Front Loader and Tree e-mails (Feb 20 - Mar 2)

Date: Feb 20

From: Village President

To: Village Manager

Subject: Front Loader

Well, George. This front loader thing is turning out to be a little bit of an issue. Peter is really upset about you not allowing him to use it. He did suggest that instead of him driving it, maybe Dave could drive it and you’d be okay with that.

Will that be okay? It’s really becoming an issue George. I mean, he already promised his wife that the pool would be ready before she had her turn at the book club meeting. He can’t exactly go back on that now.

See what you can come up with George. This is where that high priced thinking out of the box comes in and that’s why we hired you away from the big city.

Mac

Date: Feb 23

From: Village President

To: Village Manager

Subject: Re: Front Loader

I’m surprised that you feel that strongly about this whole issue. I mean, I figured so long as Dave drove the thing, it would be okay. And being a water guy, we thought you’d be more sympathetic to Peter’s pool. So how about if Dave does this on a weekend. Mind you, we’ll have some answering to do to Berta about that and we’ll have to make sure to schedule it around his lodge meetings. They’re in the evenings, but they can get rambunctious and even the next day, Dave’s driving can be a little hinkey. I can’t believe that you’d have an issue if it’s not during work hours. And don’t worry - we won’t pay Dave for the overtime or anything.

Date: Feb 25

From: President

To: Village Manager

Subject: Re: Front Loader

I understand that you took the front loader schedule down from the Village bulletin board George. Tina’s pretty upset about that, since she spent almost a full day making it look nice, with the lines and the little pictures. She got those pictures from the internets, and she did a fine job with that. She's really talented with that computer, always learning new things, like that faced stuff and twits. If you’re upset that she used pictures of garbage trucks, it’s only  because she wasn’t sure what a front loader looked like. She can probably take the pictures off, although it will hurt her feelings to tell her that, but if you feel that strongly about it, well I’ll do that. Have to admit George, I didn’t think you’d be such a stickler about these little issues.

Anyway, she’ll keep the schedule at the front desk with herself, so it won’t be on the bulletin board. And besides, most of the weekends have been taken already. Who knew that everyone in town would have so many uses for this thing? We should have gotten one years ago.

We will have to deal with Berta though. She’s not happy that Dave’s weekends are going to be used up like this. We’ll have to make her first in line to keep her content. She’s always wanted one of them pretty little fish ponds in her garden.

Dave says that the front loader won’t get here for another couple of weeks, so we’ll be able to hammer out the details of who gets which jobs done when before it gets here. And Sean Cohen seems to feel that, so long as nobody drives it too far, and there’s no alcohol involved, it should be okay. Of course, he’s third on the list. I never realized that he was a fan of tennis, but then again, maybe that's why he's so tired all the time.

If you want to schedule a weekend, you should probably do it soon. They really are filling up George.

And don’t worry about Peter. He can’t hold a mad. He’s the mellow one on the board, ya know. 

Another thing, my brother will be contacting you about the Georgenson’s tree. It’s not looking well and Don and Sally Mae don’t get along with him, so he needs to have you talk to them about it. For a woman who commutes with dogs, you’d think she’d like trees, but they’re a bit flaky, those two. Anyways, that tree isn’t looking good and you need to talk to them about it. Please make that a priority, George.

Date: March 2

From: Village President

To: Village Manager

Re: Tree issue

Well, well George. First you made Peter upset with the whole front loader hooha and now I understand you had a run in with the Georgenson’s.

Sorry to hear about that bite, but those dogs can get protective, ya know. And don’t worry. No matter what they say, nobody really believes that those dogs are part coyote. They may be part wolf, especially that one that got you George, but definitely not coyote. Just look at the size difference. It would have to be a really big coyote.

Anyways, if you give the insurance form to Tina, she’ll take care of it. Course it wouldn’t hurt to maybe bring her something for the effort. I think she’s still smarting about your critique of her pretty pictures on the schedule.

And I hear that rabies shots have come a long way, right? It’s only a few weeks of shots, which is better than the old days. Heck, when I was a kid, they’d tell stories about how old man Jenkin’s had an uncle that they had to tie to a tree to make sure that he didn’t have rabies. Course, you can’t believe everything you hear. I mean, he probably wasn’t tied to the Georgenson’s tree, but that’s what people say.

Speaking of that tree, did you get a chance to see it before the dogs chased you down? 

Well, take care of that bite.I don’t know that we’ve ever had someone take so much sick time in the first few weeks of the job, but I’m glad to hear that you’ll be able to make the meeting Thursday.

I know that my brother will bring up the tree, so if you didn’t get a good look at it, you may want to try to get over there again before the meeting. Maybe this time you should bring some dog treats with you.

