foolin'. So if you can't raise taxes and you can't print money then the only thing you can do is pull in your belt another notch and do the best you can with what you have to work with. It's not anything we're doing wrong as far as I can see it. It's what all small towns like ours have to do to continue to provide the quality of life we enjoy here.

The budget hearing is open to the public at which time we will field any questions or clarifications anyone may have about the 2017 Budget. It may not be one that you personally like. It's not necessarily one that we like either but it does balance and it does come with a promise that life as we know it in these here parts will continue to go on pretty much as usual.

Twenty Questions (in case you were wondering, too)

Most of us, I think, are familiar with the “Twenty Questions” parlor game. I haven't played it myself in a very long time. Usually when I've heard that phrase it's customarily in the form of a declarative statement as in “We're not playing 20 Questions here” or something to that affect. And the inference is that the person who says that seems annoyed with what they feel is a barrage of queries – twenty or more of them!

In the course of a normal week I get stopped by friends and acquaintances alike who stop and greet me, maybe shake my hand and beyond sharing the normal pleasantries ask me various questions (none of which I want to make clear, annoy me) regarding the city in case I might know. Here's a few of them in no order of frequency or sense of urgency.

Nothing fishy going on with Douglas Street

“When is Douglas Street going to be repaved?”

Back during the summer, Douglas Street, between 2^nd and 4^th Streets, got ripped up as part of the annual cycle of repaving certain designated thoroughfares (City Park Drive, 15^th Street and a section of Kleve Street were also redone). In a relatively brief turn-around, the Barron County road crew returned and repaved every street that “the grinder” had tore up and resurfaced them – except between 3^rd and 4^th Street. There was a reason for that. For quite awhile now we have had a water line in need of repair and so Public Works Director Dan Knapp contracted the job to coincide while the road was being worked on. The street projects were concluded in August and the company hired informed Dan that they could not get to us until September. As we moved through September, they let Dan know they couldn't be there until October. So, for the time being, 'it's hurry up and wait.' (At Refuge, it once took a guy six months to get there four months after he said he would!) That's why Douglas Street between St. Boni and Off R Rocker remains undone.

It's all about keeping kids safe

“Why is it posted 25mph on Hwy SS between Chain of Lakes and the city limits near the old Snug Harbor resort?”

I maybe get asked this more than any other question put to me. Part of the frustration with the presently posted speed limit is the reality that in Cameron driving past both the high school and the new elementary school the speed limit is 35 mph. On the north end of town there's a few businesses, some storage facilities and only one residence. Why would it be necessary to curb our enthusiasm way before we reached Subway or Dairy Queen? To more than a few they conclude the only reason is to generate revenue for the city. “Jeff, you got yourself there a bonafide police trap” is how someone put it to me one day at The Center.

Here's what I've come to know. Those speed limits were not set locally but at the county level. What's more, as part of the Safe Routes to School initiative that brought all that new sidewalk on the north end of town, the deal was slower speed limits had to be set. Now, I don't think I've ever seen any kids walking to school on SS. And if I did, I'd probably pull over and offer them a ride. You'd probably do the same thing, too.

That tall grass there is there by design

“Who's responsible for cutting the grass on SS beyond Heritage Credit Union?"

That, too, is a County matter. A few weeks ago I was stopped at Kwik Trip by a resident who lives on Elizabeth Lane by Christ Lutheran upset about the length of the grass in the ditch by the storage units. I spoke with Joe Atwood who does a lot of the mowing of public property in our town and he told me to call Barron County Road Commissioner Mark Servi. I did. Mark was very accomodating. While the county does mow the ditches alongside the highway they do so only once a year and usually in the early summer after the spring rains have passed. Within a week or two a county mower showed up and cut the tall grass from Elizabeth Street to Pinewood on both sides. As for the scrub that remains growing along the fence line of the storage units as far as I understand it that is on the owner's in maintaining the appearance of their property.

“Who's tree is that?”

Several years ago, we planted a bridal wreath bush at the edge of our property. Since then, it's leafed out incredibly and when it's in full flower, we enjoy a lot. But by city ordinance, every bit of our bush that leafs out across the line no longer belongs to us. If Happ & Kathy want to trim their “side” of it, they are totally within their rights to do so because once my bush crosses the property line its no longer my bush. Now, good neighbors that they are, if it was a problem they would call us up and we would work out some equitable solution like neighbors are supposed to do. But technically, they wouldn't have to do that. They could sheer away up to the property line.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine who drives for Erb Bus let me know that there was a low hanging limb on 7^th Street just south of the school that was causing bus drivers to cross the center line to avoid it. I put a call into Dan who in turn let one of his guys know about the matter. When Joe showed up to deal with it, however, the owner was adamant that he skeddadle, that he was in no way going to touch “their tree.” Once again, when a tree limb either crosses a property line or, in this case, creates a potential public safety issue, that limb will come down regardless of who it belongs to. (That issue has since been resolved.)

