Joe Weiner came to the rescue Tuesday morning by offering his services to dismember trees wedged against the Marsh Arch bridge west of Humboldt.
“I can get out in a boat and ‘limb’ the trees,” he told Allen County commissioners Tuesday morning when they appeared stumped as to how to handle the debris.
“I can do it if the city (Humboldt) and county will help,” Weiner said, and after some thought: “Take a day and maybe $1,000.”
Commissioners happily accepted Weiner’s offer.
“I don’t care if it takes two or three days, and costs more,” said Commissioner Tom Williams.
For a long time neighbors have worried about the integrity of the 85-year-old bridge.
Richard Weilert, who lives nearby, frets about transports heavy with grain crossing the span.
“You need to lower the load limit,” which was raised a few years ago from 15 to 30 tons.
Weilert also doesn’t buy into an occasional engineer’s report the bridge is immune to damage from the debris that accumulates at its base.
Years ago county crews did the work using a crane, bulldozer, backhoe and dump trucks. But the crane is gone, and “we don’t have anything” to deal with the rubble, said Mitch Garner, director of public works.
But along with Weiner, who has a background in heavy equipment and construction, the job should seem manageable.
A DELEGATION from Allen County Regional Hospital, including Administrator Tony Thompson, Larry Patterson, its finance officer, and board member Loren Korte assured commissioners the hospital was healthy and making positive strides.
Inpatient population for 2016 was a little weak, Patterson said, “not what we wanted, but 2017 is much better,” with new clinics in Humboldt and Moran catching attention of locals.
“A year ago, things were tight,” Korte said. “We’re seeing growth in swing bed and inpatient care. I feel good about what’s happening.”
“We’re also in the process of building new services,” Patterson said, and are eager to have revenue match debt service, which currently is buoyed by sales tax income that was essential to construction of a new hospital.
Thompson pointed out accreditation is more educational and collaborative than in past years, when surveys often led to punitive action. That led to a brief review of a mammogram glitch that has sidelined that ACRH service. The department should be back online before many weeks.
“There’s not a hospital that doesn’t have issues,” Thompson said, and it is important to accept the reprimand and deal with it.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Korte said. “But, people are human and mistakes happen. We went for years with no problems.”
Renewal of sales tax support will be sought in about a year. Meanwhile, an expense of no little consequence looms.
Dr. Terry Schwab, who provides orthopedic services, is working from two patient rooms. Thompson said his office may be moved soon to a modular unit, with it and associated costs of about $250,000. Surgical procedures also are increasing, as is outpatient care, he said. “We have a good plan, we just have to keep executing it.”
