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About the City By Councilman Kingery Several weeks ago the City Council met with the group that is responsible for Father Hubbard’s Cupboard. They help those in need within our community, mostly by recycling household items that people of the community donate; they make used clothing and kitchen items available at a minimal cost to those in need. I’m sure most of us understand that they are not in the business of taking large household appliances that can no longer be used! What I learned from this meeting was that Father Hubbard’s Cupboard and the Helping Hands has a problem with some members of our community using this as a dumping place, possibly to avoid paying at the city landfill! At least it appears that may be the reason for the problem. Father Hubbard’s Cupboard has a sign that asks you to place usable items inside the storage shed if no one is there to receive your donation. Still some people discard large items such as refrigerators, stoves, couches etc. outside on the ground. These cannot be used by Father Hubbard’s Cupboard and it is illegal to place them outside on the ground. So why is this a problem? Father Hubbard’s Cupboard has to pay for their dumpster service, then they must pay for trucking these large items to the landfill and finally they must pay to have these items deposited in the landfill. That is not a good use of time and resources for the people that are trying to help the needy in our community. Please think about the items you leave there. The volunteers that give of their time for Father Hubbard’s Cupboard have to sort the donated items. What is not usable has to be discarded and placed in the dumpster for transport to the landfill. Make sure your items are in good, clean condition before you donate them. That will save the volunteers a lot of effort in making the items available to the community. If in doubt, contact someone from Father Hubbard’s Cupboard, to see if they can use the item. If they cannot use it they might be able to help you find someone that needs it. If I understand correctly, Father Hubbard’s Cupboard can primarily use clothing items and small household/kitchen items, in good condition, and non- perishable foods. Please don’t use them as an easy way of getting rid of unwanted items. ---PAGE BREAK--- While you are thinking about this, why not volunteer to help them out! Stop by and see if they can use some help. Maybe you could even help them out by taking a load of the rejected items to the landfill for them. That could save them some time and money. They are one of the great organizations we have in our community and we should all make sure we are not part of their problem. On Wednesday, Feb. 1st, we had a “Kick-off Project” meeting for replacing the Little Boxelder “spring house” over the spring that supplies most of our city water. The old spring house was built many years ago and is showing signs of deterioration. We have determined that we need to replace it now to assure the future protection of our valuable source of water. Lots of planning will be taking place for the next several months. Construction is planned for this fall after the ground freezes up and the demand for water is at a lower level. This project will likely be followed within a few years by replacing the pipe line that connects the spring to Douglas. Did you know that about 2 million gallons of water per day is available from the spring located about 16 miles from Douglas? It is very good water that takes a minimum of treatment. We had some wise people in the past that put a lot of planning and effort into providing an excellent water supply for our city. We are doing our best to make sure this source is taken care of and maintained for the future of our community. Some of you have asked about the latest on the landfill issue. Recently the City Council met with an organization called AREA (American Renewable Energy Associates), which is planning to build a gasification facility near Guernsey, WY. Their plan is to take the landfill waste and gasify it to produce a source of energy to generate electricity. At present they have plans for a facility at Guernsey and another at Cheyenne. Likely this will lead to other facilities if they are successful with their venture. If AREA can successfully get into operation it appears to be a good situation for the City of Douglas and other cities as well. Costs of disposing of our waste are projected to be less than other alternatives, and instead of accumulating waste in a landfill, the waste would be converted into “green” energy. We are enthused about this possibility; however it is still in the planning stages and we have deadlines concerning our waste that we have to meet. We will keep abreast of this and other opportunities for our waste disposal until we can decide upon, and implement, a viable process.