Wow. The villagers are angry in Bryan. Someone asked me to post something about the row going on in Bryan. Way to go folks!!! Check out the eagle comments section (theeagle.com) about the Bryan council agenda issue. Glad that at least some of you all are getting upset over city council people who are representing personal and business interests rather than community interests. Unfortunately, I do not have time to keep up with this issue. I would love to have Bryan, and College Station for that matter, top level bloggers to help cover this stuff and a full range of community political issues. One of the problems that happens is that people get caught up on single issues and fail to deal with the bigger and more broadly connected picture. If you are interested in being a top level blogger please contact me at hughstearns@gmail.com. I prefer to have people use their real name but I may be willing to overlook that if necessary. In the mean time please feel free to cover this issue in the comments section. I will try to check in at least once a day and bring new topics to the front page if there is a need. I probably will not make it every day. Please don't let your energy die. This is not about a single issue, it is about caring for your community. Connect the issues.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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2 comments:
This blog has done a good job in the past. Too bad that you do not have time. It would be great to see an exchange with Conlee the way that you did with Dictson. Though it seem that Conlee prefers the shadows. I can't imagine that he would be willing to engage at that level. Dictson turned out to be pretty petulant in his negative campaign against Crompton but in his exchange with you he was at least open and forthcoming, if not a bit deceptive. It seems that you use this blog during campaign time. Seems unlikely that you will have the same level of readership when this stuff is not in the news every day. But thinks for what you do.
The conflict over BVSWMA is another facit of what you are seeing among the Bryan Council. There are some egos and control issues that might just undermine one of the models of cooperation in our community as well as a huge asset. If there are problems lets work them out but we need to keep our eye on the prize.
To those of you who will be discussing the future of BVSWMA;
The reason for College Station and Bryan agreeing to cooperate in the ownership and operation of a regional landfill is that it is good for our community. We have a great asset in our current Rock Prairie Landfill and an even greater one in the permit and land that will become the Twin Oaks Landfill in Grimes County.
The foresight of our community leaders in forming BVSWMA made it possible for our community to have more control of our solid waste collection and disposal costs. At the operations level we have done a great job developing these assets. Our operations are a model for regional solid waste disposal facilities. We have optimized disposal capacity while minimizing costs. Our relationship with State regulatory agencies is positive. We have worked hard under direction of the BVSWMA policy board to develop a fund balance that makes closure of Rock Prairie and the opening of Twin Oaks feasible without excessive new costs. The geographic location of our community at the center of growth in Texas ensures a demand for waste disposal far into the future. Our secure ownership of a waste disposal facility gives our community the ability to manage and control our costs. The alternative is for us to be a buyer in a market where the demand for disposal capacity will constantly grow faster than available capacity. Add to that haul costs when nearby disposal facilities are no longer available and we could be facing quickly escalating costs.
My philosophy of management is that almost everyone will take pride in working hard to accomplish a worthwhile goal. As a manager I consider it to be my job to keep our resources and efforts focused on that goal. The recent controversy over control of BVSWMA is taking resources and effort away from that worthwhile goal. The dispute we are currently engaged in does not seem to have a purpose that is aligned with the overall success of BVSWMA and its assets. Unfortunately the problem exists and we must resolve it so that we can move our focus back to the worthy goal that led to the creation of BVSWMA.
Please listen so that you can understand what the basis for the dispute is. It is fair to ask not only what your partners want but also why. If you do find out why, please tell me because I just don’t see it. Addressing the “why” is more important than the “what”. When it is your turn to explain your needs please communicate to your partners the “why” behind your “what” and be open to alternatives that may meet those needs.
Our community and its leaders need to say thank you to Mark Smith, Bill Angelo, Jim Smith and Pete Caler, the past and current BVSWMA Directors. They worked under the direction of both cities policy makers and agreements for many years and did a fine job of managing and growing these assets to date. Success like this does not happen without smart and courageous work in dealing with myriad challenges that come with managing this kind of enterprise. The success of BVSWMA is the “why” behind their efforts. I hope that you will share that with them.
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