No complaints here

“How's that 'mayor-ing'-thing going?”

I've been in office now six months and bar none that is what I am asked most often. I infer from that question several others most that center around this one: “Do I have “buyer's regret”?” Or am I sorry that I decided to run for office? Here's my short answer: Nope. No regrets. I'm truly enjoying the opportunity to serve the community I call home as well learning all about how municipal government works. Honestly, there was SO much I never paid attention to before elected mayor. I only went sparingly to city council meetings. And while I read whatever the Alert printed about city proceedings, I usually didn't connect a lot of dots. I didn't run for office with an ax to grind. I wasn't mad at anybody. I just was willing to serve. And the more I learn and the more meetings and proceedings I'm involved in, I'm beginning to develop my own opinions on how we can make our community better.

She even does windows

Even at his birthday party he wouldn't sit down

I was given a lot of advice in the run-up to the election most of which has proved to be true: City Clerk Carmen Newman, Deputy City Clerk Cassandra Larson and Water Utility Clerk Karen Zimmerman are, indeed, wonderfully capable people that we are fortunate to have serving us. That goes for Public Works Director Dan Knapp and his crew along with Chief Petersen and the rest of Chetek's finest. There are a lot of good people who work tirelessly and without a lot of fanfare to help make our small town a place people want to be and come back to. No question about that. 

Addendum: Since posting this I thought of another question I am asked from time to time:

"Does the mayor have any authority to prevent the train coming through town and blaring their horn at 3 a.m.?"
None. Nadda. Zilch. Zero. They come through when they darn well please and on account of safety regulations are required to blow their horn at every intersection. Personally, I think some of those guys enjoy that privilege just a tad too much. 

The Bottom Line: Looking for a painless solution in setting next year's budget

Yowser!

I participated in my first budget committee meeting last Wednesday evening and it was the equivalent of taking a cold shower. On a night where in year's past I would have normally been in church, sitting in the city council chambers and trying to follow the reports of all the department heads provoked me to silently pray nonetheless. At meeting's end, the first of several to follow, we were, by my count, $156,000 in the hole. For a guy who lives on a modest income and who pastors a small congregation with a lot leaner budget than even our town's size municipality it was...er...educational.

Every year at this time, the budget committee sits down to start crunching the numbers to formulate next year's budget. This committee – made up of the mayor, the city clerk, the deputy city clerk and two members of the council – is charged with submitting a balanced budget for approval by the city council by it's November meeting. Round 1 of this process is listening to the individual department heads – Community Center, Library, Public Works, and Police – present their needs and requests and get their proverbial two cents in. If you stacked all the paper that was passed around that night by rough count it amounted to fifty pages (which pales by comparison to Rice Lake's budget which I have on good authority to be 240 pages long!)

This doesn't represent Chetek but it's something like this

There are facility needs – the library needs a new roof within the next five years, Public Works needs a new-to-us dump truck, the Community Center needs a new furnace and air conditioner. The cost of the software that runs the computers in our squad cars has risen astronomically. And the snow plow season will soon be upon us and we have yet to fill our salt and sand bins. But the lion's share of the red ink that is currently on the 2017 budget can be attributed to the rise in health care costs. All of us who pay health care premiums can attest to the fact that if there is any sector of the economy that is not affected by the laws of gravity it's health care. In fact, do premiums ever come down?

For the past couple months City Clerk Carmen Newman has been hard at work trying to find the best possible policy for our city's employees. Despite all her best efforts to the contrary, it will cost us more next year than it did this year and deductibles will go up.

It's gotta happen

There are other expenses we will incur. Those aging light poles on the bridge have to come down much sooner than later. Though we applied for a grant to pay for half of our costs involved with relining the sewer pipes, we didn't make the cut. That problem – the processing of relatively clean ground water every day seeping into our sewer lines – is not going away. So we're going to have to secure a low interest loan to pay for it. It's too soon to tell if my personal pet project – the commencement of a sidewalk schedule to accompany our street schedule – will even make the grade given some of the other needs facing the city.

