Ice on Future Dogwood Buds

Ice on Future Dogwood Buds

Apex, NC

December 16, 2010

Not your Father's AT&T

This is not the quality work of your Father's AT&T. Since the company was split up years ago and recently merged with another company, the traditions of providing good service and doing quality installations that blend with the surroundings have long been abandoned.

Take a look around and you will see sloppy installations (like the one here near the CSX rail depot in downtown Apex) and signs of lack of concern for the environment and community. Another widespread insult to the environment can be seen in the form of gaudy orange and white marker poles along roads everywhere that are placed in theory to prevent digging up underground cables and fiber circuits.

So much for being a good community citizen!

Looking toward warmer days

The cold days of winter in North Carolina give us all reason to look forward to the warmer days of spring and summer.

This view of a beach home along the coast at Emerald Isle gives us reason to think the cold will soon go away and we will be able to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine before long.

Another sign of our discontent

Another sign of discontent with Weatherly "yes men" on the Apex Town Council...

The popular view continues that several Town Council members don't think on their own and need to be replaced. Attend any Council meeting and you will see that members currently running for 2009 re-election sit back and rock in their chairs and in the end vote with Mayor Weatherly for whatever he wants to push through.

The new competing candidates are generally tuned in to the interests of community residents and listen and think about issues affecting lives of all... controlled growth rather than unbridled development, not changing development guidelines to favor builders that pursue infill building in older neighborhoods, finding ways to build sidewalks in all parts of town - not just in new neighborhoods, preventing builders from packing lots with multiple homes and destroying the character of established neighborhoods, etc.

Grubbiest part of Historic Downtown Apex

The dirtiest part of downtown Apex lies within a stone's throw of the Historic Apex Depot parking lot where concerts are held on Friday nights and Flea Markets on weekends.

Two hundred feet away, toward the Apex Town Hall office complex, lies an old CSX Railroad parts dump that has been allowed to remain a home for trash, junk railroad materials, metal scraps, old railroad ties, wharf rats, snakes and most anything CSX officials want to dump in Apex.

The site was in the same condition more than fifty years ago when coal powered locomotives passed through town. Absolutely nothing has been done to get rid of the CSX dumping spot and the Town seems OK with allowing such a grubby dump to remain in an area now popular for concerts, festivals and numerous downtown events.

This area could be cleaned up and donated to the Town to combine with the renovated old Tunstall House that is expected to become a center for Senior Citizen activities. The spot could even be used for additional downtown parking or could be landscaped and used for a picnic area or a Farmer's Market addition.

Are we dry yet?

Check the current drought status at the U.S. Drought Monitor service. Click on the state you want to see regional information, then click on the state to see local data. View information for the NC region or the state. 

EQ chemical disposal plant can't rebuild in Apex

Great news for Apex residents... The State of North Carolina Division of Waste Management said Tuesday that EQ is being barred from rebuilding the Apex facility destroyed in its recent chemical fire. EQ bypassed Town of Apex and sought to have the state grant an exception on a recent Town of Apex declaration because the company had been established in the now mostly residential area prior to town zoning changes banning hazardous material facilities in the area. This is good news for the thousands of Apex residents living near the former facility and may help to reduce anxiety about such a facility appearing nearby in the future.

A March 7, 2007, News and Observer provides details of the ruling...

News and Observer
March 7, 2007
Toby Coleman, Staff Writer

Hazmat plant can't rebuild
State: Violations were not reported

EQ Industrial Services kept silent about fires and chemical reactions that plagued its Apex hazardous waste warehouse in the two years before it blew up, the state Division of Waste Management said Tuesday as it barred the company from rebuilding.

State regulators say EQ flouted reporting rules intended to ensure that the people who live and work around hazardous waste warehouse are safe. They said the company should lose its permit to operate on Apex's Investment Boulevard and pay a $553,225 fine because it did not submit required reports of two fires and three potentially dangerous chemical reactions.

"Our actions today send a clear message that the state of North Carolina will not tolerate non-compliance with rules and non-reporting of incidents that occur at commercial hazardous waste facilities across the state," division director Dexter Matthews said in a prepared statement. Read more...