The Orono Initiative
A Victimless Crime
Get a car if you drive in Belfast
Radio listening OK as long as only pedestrians are hurt
Orono Maine has committed to promoting childhood obesity and accelerating global warming!
Many wonder, many dream, but Orono is acting, moving toward the future. Orono Maine has committed their considerable town resources to enhancing opportunities for children to lead a sedentary life, and increase the use of automobiles for even the most trivial short trip. Why:
"We believe that getting kids off the street and into cars on the way to school will provide jobs in road building, medical care and mental health delivery. We have committed to blocking sidewalks and maintaining and enhancing the pedestrian hostile environment in Orono Maine. Orono could be a walkable town, so this is an initiative that takes commitment from the entire team, including Town Hall and the Police" said the new director of jobs and development for the Town of Orono at a recent town meeting.
Witness the results from a recent initiative (the first 4 of these pictures were taken on the streets of Orono between 8:12 am and 8:35 am on April 7th, a school day after having most of one day and a night for street and sidewalk cleaning, the portion of the roadways used by automobiles were completely clear)
:
This was near miss. The plow had the sidewalk open before school on April 6th, after the storm. However, quick work with a plow at the Orono fire station made it possible to block a critical path for elementary school children on their way to school at 8 am.
Similarly:
This was another near miss, a quick response by a plow from a local business was able to block the sidewalk here, thus making it clear that PEOPLE BELONG IN CARS! Not on their feet! The bus shelter is right past this snow bank, only a few intrepid walkers have made it across to wait for the bus. Better luck next time.
The young, elderly and infirm are a particular focus of the Orono Maine Initiative. Waiting for the bus, this gentleman, clearly is trapped by the town "pile" at the end of College Ave. which has been supplemented by a helpful local business. Recall this is more that 14 hours after the last snowflake! Perhaps there are some snow banks that should be moved to keep those cars moving quickly and efficiently through the center of town.
At least if you use a walker you can be discouraged by the Town Initiative, get a car buddy!
The baby carriages are hard to discourage:
These two women are pushing a baby carriage along Park street. Perhaps a program to buy large sport utility vehicles for parents could be implemented to ensure no one walks!
The town plan may in fact include the elimination of the persistent walkers. Clearly, in many of these cases completely untended walks would be preferable to the job done by the town of Orono. It is a team effort however, only with the cooperation of the police is this possible. The police are responsible for ignoring enforcement. Take for example:
While blocking a sidewalk is illegal, the police ignore this and then the cooperation of the town provides a large block of snow in addition to the blockage of the sidewalk by the car. Teaming is important in discouraging walkers.
The beauty of cooperation is that it persists! Here is a bit further down the sidewalk two days later, clearly lack of enforcement is key as is the provision of plenty of snow that can block the sidewalk into the next week or even longer if the weather cooperates.
Do you agree with this initiative by the town of Orono? Trust me, five years ago the town was actually encouraging walkers by prioritizing sidewalk clearing. That is gone, and this new initiative is a clear focus for Orono.
If we do not clear the sidewalks, we should sell the expensive equipment and cut some jobs. They will be needed by Eastern Maine Medical Center soon, once these kids get older.
If you would like to share your feelings:
Town Manager
(She never gets any mail)
Catherine
Conlow
cathyc@orono.org
Work Phone: 866-2556
Town Council:
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Lianne Harris 63 Forest Avenue Orono, ME 04473 Home Phone: 866-2456 Work Phone: 866-5680 Fax 866-5696 lharris@nehs.net |
John Bradson 1 Summer Street Orono, ME 04473 Home Phone: 866-7779 Work Phone: 866-4110 Fax: 866-7960 jpbradson@msn.com |
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Mark Haggerty 6 Grove Street Orono, ME 04473 Home Phone: 866-2281 Work Phone: 581-1856 Mark_Haggerty@umit.maine.edu |
M Terri Hutchinson 24 Hamlin St Orono, ME 04473 Home Phone: 866-5542 hutchinsonat@verizon.net |
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Thomas Spitz 14 Kell Street Orono, ME 04473 Home Phone: 866-2061 Work Phone: 581-4071 spitz@maine.edu |
Thomas Perry 136 Bennoch Road Home Phone: 866-3248 tomperry@midmaine.com |
Orono Police:
You may find it helpful to mention that:
§2396 Certain Substances on public ways
Subsection 4:
Snow. A person may not place and allow to remain
on a public way snow or slush that has not accumulated there naturally
For enforcement contact (although my knowledge of laws and enforcement suggests that they will not ticket the fire department for the violation shown in the picture above :):
Orono Police Department
63 Main Street,
Orono, ME 04473
207-866-4000
e-mail gduquette@orono.org.