BrandonInfo.com

The city council is considering cracking down on residents who don’t pay their water bill on time.

Under the proposed change, customers would have a shorter amount of time before their account became delinquent.

But to make it easier for customers to know when they are delinquent, the city would send out color-coded bills. Late notices would be yellow, and shut-off notices would be red.

If you always pay your bill on time, you don’t have to worry about any of this. But if you are sometimes late, do you think the proposed changes would help? Are there any other ways the city could compell people to pay their water bill on time?

On Monday, people from Gateway demonstrated tablet computers, and high school administrators talked about getting one for each of the high school students and teachers this fall. The kids would use the computers during the school day and take them home at night, too.

This would cost the school district about $1 million over three years. Maybe a little more. Depends on whether the district buys the computers or leases them, and how much it would cost to make the school wireless. The state would add about $400,000 to the $1 million to make the project happen.

Only five members of the public came to the demonstration.

Talcott wasn’t surprised at such low attendance. A few months ago, before the $23 million school bond vote, only a dozen or so people came to the public information meetings.

It’s not just the school. Only a dozen or so people attended an open house at the fire department recently.

Why do you suppose that is? Are Brandon residents so satisfied with the way the city and school are run that they don’t feel the need to attend informational meetings? Or is there some other reason?

Five people were killed last week at Northern Illinois University before the gunman committed suicide.

We’re hearing more and more about random shootings. After each, the media analyze the shooter’s personality to see if there were clues ahead of time that the person may go off the deep end and harm others.

Do you know where your kids are at night? Have you met their friends? Their friends’ parents? Do you know what music your kids listen to? What Web sites they frequent? Is your house so big that you can be in one part of the house without knowing what other members are doing in other parts of the house?

Schools all over the country have tightened security to try to prevent shootings such as last week’s. And there’s no telling how many deaths may have been averted because of these measures. But not every tragedy can be prevented.

All of us can help by keeping in touch with our families, their friends, our neighbors and our community.

What are your thoughts? What can we each do to take care of each other?

We’ve had this discussion before, but maybe now is a good time to revive it.

For those of you who have asked why this Web site allows bloggers to post anonymously, you may find an answer in Randell Beck’s column that ran in Sunday’s (Feb. 17) Argus Leader. If you missed it, you can find it on www.argusleader.com. Put your cursor over the “Voices” link at the top of the page for a pull down menu, and then move to “Voices Columnists” and click on “Randell Beck.” The headline for the column is “Putting up with extreme opinions.”

One thing I’ve noticed over time on this blog is that elected officials rarely post. At least not under their real names. This blog could be a wealth of information on community topics if people in the know would post, providing details that would increase the public’s understanding of issues.

Back when Holly Boulevard was under contruction, for example, a representative from Terin Corp., the contractor, answered questions on the blog. His comments were very helpful and were a great community service.

There were times when Kathy Ford, who was on the city council at the time, would post background information. Again, informative and helpful.

Years ago, in the early days of forums and chatting, people didn’t use their real names, but they at least picked a screen name and then stuck with it. And no two people had the same screen name. It helped to keep the various voices straight in readers’ minds.

If you read Randell Beck’s column, you will know that Argus Leader Media’s policy is to provide everyone a chance to have their say. Could we as bloggers use that opportunity to have fruitful discussion, to educate ourselves and hopefully make our community a better place?

Do you think the Brandon Volunteer Fire Department has explored their options enough before deciding to pursue a fire protection district that would raise taxes?

The department hasn’t tried to renegotiate its contract with the city for fire protection for many years. Could they get the money they need if they renegotiated with the city, the county and the township, or any combination thereof?

Has the department explored the possibility of leasing fire trucks instead of buying them? Could leasing save the department money and ensure that the trucks they use are always up to date?

Fire department officials have said they have no interest in becoming a city department, even though city council members have offered that possibility. Should the department at least research this to see if this type of arrangement would work for them? It’s possible the city could buy trucks for a lower cost and at a lower interest rate than the fire department could.

Has the department talked to other cities where the fire departments are under the city’s wing? Maybe the BVFD could have everything they want for less money. They are seeking a $174,000 annual operating budget. Madison’s fire department operates on $128,000 a year, which includes the chief’s salary. Vermillion’s fire department operates on $146,000 a year, which includes the chief’s salary.

If the Brandon Volunteer Fire Department can’t get enough signatures on a petition, or if the fire tax district goes to a vote and fails, wouldn’t the department have to research these other options anyway? If they did that research now and still felt a fire tax district was the way to go, wouldn’t that help their cause among voters?

