More NLR woes
--Scott Miller photo
Poor ol' strong mayor Boss Hays. He needs a jillion dollars to build screwball traffic connectors, as well as stealing millions from school taxes, to get that big sporting good store built in Dark Hollow. He's trying to build a riverside mobile home park on the cheap, in defiance of state rules. He can't afford to add a scrapped tugboat to the rusty sub on the riverfront. Some people object to his commandeering public parking spaces for private uses, like the private baseball club.
Electric rates are sky-high. And now there comes another rub. The NLR hydro plant, a holdover turkey from the mayoral days of Terry Hartwick, isn't providing any of the small relief that it can provide when it's running. KTHV had a report last night about how Army Engineer flood control efforts have restricted generating capacity. Hays is quoted in the piece as seeming, again, to suggest the city might borrow money to hold down electric rates. This is like putting your electric bill on your credit card and paying interest on it forever.
As with a lot of NLR news, this sorry state of affairs on the river was reported first on Scott Miller's Argenta News (on July 4) and also on his Dogtown Wire (July 3). I'm embarrassed to say Scott tipped me on this last week, but I forgot to follow up.
Sometimes, LR folks, having a strong mayor may not be such a good thing, if spending the city into the poorhouse through corporate giveaways and underfinanced development schemes, plus special favors to insiders, is any gauge.
Comments
We gotta stop letting these hillbilly mayors from Arkansas go to these national conventions of the Council of Mayors and League of Cities and all.
These hicks go up there and instead of attending meetings on how to keep the fluoride gizmo working at the water department they decide to attend all these meetings on "Make YOUR City the New Portland With Your Very Own Trolley Car" and "How to Get a Decommissioned Aircraft Carrier for Your City's Town Pond" and "Convert Your City's Skid Row to a Titty Bar Ginza Replica" and "Lure Bait Shops to Your Vacant Lot."
Then they come back home and bankrupt their cities trying to get the public to finance their toy box dreams.
Posted by: Earl Swagger![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 10, 2008 09:38 AM
When the Hyro Electric plant was built I asked a friend, who was the civilian head of the LR Corps of Engineers, why they didn't build it when they built the dam. His reply was that they thought about but their studies showed that because of the ups and downs of the river it wasn't even feasible for them.
Posted by: ARKDEMOCRAT![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 10, 2008 09:40 AM
Maybe now we will rue the day of electing a full time LR Mayor (although I keep hearing that full time refers to pay & ribbon cuttings only). Absolute power continues to corrupts absolutelly! Whether it is Buddy, Pat , Mark, LR School Board, Terry H or Casey L. It's time to reduce our losses by going to long overdue regional government.
Posted by: downtowner![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 10, 2008 11:23 AM
Funny that there was no mention of this in Monday's ADG article about how smart NLR was to lock in their electric rates; however, they certainly did credit themselves with diversifying their energy supply sources to include the hydro plant.
Posted by: Wyle E. Coyote![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 10, 2008 11:27 AM
The NLR balance sheet is about eleventy times more sound than the balance sheet of LR. The Terry Turbine Hydro Plant WAS a turkey for the first 25 years but it will soon be paid off and not only is it a Green (blue?) energy source, it will be cheaper than Entergy rates from now until , oh, the end of time. Sure it only produces enough juice to light up Levy, Scenic Hill, and the Funrides in Burns Park, but when we are railing and wailing about coal fired plants sprouting up like dandelions, lets give the Terry Turbine Hydro Plant a break. And to think it came about during a corporate financed ski trip for TH and the loverly cheeleader! Make love, not smoke!
NLR-where the good stuff of LR is moving to.
Posted by: Sanford![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 10, 2008 08:23 PM