Mac

George's first routine Board Meeting

Village Minutes - February 19th

Regular Monthly Board Meeting 

Attendees:

President - Mac Powell

Trustee - John Powell

Trustee - Berta Jenson

Trustee - Peter Douglas

Trustee - Dorothy Douglas Gregor

Attorney - Sean Cohen

Village Manager – George McConnell

Public Works - Dave Jenson

Meeting called to order 7:02 p.m. with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance

President Powell: Let’s go right to public comments. We seem to have a big crowd here, so let’s just get on with it. Cyril, why don’t you let someone else go first. Don, how about you start it off? What brought you out tonight Don?

Don Georgenson: Thanks Mac. Well, it’s the dogs. They’re going crazy, barking and such. I mean, ya gotta do something. A person can’t get no sleep with all that barking and yapping and such. Really, it’s very annoying and such.

President Powell: George, can you respond quickly to Don’s issue?

Village Manager: I’m sorry, but I’m not sure how, or I mean, what we, as Village officials can do. Sir, have you talked to the owner of the dogs?

Don: Oh, you don’t have to call me Sir, and I am the owner of the dogs. Yep, my kids, as I like to refer to them. They’re mostly hunting dogs, although Daisy has been losing her edge, ever since she had that third litter and such. Of course, her offspring have really taken to it. They definitely have her spirit, but this barking. That’s why I’m here, ya know. It’s that barking. We can’t have that. You have to do something.

Village Manager: I’m sorry but if the dogs are yours, shouldn’t you be the one to do something about it? I’m not sure how we can help you sir?

President: Well now George, you don’t have to get snippy with Don. He’s got a real problem here and we need to address it. Sorry about that Don. We’ll try to come up with a solution. Next. Sally Mae, are you with Don, or do you want to speak?

Sally Mae: Why yes, I would like to comment. Being one that has a spiritual amenity with the carnivore species, I think I know what the trouble is. I think it’s the noise from the wind. It’s making a dog whistle and it just annoys them, so they’re just yelling at the wind. I told that to Don. Didn’t I Don? Didn’t I tell you that? I says to him, I says, it’s the wind, I tell ya. That’s what it is. He can’t hear the whistle, but because of my affiliation with them dogs, I can hear it. 

President: George, do you want to tackle this or should I have Dave step in here?

Village Manager: I’m sorry but I’m still unclear as to how we can do anything. If it’s the wind, ma’am I’m sure that I can’t stop it.

Sally Mae: Hmm. I would have thought that an animal lover like yourself would have been sympathetic to our issue, Don and I. I mean, aren’t seals just dogs in the water. If you spent so much time with them, you’d think that you’d have some dog sense, you’d think.

President: Now Sally Mae, there’s no need to get defensive. George is a good man. Anyone that likes fishing and water animals as much as he does can’t be a bad guy. You gotta remember that he’s new to this and they probably don’t have a lot of dogs where he’s from. We’ll see what we can do. Cyril, you live next door to the Georgenson’s. Have you noticed any problems with the wind?

Cyril: Well no. Not with the wind, but I do have an issue. Can I bring that up now, or can we only talk about wind?

President: No, that’s fine Cyril. Why don’t you tell us what’s on your mind now.

Cyril: Well it’s about that dang light. Dave done a nice job of fixing up a little shield to block the light from the window, but sometimes, usually when a storm is coming in, or when the wind kicks up, it’s gets to whistling a bit. I can’t hear it all the time, but if I crack the window, pull up the screen and then stick my head out, I can hear it. I can’t sleep with all that racket ya know and I need my sleep. My doctor says that I need my sleep. Well, not my doctor, but that Doctor Oz fellow on Oprah and he’s a smart doctor. So Dave, I don’t know about your fancy shield. I think it may be the cause of all that disturbing noise.

Village Manager: Wait, if that noise is a whistling and it’s only on windy days, maybe the dogs…

President: Thanks George, but we’re on to Cyril’s problems since you weren’t able to resolve Don and Sally Mae’s problem. Try to keep up. Dave, do you want to address this while George figures out where we are in the  meeting?

Public Works Dave Jenson: Thanks Mac. Well Cyril, I was a little worried about that when I fashioned that shield, but I thought the wind would just knock it right off there. That’s why I fashioned those brackets to go with the duct tape. Maybe if I just put some holes in the tin, the wind can go through. I’ll get my nail gun and give it a shot. I’m not sure what to do about the dogs, though. Don, I could come up with a wind break for the side of  your kennel. I don’t have that much scrap tin in my workshop, but if you give me a couple of weeks, I’m sure that I’ll come across enough. 

Cyril: Just make sure that them holes don’t go letting light through, else we’ll be back at step one.

Don: Maybe a wind break on the kennel would work. Sally Mae will talk to Daisy about it and see how she feels about it. She may have lost her edge in hunting, but she’s still the queen bee in that kennel.

