El Dorado Trolley

I can't believe it was even discussed. Instead of the money you'll throw into it for operating costs, how about you spend time persuading businesses to come. Beyond unbelievable. What the hell would a trolley do for this town...

lol I was beginning to wonder what took someone so long to put a post up about this. Stupid idea. Cheap way to compensate for the obvious error the city made when they built the conference center. They knew parking was going to be an issue. I think they thought those businesses would just roll over and let them have the property and not go through imminent domain. Guess they are scared to run that course again so soon. Watch out businesses in the vicinity either the trolley comes or you go.

Yes comments 1 & 2 are both me. I made them and changed my name each time because I'm an Idiot. I do this all day and night because I'm to worthless to have a job. I depend on you tax payers to pay my way. I have a degree in Faganomics, but no body's hiring.

Typical signs on from at Texas isp. Wrong again, troll.

Spending a relatively small amount to provide a unique means of transportation for special events, hotels to downtown/conference center, rentals for private functions and so on is a bad thing? Those folks are trying to do something good for this town. Oh, and they HAVE spent money on recruitment. Why can't they do both?

Sam wrote:

I can't believe it was even discussed. Instead of the money you'll throw into it for operating costs, how about you spend time persuading businesses to come. Beyond unbelievable. What the hell would a trolley do for this town...

Recruitment of Thermaflite =$2,000,000

Trolley =$50,000 plus some operating costs

Still say they're not recruiting?

Trolley is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of....
If they do buy one it will probably have reserved trolley only parking spaces .. Just like union county has all the good spots reserved at the court house...

When are they going to build a parking lot to allow people access to attend activities.

None of you complaining have actually given a reason why it's a bad idea. Typical...

The city is hiring me to put a turbo on the trolley as soon as it gets here and Richard (Bubba) Long will be the driver.

One big question is whether it can be cost justified. Who is going to pay for the driver, the insurance, fuel and upkeep? Are the businesses benefitting from the trolley going to contribute anything to the cost? Are the passengers going to have to pay? What happens if it fills en route and can't accomodate any more passengers? It may have to backtrack running empty one way. I think we need more details how this will work.

well wrote:

One big question is whether it can be cost justified. Who is going to pay for the driver, the insurance, fuel and upkeep? Are the businesses benefitting from the trolley going to contribute anything to the cost? Are the passengers going to have to pay? What happens if it fills en route and can't accomodate any more passengers? It may have to backtrack running empty one way. I think we need more details how this will work.

The city pays the operating costs. Half of those are covered for the first two years. Businesses can rent the trolley, and passengers will also pay, depending on the event.

Who is this "we" that needs more details. Are you on the city council?

I'm speaking for myself. This needs to be thought out better than the Conference Center was. I'm thinking the insurance will be an inhibiting factor.

Re your question about cost justification, do you think it needs to make a profit?

Actually wrote:

Re your question about cost justification, do you think it needs to make a profit?

No. I think it's a bad idea to begin with. Our square is small. Why even think about purchasing something like this when the population has declined the past 4 years. We're down from 25,000 people to 18,000 people. At this rate, parking won't be an issue in the next 2 years.

My problem with the whole thing is that it is not needed. Why spend money on something that really won't benefit the town. It's a stupid idea brought on by the city council to fix the parking issues the also unneeded convention center is producing. Take the money and put it into parking. Or better yet, invest it in something for our children. With the skating rink closing, what exactly is there for our kids to do in this town other than bowling? No wonder crime is going up. The kids don't have anything better to do than get into trouble.

The size of the square has nothing to do with it, and it's not just about a lack of parking at the conference center. Since there's not a hotel by the conference center yet, conference attendees must stay too far away to walk. The trolley will be offered for shuttle service for those visitors, making it more likely that we can attract events. That is a valuable service, and the decline in population is exactly why we should be doing things like this. Additional parking won't bring a single extra person to town, but the trolley will.

Any idea that creates more jobs and/or attracts more tourists for the same or less money would be a better idea. If we don't see any projections about these numbers, we can't compare.

How about human-powered rickshaw/bicycles? In warm weather, the drivers could be painted gold, which was the original meaning of El Dorado (the gilded one).

How about some kind of museum/theater for tourists with movies, guides, historical exhibits, performances, bands, competitions?

Places where buskers could play for free and ask for spare change?

A contest to design the most spectacular $250,000 tourist attraction (some kind of sculpture or structure)?

I HATE seeing these decisions made without giving the public the facts to criticize in advance.

roboblogger2 wrote:

Any idea that creates more jobs and/or attracts more tourists for the same or less money would be a better idea. If we don't see any projections about these numbers, we can't compare.
How about human-powered rickshaw/bicycles? In warm weather, the drivers could be painted gold, which was the original meaning of El Dorado (the gilded one).
How about some kind of museum/theater for tourists with movies, guides, historical exhibits, performances, bands, competitions?
Places where buskers could play for free and ask for spare change?
A contest to design the most spectacular $250,000 tourist attraction (some kind of sculpture or structure)?
I HATE seeing these decisions made without giving the public the facts to criticize in advance.

Your last sentence said it all. You don't want the chance to ask questions or offer input. You want to criticize.

Of course, the flaw in your argument (the main one, anyway) is that the EEDB and City Council meetings are open to the public. You have all the chances you need. It's your own fault if you choose to complain here rather than actually participate in the conversation.

Actually wrote:

<quoted text>EEDB and City Council meetings are open to the public. You have all the chances you need.

Thanks for clarifying that. You guys are so arrogant you clearly have zero interest in anyone else's input, so you impose the barrier of having to attend every meeting and respond there to whatever details you choose to supply. No newspaper debate, no internet debate. You are the 1%.

roboblogger2 wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks for clarifying that. You guys are so arrogant you clearly have zero interest in anyone else's input, so you impose the barrier of having to attend every meeting and respond there to whatever details you choose to supply. No newspaper debate, no internet debate. You are the 1%.

Actually I love informed input. Debate among knowledgeable people can be a good thing. But you've already decided this is a bad idea without knowing any of the facts. The city council are not the ones who proposed this, and they have NOT approved the purchase yet. They had some questions they wanted answers to first. So have you contacted any of them to express your concerns?