Huntington continues to seek ways to improve (Wheeling: home, construction)
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Finally, the city is talking some more about street sweeping. I really cannot understand why this is not something that could be implemented quickly. There is no excuse for not sweeping the city streets very regularly (at least weekly). The street flooding problem could be helped with frequent and regular street sweeping, not to mention an improvement in the aesthetic appearance of the roadways, the majority of which appear unsightly and unkept.
First of all, I must applaud the mayor for pressing for answers on street sweeping; however, he is the mayor of the city and could certainly speed up the process to implementing city-wide street sweeping. I was particularly struck by the comments of Jay Edwards (not exactly sure who this is, as the article does not explicitly state his title; I would assume he is a member of the Sanitary Board):
Jay Edwards said, “We are trying to get a grasp and identify the sweep areas.” He said that it is “hard to sweep” in this type weather. Catch basin cleaning was identified as having delayed implementation .
Williams asked “what will it take for a regular street sweeping schedule for the entire city? There was one once upon a time. What do we need to get there?”
With all due respect to Mr. Edwards, virtually the entire city should be labeled as a "sweep area." I would think that it would be much more difficult to identify areas that are NOT in need of sweeping. This is bizarre! Just start sweeping the streets regularly, period. It is also a lame excuse to claim that it has been "hard to sweep" in this kind of weather. It's not like we have had a brutal winter with frequent snowfall or anything.
On the surface, I agree with you that figuring out the street sweeping schedule and areas needed shouldn't be difficult. When you start thinking about the logistics involved, it becomes quite complicated though. To start with, Huntington has nearly 200 miles of roads within city limits. Obviously you couldn't sweep all 200 miles so how do you decide what to do and what not to do? Also, how do you come up with a schedule that is easier on people due to the need of not having cars in the way? Most street sweeping is needed next to the curbs but this is where cars typically park. Add in the fact that they would be doing this during the day which is when the highest concentration of cars will be downtown. You have to find a way to not inconvenience the residents or the business in doing the street sweeping. And with regards to the weather, I'd imagine the cold adds a layer off difficulty as any water will cause debris to freeze together and thus be more difficult to sweep up in the machine.
So while it does seem an easy task, there's a lot to be considered. Then, on top of everything listed above, the same employees doing this also have to clean storm drains. This also doesn't consider the fact that if you aren't equal in how much you are sweeping and where, people will start to complain. The big thing is, at least they are starting to have the discussion and put a plan in place! That's more than has often been done in the past and hopefully they can get it started by the spring. It's be nice if they could get the start of regular street sweeping to coincide with the city wide spring clean up that we typically do.
The Expecitionary Learning school moves closer to opening:
Quote:
The board will hear from Jenny Seydel, a school designer from the national Expeditionary Learning organization.
Seydel has been working with the school district on the Explorer Academy, which will open at the start of the 2015-16 school year. It will be populated through the consolidation of Peyton and Geneva Kent elementary schools.
In December, Seydel hosted informational meetings with parents from both schools about the Expeditionary Learning model, which focuses on project-based learning that "joins academic challenge and scholarship to critical skills like perseverance, critical thinking, and an ethic of contribution to prepare students for success in college, career and citizenship," according to the Expeditionary Learning website.
The Explorer Academy will be the first school in West Virginia to use the Expeditionary Learning method. It will serve as an incubator school to allow for other teachers and administrators from throughout the state to learn more about the method through a partnership with the June Harless Center for Rural Education and Research at Marshall University.
In regards to the street sweeping discussion, I agree with both bailey and jce. There are obstacles to implementing a city wide sweeping program but I believe these obstacles can be tackled.
During the winter perhaps the objective should be more on keeping the trash clear and not so much on washing or using water to clean close to the curbs. Also, given the advance notice, I believe asking residents to keep certain city blocks clear for part of a day isn't too much to ask. Now, in the highest traffic/parking areas, the cleaning should be scheduled for evenings and weekends.
You know this brings about an idea. First of all, the expeditionary school is a great thing because for once, Huntington isn't 10 years behind the rest of the country. Take that with a grain of salt because the first types of these schools began popping up in 1992 or something like that. I also know that there are only about 150 of these in the USA, which means that primary school education around here will be in a very select group.
We should try and stay on the cutting-edge (well as cutting-edge as we can be in WV lol). There is a system of public schools in and around NYC, that I found to be quite interesting. It's called Bard High School Early College, which is obviously in association with Bard College. Students who attend these school complete their high school requirements in 2 years and then take college courses for the next two years (this may also not be the only school that uses this model). The students graduate from high school with not only a HS diploma, but an associates degree as well. They are then ready to competitively tackle the general workforce right out of high school, but more importantly they can transfer their credits to a 4-year institution and begin college as a Junior.
A program like this in Huntington (or anywhere in the state) would be great for Marshall and the city. You could imagine how students might be more likely to stay here either for a job or to continue their education at Marshall, or even other state schools.
Please no political tangents from what I am about to say; just take it as it is:
If ever community college became free as has been recently suggested, then a program like this would likely serve as a model that schools around the country might attempt. It would be wise of Huntington to be on the forefront of such a revolution of the education system.
With regards to street sweeping, I wasn't saying that it couldn't be done, only that it would be more complicated than it seems on the surface. With a little planning, advanced notice and sticking with a schedule that would be posted in high traffic areas this could easily be done.
With regards to the Expeditionary High School, the initial model that they had talked about was progress at your own pace. This model follows the idea that if you catch onto something really quick then you move on to something else. If you need a little more time for a topic, then you would have that as well. You might be able to incorporate college classes into it for those who speed through the requirements quickly. If the high school was on Marshall's campus as originally planned, this would make it a pretty easy transition.
Nice write up on the first What's Next Huntington? forum. The article states that there were about 200 people there which sounds about right based on what I saw. There was a lot of good energy there.
Having returned from the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., Huntington Mayor Steve Williams told council that "we are taking steps (related to law enforcement, firefighting, and drug abuse) that no one else across the country is even considering." The conference attendees included the mayors of many large and small cities across the nation.
Williams indicated that representatives from other municipalities sough out Huntington representatives for input on its innovative land bank, brownfields, and water quality programs.
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