Life is a lot like shingles, (the medical kind). You will get them, in the most annoying places, they will disappear only to re-appear a short time later, sometimes worse than ever.

It seems Cheshire has a case of the shingles namely with pools, boilers and municipal vehicles. Just when you think you have the issue solved-it pops back up to annoy you once again.

When I was in the Finance Department on Wednesday afternoon shortly before 2 p.m., a man came in and asked for “Lou.” He said he had a bid. His shirt said “Connecticut Combustion” so I immediately thought of the Norton Boiler drama.

The man was directed to the Lou Zullos office and off he went.

So on Thursday, after I got home from work I called the Town Hall and found out that INDEED there is another BOILER bid and Connecticut Combustion, whom I thought wasn’t going to be bothered with Cheshire anymore after the Norton School drama, has yet again put themselves in the fray.

This time, the boiler is located at the Hitchcock Philips House, which is the headquarters of the Cheshire Historical Society on the Congregational Church Green.  When I was gathering information about this, I was told that the the town has been tinkering around with this boiler or what seemed to me to be trying to band aid on a ruptured aorta. Not going to work.

So now, the town has taken bids to replace the boiler at the Hitchcock Philips House. The bidding closed Nov. 19th, the day I happened to be at Town Hall.

OH MY GOD-DON’T TELL ME–ANOTHER DRAMA WITH YET ANOTHER BOILER?? I hope not. When is this town going to learn?  Stop dragging things around in the mud. Last year my “furnace” died in the dead of winter. WITHIN 24 HOURS I HAD A NEW FURNACE–NO DRAMA.It is like this pool. Another $45,000 to fix this leaking roof again.

Anybody with common sense could tell you that a round or sloping roof connected to a flat roof will produce–PUDDLES OF WATER!! RESULT–LEAKS. This is because someone was asleep at the wheel when this pool was first constructed. He didn’t see the foundation for the pool was originally dug in the wrong place?  Luckily that BIRD flew the COOP!!

I hope the people involved in this bid process for this Hitchcock Philips House boiler will PAY ATTENTION TO DATES AND HAVE A MORE SUCCESSFUL, LESS EXPENSIVE OUTCOME THAN WITH NORTON SCHOOL.

The economy is really bad and this town or any town for that matter, cannot afford the same mistake. Heads will have to roll if this repeats itself. The Town Council has to demand this project be handled in a professional manner. NO MISTAKES!!

Click here for Hitchcock Philps Boiler Replacement Project

Now the next issue that really gets my blood boiling is YEP–TOWN VEHICLE REPLACEMENT involving my favorite department-THE POLICE!!.

According to the Cheshire Town Government website, the town “will trade in one 2000 Ford Crown Victoria unmarked solid blue color cruiser with approximately 70,000 miles.”

“The town shall purchase one 2006 or 2007 four door Chevy Malibu or Impala or a 2006-2007 four door Ford Fusion or Taurus or a similar year and equivalent model vehicle.”

The bids for this WASTE OF MONEY vehicle replacement will take place Dec. 4th at 11 a.m. in Town Hall in Room 207/209.

For those of you who have been following this blog since I started it in late 2003, then you know how I feel about trading in a vehicle with LESS THAN 100,000 miles. I DON’T LIKE IT!!

Now I am NOT saying that any of our police officers should drive unsafe vehicles. But, think about it, if the vehicle is TOO OLD or has too many miles on it, (which it doesn’t) or is unsafe, than why is it being traded in to a dealership for SOMEONE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO DRIVE???

Just because the car is eight years old does not mean it is not roadworthy. As I have stated time and time again and I guess needs repeating to thickheaded people out there, my spouse who is a FIELD auditor, emphasis on the word FIELD, with the Ct Dept. of Labor,  drives his own vehicle, has a 1991 Toyota Camry with 265,000 miles on it and IT IS IN TOP CONDITION. He drives this vehicle ALL OVER NEW HAVEN COUNTY, even to Vermont!! He is not just driving in one town. And he does this EVERY DAY–well, he doesn’t drive to Vermont every day but you get my point.

I know he does not feel unsafe in this vehicle. My kids ride in it. IT IS SAFE.

And I know he doesn’t engage in high speed chases ( how many do our Police engage in over the year?) so it is not a factor. Neither is idling. Besides, my spouse probably does more idling in traffic than the police. That does not kill out a car engine. Look at the hacks in New York and how much mileage they have on them. CASE CLOSED.

If the town is going to purchase another vehicle, stop dick dooing around and get A NEW VEHICLE. What is the nonsense with another USED CAR?? And while you are at it–get a green (environmentally sound) vehicle. GET A TOYOTA OR HONDA. Besides, Ford, GM and Crapler will probably be out of business soon, as they should be. Get out of the FORD HABIT WILL YOU??

If these cars are conking out at 60,000 or 70,000 miles than I think it is time to re-evaluate what model police vehicles we are purchasing wouldn’t you think?

Click here for bid specifications on the Police Vehicle

Let’s take a look at Sequim, Washington’s discussion on replacing Police Vehicles.