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Home > Blogs > Hamilton News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > April > 02
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Another day without (tap) water
The boil water advisory continues in Hamilton today. Final bacteria samples were taken yesterday at 4 p.m., but samples have to be given 24 hours to culture or not culture. At which point, the Ohio EPA can give the city an all clear.
This means that businesses are again using bottled water and pop during the lunch rush. Personally, I’ve mistakenly drank the water several times. Though, City Manager Mark Brandenburger assures me that any risk of illness is very minimal and I haven’t come down with anything just yet.
If any readers have become ill from mistakenly drinking the water, I would like to hear about it. Though, I imagine that because all preliminary bacteria tests on the water have come back negative, the worst Hamilton’s residents have experienced from this debacle is some rattled nerves.
We’ll update you here as soon as the boil advisory is lifted.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Utilities
Trains, trains and automobiles
I spent a few minutes stuck behind a train this morning. In Hamilton, I’m sure I wasn’t alone.
Some 108 trains a day go over the High Street overpass on average and additional trains run on the city’s other tracks.
I get a lot of anonymous phone calls, but I once got one about the abundance of trains in Hamilton. Although he never gave me his name, the caller did bring about an interesting question: What compensation does this city get for all these trains?
City Manager Mark Brandenburger’s answer was equally interesting.
Nothing.
Once upon a time - before interstates and airplanes - it was very beneficial to a city to have rail access. That’s how Chicago became the Mecca of the Midwest. (Coincidentally, Hamilton is nicknamed Little Chicago, but it has more to do with the fact that Chicago mobsters liked to summer here back in the Roaring 20s than it does with railroads).
But in the technological age, CSX owns the railroads and the land around them and just runs its trains through city’s like Hamilton across the county. The city cannot even paint the overpass they sit on.
I understand that knowledge doesn’t make sitting behind a train any easier, but at least know that the city isn’t lining its pockets because of it.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Roads
