News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Can't shake that burning fire station subject

The Reporter's Notebook

I just can’t shake it! I‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌suggestion‌ ‌for‌ ‌Bureau‌ ‌officials‌ ‌concerning‌ ‌the‌ ‌stalled‌ ‌fire‌ ‌station. ‌ ‌

It‌ ‌would‌ ‌be‌ ‌incredible‌ ‌if‌ ‌someone‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌Bureau‌ ‌would‌ ‌step‌ ‌up‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌plate‌ ‌and‌ ‌tell‌ ‌the‌ ‌story‌ ‌of‌ ‌what‌ ‌went‌ ‌wrong‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌fire‌ ‌station, what‌ ‌this‌ ‌is‌ ‌costing‌ ‌us‌ ‌taxpayers‌ ‌and‌ ‌

what‌ ‌will‌ ‌be‌ ‌done‌ ‌about‌ ‌it.‌

Dream‌ ‌on!‌ Transparency‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌government‌ ‌is‌ ‌always‌ ‌a‌ ‌promise,‌ ‌and‌ ‌for‌ ‌someone‌ ‌else.‌ ‌The word on the street is that the foundation and walls were done incorrectly‌ ‌and‌ the building ‌could‌ ‌come‌ ‌tumbling‌ ‌down.‌ ‌

There’s‌ ‌no‌ ‌current‌ activity‌ ‌on‌ ‌site and hasn’t been for several weeks. ‌ ‌

Probably‌ ‌a‌ ‌lot‌ ‌of‌ lawyers‌ ‌are‌ ‌going‌ ‌to‌ ‌pick‌ ‌up‌ ‌a‌ ‌few ‌boat‌ payments‌ ‌on‌ ‌this‌ ‌mess. ‌

Right‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌chute‌, ‌I‌ lay‌ ‌a‌ ‌prediction‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌fire‌ station‌ ‌won’t‌ ‌be‌ ‌done‌ ‌and‌ ‌occupied‌ ‌until‌ ‌mid‌ ‌to‌ ‌late‌ ‌2022. ‌ ‌

The‌ ‌strategy‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌same: ‌wait‌ ‌long‌ enough‌ ‌and‌ ‌people‌ ‌will‌ ‌likely‌ ‌lose‌ interest‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌project; or‌ ‌maybe‌ ‌retirement‌ of the parties responsible ‌will‌ ‌erase‌ ‌blame‌ ‌for‌ ‌what went wrong.

The original bid was $13.6 million. That went up in flames a long time ago and we are still counting. I still think the best solution is to lay it all out for the taxpayers, take the hit and move on. Except this isn’t the way it’s done … another case of destroying a village in Vietnam in order to save it.

Get it?

I see that there still are only three Sani-cans on site, my method of measuring activity there. Add a few and you will likely see a couple of truckloads of workers to follow.

Barring a complete report of the problems — who is responsible, and what this is going to cost, maybe the Bureau could open up B Street and increase the speed limit back to what it was on the highway. The electric vehicles can’t be used as a reason any longer, they are no longer here, just another example of incompetence. That little project was near a million. 

You know the old saying, a million here and a million there, and pretty soon you are talking about real money. 

It seems incredible that invitations to a ribbon cutting could be replaced by a photo op of a wrecking ball crushing a phantom fire station.

Meanwhile, we will patiently wait for the Bureau to come clean in some kind of a tell-all report.

 

Reader Comments(0)