Repair jobs that must be done at the arena

Ideas on what to do to attract more people that wish to live in Bruderheim

By Walter Schneider

Three necessary small repair jobs that should be done as soon as possible at the arena

For us to be able to attract more families — families with children or planning to have children — to come to Bruderheim and settle here, a little extra is required.  As good as Bruderheim looks, it must and can be made to look better. 

Maybe that is what Bruderheim is doing, but is it happening? 

The cleanliness of, and quality of weed control on, town properties make an impression on visitors.  It will leave a good impression on visitors to see grass cut, but it will also leave a bad impression to have them see weeds growing out of control.  Grass cutting and weed control are necessary, but so are paint jobs and other maintenance work.

There are a few other concerns with the arena that should be addressed as soon as possible.

Judging by what was done with the shingles that were damaged and left over after a roof-repair was done on the arena in the spring of 2005, all it takes is to point out to the town administration what needs to be done, and attention will be given to problems that otherwise are being ignored. 

During the second week of June the Town crew picked up the little pile of shingles and the bag of garbage that had been left for a few months in the far corner at the right of the photo.  Now, what to do about the peeling paint (a bylaw violation) on the Lottery-Fund sign?  Can a good use be found somewhere for a piece of plywood in need of a coat of paint?   While that siding is being fixed, how about changing the little patch visible at the bottom-left in the photo on the right.  Change it so that the water will run over it, not under it.  The top shingle should always go over the top edge of the one below it.

All and each of us own the arena.  If this was your house you would fix this corner.  Leaving that corner the way it is constitutes neglect and will cause this corner to rot within very few years, and then we need a major repair job here.

It is obvious that the garbage shed on the right of the photo above needs to be fixed up.  Missing and loose shingles are bylaw violations.  Without the shingle repair and without a coat of paint the garbage shed will rot so badly within a few years that the whole shed will have to be replaced.  Will that be cheaper in the long run than to do the required repairs and to paint the shed?

Come on guys, let's get rid of that Lottery-Fund sign.

Some people expressed concern that by pointing out neglected things in need of paint or a bit of other attention our taxes will go up because more work needs to be done.  Well, the hard and cold reality is that, for instance, the arena is here to stay whether there are only a thousand taxpayers in town or whether we attract another thousand that will help pay for the arena's upkeep.  However, if we don't keep things tidy and in a good state of repair, we will not attract the people that can share with us our basic and more-or-less-fixed tax load.   The reality of that is that the fewer people we attract, and the more people leave town, the higher each of the individual shares of the tax load will go for those residents that remain here, and the more dilapidated the town properties will become that we all own.

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Next Page: Cleaning up around the old curling rink

Back to index page for Impressions and Ideas on how to make Bruderheim even better

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Posted June 11, 2005
Updates:
2006 10 29 (reformated)