What are your thoughts?

So far, only two candidates have filed for city council terms that are opening this spring.

Incumbent John Saarloos in Ward I and Roger Brooks in Ward III have turned in petitions for four-year terms.
Blaine Jones in Ward I and Steve Rubin in Ward III have taken out petitions but haven’t filed them yet, as of Monday. Rubin already is on the council.

If nobody else files, there won’t even be an election. Saarloos and Brooks will automatically get the terms. And while they may or may not be the best candidates for the job, should a city the size of Brandon be governed by candidates who get the council seats by default?

The deadline to file petitions is Feb. 29, so Jones and Rubin still have time. So do any others who are interested in serving their city by running for a term on the council. Petitions are available at City Hall.

What are your thoughts on the candidates or potential candidates? What do you think about the number of people who have taken out petitions so far? What do you think about an election possibly being cancelled due to lack of candidates?

(No bashing, please. Be polite, even if you criticize.)

Do you have any Oz memorabilia? An old lunch box, perhaps, or a poster or a first-edition copy of the book? Maybe you just have a story or anecdote about the movie you could share.The Brandon Historical Society is looking for Oz items to include in a display they will put up at the high school during performances of “The Wizard of Oz” in April. More than 300 kids auditioned for the play. Elementary students will play the parts of some of the munchkins.

A Corson resident played one of the munchkins in the movie, though. His name was Carl “Kayo” Erickson. Only two munchkins in the movie were shorter than he. Some of Kayo’s personal belongings will be part of the historical society’s exhibit.

If you have any items you’d like to lend to the society, you can call one of the officers. They are Gene Urban, Deb Rothenberger, Howard Brown and Virginia Pappenfus. Or e-mail me at apthiele@argusleader.com and I will get word to the historical society.

Watching the annual broadcast of “The Wizard of Oz” was always a big deal for me, my  brother and my sister as we were growing up. We would each pick a character we wanted to be, and watch for their scenes. Sometimes our cousins or friends would watch with us. I always picked Glinda the Good Witch, even though she had hardly any screen time. I just liked her dress a lot.

Did you know that L. Frank Baum, who wrote the Oz stories, lived in Aberdeen for a while? That city has an annual Oz festival.

What are your memories of the books, the movie, any stage productions you have seen, or possibly of Kayo?

The city council declined to waive the signature process for the Brandon Volunteer Fire Department’s petition to create a fire protection tax district. That means department members will have to collect 820 signatures from registered voters in Brandon. To complicate matters, only registered voters who own land are eligible to sign.

Collecting the signatures will take a while, but councilors say the process will be a good way for the fire department to educate the citizens about their mission.

In addition, the department would need 275 signatures from Brandon Township registered voters, and they don’t have to be landowners. Strange thing about how the law has the landowner clause for the city but not for the county. But that’s how it’s written. The Minnehaha County Commission can waive the petition process for the township, but the fire department hasn’t made that request of them yet.

What do you think of the city council’s decision to not waive the petition process? Do you think the fire department will be able to get the required 820 signatures? They should get more than that, just in case some names have to be disqualified because they are renters and not landowners. And I pity the county auditor’s office, that will have to check each signature against the tax rolls to see if it qualifies.

Have you signed the petition yet? Do you plan to? Why or why not?

My husband pays many of our utilities online. Since he pays the bills, that’s fine with me. But if it were my job, I probably would still write out a check and put it in the mail, or drop it off in person. There’s just something about going through the motions that makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.

I will say, though, that paying online is real convenient, and it saves the price of a check, envelope and stamp.

How about you? Do you pay your utility bills online? How about credit card bills? Do you do your banking online? Would you pay for more things online if they were available?

What do you think of transferring money online in general?

I’m lucky. The place where I work is flexible about vacation time. I can take a day here or there without much advance notice. At the same time, people try to be polite and give plenty of notice when they plan to take a week off at a time.

I know people, though, who have to have all their vacation days planned by early January.

How strict is your place of work when it comes to vacation days? Do you have to put in for your days by the beginning of the year? If not, how much advance notice do you have to give? Are you required to take your vacation a week at a time? Do people with seniority get first choice of days off?

How do you feel about your employer’s vacation policy?

Do you ever visit the city Web site at www.brandonsd.com?

If so, what do you think of it? On it, you can find information about city departments, councilors, administrators and more. The city council agendas and minutes are posted.

What improvements would you like to see on the site?