The day after I was elected mayor, I was stopped by my neighbor from across the street to congratulate me and plead with me to please don't raise his taxes. I was told point blank by someone at the Community Center just the other day that I better not raise her taxes. Here's the thing I'm learning: it's not that easy for a mayor, let alone a city council, to raise anybody's taxes on account of state levy restrictions. I suppose some of that is in place to prevent every small town in Wisconsin from installing a municipal pool and raise taxes to pay for it. But the total amount we are going to receive from the State would hardly fill a kiddie pool let alone a public one. $4,000. That's the sum total of our levy next year: $4,000 bucks. I can almost hear the guy from the state treasury's office deadpan it, “Don't spend it all in one place.” I guess that's why some communities – like Chippewa Falls, for example – experiment with things like a “wheel tax” (a measure that was upheld just last night in their council meeting by a 9-6 vote) as a way to generate more income. But even there the state restricts what you can do with those monies and may, in fact, take some away from you which offset any gains you might have made.

So, what happens next? Having heard from the department heads and received their projected budget, the budget committee will hunker down and start prioritizing, separating from what we would like and what we need. Anybody who's ever been involved in that process knows that's more art than science. What helps us is our outlay accounts – money that has been set aside to help pay for building improvements, purchasing of new equipment and so forth. That will certainly ease our pain as we go forward. And the sale of Knapp Haven (now Atrium Post Acute Care of Chetek). As much of a windfall as some might think it will be by the sale of that facility, a large segment of that amount has already been designated to “repay” us for the legal expenses incurred with that transaction (somewhere in the ballpark of $150,000!) All that to say don't expect new “old timey” street lights on Second Street anytime soon.

In an inter department memo sent prior to the first budget meeting, City Clerk Carmen Newman had this to say: “The loss in revenues and restriction on levies caused the City to decrease expenditures. One of the main cuts in services was the youth programs – lifeguards, summer recreation programs and the like. We really have not cut other services to the residents. We still provide garbage service, 24/7 police coverage, a public library and community center. Public works and the Police Department does a lot of community service at no cost to the user (such as Chamber of Commerce events like Liberty Fest, Brew Fest, Harvest Fest, etc.). They are putting up fencing, road barricades, parking signs, picking up garbage, patrolling, directing traffic, etc. Can we afford to do this?” It's a good question.

We can't have something for nothing. Streets (and sidewalks) have to be maintained. The community's safety and well-being need to be ensured. But something's gotta give. And Carmen tells me that the 2017 budget will be a relatively easy fix compared to the work we'll need to do for 2018. I can't wait.

Round 2 of the budget process will be next Wednesday night, September 21, at 5:30 p.m in the council chambers. This meeting, like all the budget meetings, are open to the public. I don't promise it will be entertaining. But if you're like me who really hasn't paid close attention over the years to the bottom line or has taken for granted the quality of services we continue to be able to supply to our constituents, it may be enlightening to say the least.

"Dirty" business

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin

The day after I was elected mayor this past April I was stopped out in the street by my neighbor come to congratulate me and share his satisfaction that I had won. “Now, you'll be my hero if you don't raise my taxes.” We both had a laugh at that not because I had uttered former

It wouldn't be prudent
to make such a promise

President George H.W. Bush's famous ironic one-liner, “Read my lips: no new taxes” in the run-up to the election (I hadn't); rather, we all know that if anything seems to defy the laws of gravity its the uncanny ability for taxes to rise. And up they go like a spray of helium-filled balloons no matter how hard municipal employees and representatives try and hold them down.

But did you know that right here in our town that Public Works Director Dan Knapp has a “dirty” little business going on that is actually making money for us instead of spending it? It's true. And the evidence for these “shady” goings-on sits like a small mountain outside the City Shop. There, like a miniature replica of the famed Matterhorn in Switzerland, is the gravel pile that while not gold sure makes us a pretty penny.

Okay, so it's not as tall as the Matterhorn but it's still the second biggest hill in town

And that wasn't the half of it

It works like this: a few years ago, with some help from some friends, we took out the old sidewalk leading up to our front door. It was cracked in multiple places and the earth was reclaiming much of it. Having dug it up, however, the debris had to go someplace and fortunately for us the “other” pile at the City Shop is the acceptable place to receive it. So a couple of trailer-loads later our now busted-up sidewalk lay among the assorted chunks of concrete and block gathered there deposited by local contractors and homeowners alike. Like the old shell game, we moved the mess in our front yard to the mess to the lee of the City Shop, making it their problem and not ours.

