City Begins Tar and Chip Season

Watch out two wheelers(bikes, moped, motorcycles)! The city's Tar and Chip Brigade has begun its annual march to make life tough for you. While preservation of the village streets is a necessary evil, it is not a pleasant experience to ride on loose stone and keep your ride on both wheels. Starting and stopping is also very difficult at stop signs and pedestrian crossing. Not to mention the stream of stones coming at you from the car in front that spins its wheels attempting to take off while you sit behind as a unwilling victim.

It doesn't last forever though. Soon the chips will be sitting on the side of the road. For those streets that are fortunate enough to be paved all the way to the curb (several have gravel birms due to not having a storm sewer installed) the street cleaner will take them away. The rest will just have more gravel to deal with.

Could we not seek some of the so-called stimulus money that is earmarked for roads and infrastructure to lay sewer tile on well-used streets and to properly pave them?

The Rise And Fall Of A Bedroom Community

There was a time when Delphos was an aspiring community. Business was thriving and downtown was full. As is the case with many small towns, people would actually use Main St as a place to meet, eat, and shop. But shopping was pushed to the edges of town and with it, went the downtown activity. Now we are left with empty buildings, many falling to the elements and disrepair. Owners of others try to keep up, but much of the money that it takes is going elsewhere as super centers in county seats all around us promise a better deal for our dollars. While hard to resist, the options are becoming more limited as more local business succumbs to the temptation to save a buck. Little do we realize that those dollars would create tax dollars that are spent on local services as well as money for beautification projects that make us proud of our community. Those needed dollars help to invite new businesses to set up shop in our community. Those new businesses aid to the tax base and give our residents jobs so that a few can actually work in the same community that they live. What a concept!

The next time you think about driving to the super centers in Lima or Van Wert, think about what Delphos can do for you. Think about not being able to buy gas or groceries locally because everyone chose to do their business elsewhere. Think about what you spend to get there and what does not come back to your community when you shop elsewhere. And think about all the empty buildings you will pass on the way back into our little ghost town of the future.