
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Student of the week - Louden Green

Keep it Clean - By Kaile Warren
Of all the things to consider when hiring a contractor,
one of the least often considered or talked about issue is how well the project
will be cleaned on a daily basis. Additionally, how well existing fixtures,
furniture, etc. will be taken care of, is seldom locked down prior to
construction. The lack of a cleaning expectation, as well as a protection plan,
is often times the basis for a breakdown in the relationship between contractor
and owner.
When you look at a breakdown of your contractors pricing,
you will often times see debris removal as a line-item in the bid. It is seldom
that you will see daily clean up, or property protection as a line-item. As an
owner, you need to make sure you hold your contractor accountable for
protection of existing furniture, fixtures, etc., as well as a complete daily
clean up.
One would think professional contractors would
automatically keep their job site clean, safe and picked up. However, this
assumption is frequently a mistake. When negotiating your contract, do not be
bashful about getting your expectations into your written agreement. It is
better to set the expectations upfront, rather to be disappointed or in a
conflict on the back end of a project.
A dirty, messy worksite can lead to collateral damage,
safety issues and in general, poor quality work. Scratching furniture by
setting debris against it, contaminating paint by setting paint cans in or near
piles of dirt and or dust on the floor, and stepping on nails left in walkways,
are just some of the issues an unkempt worksite will create.
As a property owner, take the lead when it comes to
keeping your worksite clean. Require your contractor to do daily cleanings, and
to also have a professional cleaning done at points throughout the work or at
its completion.
Too many times homeowners just suck it up (yes, pun
intended) when it comes to a dusty, dirty worksite. Make your expectations
known upfront, not after the fact. It’s your property and health. Protect it.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Insight - A hand up or a hand out? - by Michelle Libby
Augusta released
data on the use of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) welfare cards this past
week. The information requested by The Maine Wire, the online news site of the
Maine Heritage Policy Center, found that “thousands of transactions where taxpayer-funded
welfare benefits were used at bars, liquor stores, smoke shops and other
inappropriate venues.”
How many of us
have thought about the wasted money that is supposed to be used to help
families get by, but instead are used for bad habits and frankly, wants, not
needs?
I am not against
helping families and individuals who need a hand. It’s those people who abuse
the system and know that they can “make more money” sitting at home on the
couch with their hand extended, rather than go to work at a minimum wage job.
What does this
say to those people who work for minimum wage? What are we teaching our
children and peers? Is it better to sit around and wait for a hand out?
There are always
exceptions and those people are the ones who need help and are not happy about
having to ask for it. It’s the entitled, self-serving, system abusers who are
perfectly healthy and refuse to work that get my goat.
When will the
system change so that people can help themselves out of their situation?
Augusta should be concerned with creating systems that have people “working”
doing volunteer work for their EBT card…work that they are qualified to do or
could be trained to do. There are a lot of unfilled positions out there.
Perhaps they don’t pay enough to buy that new convertible, but wouldn’t it make
those people feel better about themselves if they were able to contribute to
the community and not just feed off the government.
"Maine has, pound-for-pound, the second-largest
welfare system in the nation and that system has doubled in size over the past
20 years without any change to the poverty rate…,” said assistant house
Republican leader Alex Willette of Mapleton. “The Democrats' insistence on
maintaining the status quo is simply not an option.”
I’m not sure if it is a party issue, but someone in
Augusta needs to take a good hard look at what’s going on in our state and pass
some legislation that makes sense and gives us a chance to make Maine the great
state it can be.
-
Michelle Libby
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