Village Manager: But I think the holes in shield will take care of their problem too. Because of the noise, ya know?

President: Thanks George but it seems like Dave has it under control. We’re moving onto the regular business, unless there are any other public comments. Seeing none, let’s get into regular business. George would you like to start us off?

Village Manager: Thank you Mr. President. The first item on the docket is Mr. Jenson’s capital needs requisition. Mr. Jenson, would you like to give an update on where we are with that? Mr. Jenson?

Dave Jenson: I’m sorry Georgie-boy but where’s this “docket.” Is that a fancy term for the filing cabinet over there, because I don’t see anything on it.

Village Manager: No, I meant on the agenda, Dave. Docket is just another term for agenda.

Dave: Well gee Georgie-boy. It’d be a lot easier if you just used regular words like we all know instead of these fancy sea-faring terms. Anyhoo, I gave you each the breakdown for the expense for the new front-hauler. It’s almost exactly what we agreed upon last month, with George’s changes, but I’m still seeing if I can get them to throw in a cup holder for free. I know that you weren’t too keen on that one Georgie-boy, but it’s really a needed thing and not one of them luxury things. So any questions from any of you?

President: I’m opening the floor to questions and discussions from the Trustees.

Trustee Powell: I don’t see the GPS thingie on here. Is that just standard on these models?

Dave: Oh Georgie-boy had me cut that one. You want to explain that Georgie?

Village Manager: I’m sorry Trustee Powell, but like I explained to Mr. Jenson, a GPS system isn’t really necessary at all on a front-loader, and in fact, I’m not even sure that you could get it if you wanted. A front loader is a big piece of equipment so if it has to travel any distance, that’s usually on the back of a flatbed truck. I should probably point out that I also took off the requisition for seat warmers, the in-dash DVD player and cruise control. Those are items that are better suited for a vehicle like a car, and not necessarily a heavy piece of construction equipment. Again, they’re not even optional items that I know of.

Dave: See, I told you he was a miser. Just joshing with you Georgie-boy. I’m sure you’re right and we don’t really need that stuff, although I was really looking forward to the seat warmer. There’s some cold mornings ya know, but I understand and don’t want to push the paper, as you say.

Village Manager: Actually it’s push the envelope, but thank you Dave for your support. Are there any other comments?

President: [Clears throat] Usually I like to say that George. It’s okay this time, since you didn’t know that, but…so any other comments?

Trustee Douglas: So when is it going to be delivered Dave? I’m going to have to get back to the grounds crew with a date but I can’t do that until I know when the hole will be dug.

Dave: I’m not sure yet, but I’ll have a better handle on it early next week. Just have to work out the delivery specifics.

Village Manager: I’m sorry but I didn’t see any capital projects on the docket, ...er agenda, ...er timeline. What hole needs to be dug Trustee Douglas?

Trustee Douglas: Well, is that a round-a-bout way to ask if you can come to my pool parties? Ha, but it’s okay. Even if you don’t want me on your boat, I told you that I’m the mellow Trustee, so I’ll still have you over. I expect that we’ll finish it in a couple of weeks or so, right Dave?

Village Manager: Wait, you can’t use a piece of municipal equipment for personal projects. Is this a pool for your own use or a municipal pool?

Trustee Douglas: You have a lot of, as they say in the service, chutzpah, inviting everyone in town to my place. Hell, just inviting my sister and her family makes up half the town, but it’s a little forward to do that. I don’t hold grudges though, so I’m not mad at you or anything.

Village Manager: No, what I mean is that you can’t use this piece of equipment to dig the hole for your personal pool. You just can’t do that.

Dave: Well gee George, it’s the what-do-you-call 20^th century and all, so it’s a little unfair to ask my guys to dig that big of a hole with shovels. They’re hearty kids and all, but still, that’s a big task. I’m not happy with that at all. No sir, I don’t want it to come between you and me after all we’ve gone through together, but I gotta take a stand for my guys here, Georgie. You can understand that, right?

President: I think we’ve gotten a little off-topic here. Can we approve the final purchase of the front loader as it’s spelled out in the final invoice request. Then we’ll let the staff work out the specifics of what projects need what tools. Does anyone else have any other comments?

Trustee Jenson: Well I was going to ask about scheduling the front loader but since that’s taken off the table, then no, I don’t have anything further.

President: Alright then. All in favor say “Aye.” Let the record show that everyone was in favor, except for Dottie who appears to be yelling out the window at one of her kids. Anything else? Okay good. We got a lot accomplished. George is going to look into the barking dog matter, but Dave will take care of Cyril’s high pitched whistling problem. Can someone wake up Sean? We don’t want to have him getting locked in again.

This meeting is officially over.