"Good" pile in the back, unprocessed concrete in front

We start with this...

...and we end up with what Dan calls "7/8 Minus"

But in the spirit of the old adage that one man's garbage is another man's gold, here's where Dan works magic. That pile of junk and old concrete looking like so much flotsam and jetsam that has been spat out of the maw of the earth is ground into gravel that officially is called “7/8 Minus”. During that process all the iron from the old rebar and wire within the cement is removed and shipped to Toy's Scrap & Salvage in Rice Lake to be recycled. They pay us to take all the iron filings from our old rock. As Dan deadpans it, “It beats going into a ditch around here.”

A certain grade of "gold" is in this hill

What's left is the “mini-Mattahorn” mountain of gravel lying directly north of the City Shop, a product that currently is going for $7/ton and sold to contractors and surrounding townships as well as to any individual with a dump truck. Mark Edwards, a crop farmer who lives in town and presently serves on the City Council, is not afraid to tell anyone who asks him how he feels about what we're selling: “The crushing size of the gravel (3/4” grade) just sticks together better and speaking as someone who is a customer myself, it just does a better job of providing a good base. Besides, we used to pay someone to truck our old concrete to a site to be crushed into gravel and then buy it back from them to be used on our own streets. Now we're making money off it and I think that's a better deal.” I agree.

But the deal gets even better because where does the money go? Dan puts it all in his outlay accounts to save for the replacement of new equipment. “My wish is that one day all our equipment will be off the tax rolls simply because we make enough off the sale of our rock to pay for them outright.” Now that's your city's tax's dollars at work doing what they can to keep our bottom line as low as practical. And Dan, we thank you.

Everything falls apart: streets, sidewalks and light poles on the Long Bridge

Douglas Street looking toward Second

“everything falls apart
then I get to try to put it back together
yeah, it falls apart
you can count on that, 
count on that
now whether it can”

“Everything Falls Apart” by Dog's Eye View

“The Second Law of Thermodynamics is about the quality of energy. It states that as energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted. The Second Law also states that there is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate into a more disordered state.” livescience.com

The way we were in 1993

In 1993, a week before our son Ed was born, we closed on our home on Fifth Street. That was an exciting moment in our lives: we were about to become parents for the third time and we were about to take ownership of our first – and to date – only home. In retrospect, it hadn't been an overly complicated process. We had met with a mortgage broker who had looked over our budget and had essentially set our price range. We could buy anything we wanted so long as we stayed within those parameters and at the time there were only two homes in Chetek that we could afford. So, we looked at both of them and chose Door Number 1. It was far older than the other house but it came with a double lot and a couple of extra (albeit small) rooms. For the grand total of $29,000, then, we closed on a five bedroom one hundred-year-old house that has been our home now for over twenty-three years.

Then

Taken a few years ago but pretty much how it looks now

Day 1 of Phase 1

Shortly after moving in – and taking a little time-out to have the baby – we began to realize that a little bit more than TLC was needed on our aging bungalow. In fact, a lot more. There was no insulation in the walls. There was no carpet on the floor. The windows were all single pane. The wiring, while still code, made you nervous just looking at it. As I recall, we were only going to do a “little” remodeling but as we have since learned you never do a little remodeling because in a house everything is connected together. If you're going to open up a wall – a plaster wall that is so brittle that it is beyond saving – in order to install fiberglass insulation then you might as well replace the wiring. And why not install new windows while you're at it? No sense tearing the walls open yet again? And thus it began, Phase 1 of many, many phases that have since followed.

The same spot looks a little
different today

In twenty-three years of ownership, we have remodeled every room in our home – and some of them, twice! Front room, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, staircase – the lot. With the help of generous donations from both sets of parents as well as taking advantage of the Community Development loan from the city, slowly but surely our now 120-year-old house has been transformed into the simple beauty that she is – or, at least, we think she is.

Not too many years ago

But you never really finish with a house, do you? I mean, truly – like the Second Law of Thermodynamics clearly states – everything falls apart. If you have kids running around, as we once did, things get nicked, dented, broke, scraped. Throw in some pets and new carpet gets stained or collects hair like a magnet collects metal fragments. Wood glue

dries and those beautiful rosettes you paid to jazz up your trim

The same corner this morning

display fall off the wall. Walls get smudged with dirt and grease. A seal comes loose in your upstairs bathroom tub causing water to pour like rain onto your brand new kitchen ceiling that has just been installed. (Yes, this happened to us). Again, everything falls apart. To own a home is to commit to a labor of love that never really ends until you sell it to the next owner.

Kleve Street by Chetek Veterinary Clinic

Now here's where I'm going with all this reminiscing: just like with our home or yours, our city property is always in a constant state of falling into disrepair. That's why municipalities have outlay accounts setting aside money to replace vehicles that will break down, equipment that will need maintenance and, ultimately, upgrade and facilities that will need to be remodeled or built anew. It is the way of things – everything falls apart – and like the song goes, “you can count on that.”

City Park Drive

Just last week the grinder came through and tore up a number of streets in Chetek – City Park Drive, Douglas Street between 2^nd and 4^th, Kleve Street between 2^nd and Tainter, and 15^th Street along Bailey Lake. It's part of the street maintenance schedule that is followed every year in order to ensure that Chetek remains a town with good roads. Instead of a patch here or there relatively long stretches of pavement are resurfaced for its aesthetic value. Plus, you get a better price that way. Next year another set of streets will resurfaced because as everybody knows the extreme temperatures we endure during the winter months contribute to our roads splitting, cracking and falling into a state of disrepair.

Currently we are a pole short out on the bridge

Right before Liberty Fest one of the light poles on the Long Bridge fell over. It wasn't run into by a vehicle. Straight line winds weren't the culprit. No, it just fell over. The pole, installed back in the 70's when the new bridge was built, just rusted out. Fortunately nobody was hurt. But when Public Works Director Dan Knapp informed

Thank God the pole fell on an empty road

Excel Energy about the matter he was informed that forty years ago when the poles went up they became city property. While the State handles any improvements the bridge may need, the poles are our worry. Who knew? And the pole that fell is not the only one in need of replacement. Yeah, everything falls apart.

This is the pipe outside of Ohde's front door

For those of you who do any walking in our downtown area you know that there are stretches of pedestrian pavement that vividly demonstrate the Second Law of Thermodynamics in action. There are sections in serious need of replacement. In front of Ohde's and the Flor building across from Gordy's there are city water pipes sticking up above the sidewalk creating a potential hazard to walkers and runners alike. A few years ago we were

This is in front of the Flor building

fortunate to tie into a grant that brought new sidewalks to the entire stretch of the south side of Dallas Street as part of the Safe Routes to School program. I don't think First and Second Streets would qualify for the same. So what's a municipality to do? You could encourage businesses and home-owners to replace the walk in front of their property but they will either have to pick up the entire tab or a part of it (with the city picking up the other part). Or you could do it the way Barron does it – spread the expense over the tax rolls under the premise that a safer and more attractive downtown area benefits everybody. Personally, I like that approach. Reality is most people are going to avoid an extra expense if they can help it. And if we leave it up to the individual there's a good chance we'll end up with a hodge-podge of new and old sidewalks strung together. That's why I opine that as long as we have a street schedule why don't we add to it a sidewalk-one? Because – yes, I'm going to say it once again like another beat of the drum – everything falls apart.

Which one is next?

I didn't run for legendary Chetek High School Cross Country Coach Dan Conway but I have it on good authority that among the plethora of witticisms and anecdotes he would share with his runners at practice was the old story about the king of a certain country who wanted all the wisdom of the ages gathered at his fingertips (obviously, this was way before Google) so he could pass it on to his posterity. So this regent commissioned certain advisers in his kingdom to go forth and collect every sage saying and wise counsel that could be known. They returned a year later with their work gathered into twelve volumes of comprehensive wisdom. The king was aghast. “This is way too large. People will never read it. Condense it further!” he thundered and then sent them out of the throne room. They returned six months later with three enormous volumes to present to their king. Once again he was disappointed with their efforts. “This is still too large. Condense it further!” This time the delegation returned a month later with the project now reduced to one behemoth book. Not surprisingly, the king disapproved of this solution as well and sent them out charging them to reduce the size of the volume once again. They returned 15 minutes later with a slip of paper and ceremoniously handed it to their liege. Upon it was a single five word sentence that in their estimation was the sum total of the wisdom of the ages that the king could pass on to future generations: There is no free lunch.

Coach Conway would share that story with his runners as a reminder that there are no short-cuts to success, that it's just you diligently applying yourself to your craft and learning from your mistakes. You can't get something for nothing. What's true in running and other matters in life also applies to those of us who own a home or call this city our home – if we want to continue to ensure our town remains a thriving, beautiful community we're going to have to invest in it on a regular basis so that our roads remain drivable and our sidewalks help us get from here to there without twisting our ankle or falling on our chin or backside.