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Honeypie restaurant, 2643 S Kinnickinnic Ave., will be open through Sunday at its current location. It will be closed for some weeks until it's settled in its new home, a scant two blocks away.(Photo: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel )

HoneyPie, the pie-centric diner that has been at 2643 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. since 2009, is in its last days at its old location.

The restaurant will be open for curbside pickup 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sunday, and its continuing to take orders at honeypiecafe.com/store for whole Thanksgiving pies through Monday, and by phone at (414) 489-7437 until the last minute. (Holiday pie pickup on Nov. 25 is at sister establishments SmallPie, 2504 E. Oklahoma Ave., and Palomino, 2491 S. Superior St.)

HoneyPie will be closed for some weeks as it packs and moves just a couple blocks away, to 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., the former Alchemist Theatre building.

We didnt want to move from Bay View, HoneyPie owner Valeri Lucks said. The new site is appealing because it will have the comforts of new construction and the charm of an old building, she said.

The new HoneyPie will have a few more tables for customers once dining-in resumes (the cafe is strictly takeout now because of the pandemic and will remain that way for a while). And the patio will be bigger.

But whats key is that the new site has more of what Lucks calls functional space more room for waiting customers,a kitchen thats twice as big, and more space for customers to pick up pies and to see them displayed front and center, rather than at the back of the restaurant as they had been.

HoneyPie's new home will be at 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., the former site of Alchemist Theatre.(Photo: Carol Deptolla/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla atcarol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.

RELATED: If pie baking is a no-go, buy one for Thanksgiving at Milwaukee-area bakeries, restaurants

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HoneyPie, gearing up to move, is open through Sunday at its current Bay View location - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Rendering courtesy of Frontier Real Estate Investments/Bickel Group Architecture.

Over the last few years, developers and real estate firms have had a bullish approach to North Long Beach. Three companies in particular, Frontier Real Estate Investments, LAB Holding and Westland Real Estate Group, have all shown interest in bringing amenities and housing to North Long Beach.

Councilman Rex Richardson, who oversees parts of the city where the projects are being built, said that when he took office, the community lacked public libraries, banks and walkable retail corridors. Richardson saw the construction of the Michelle Obama Library and upgrades to the Houghton Park community center and Fire Station 12 as success stories for the local community, but what was still lacking was interest from developers to invest in the northern part of the city.

People have been wanting to see the private sector get involved, Richardson said.

The establishment of Uptown Commons by Frontier has opened the door for the other developmentsThe Uptown and The Beat seek to enhance walkable retail corridors in the region, something North Long Beach has been primed for, Richardson said.

Uptown Commons

Frontiers Uptown Commons, located at Atlantic Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, hosted a partial opening in June, bringing the first bank to the 9th District.

Uptown Commons exterior patio design has allowed newcomers Main Chick fried chicken restaurant and Oi Asian Fusion to successfully host grand-opening celebrations in September, and they continue to serve hungry local residents. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted restaurants to resort to outdoor seating, which is still allowed under the countys current health ordersmaking exterior dining areas that much more valuable for new retail developments.

Uptown Commons has been a hit, Richardson said. Theres more diversity in what it offers.

Tom Carpenter, Frontier Real Estate Investments president, said that Portside Fish Co. and Shomi Noods Ramen Bar are also scheduled to join Main Chick and Oi at the Uptown Commons. The two newest locations hosted soft openings last week.

It has been years in the making, and seeing it completed is meaningful, Carpenter said. We were able to deliver the tenants that the city desired and create gathering spaces for residents to enjoy.

Carpenter said Uptown Commons varied slate of tenantsPortside Fish Co., Shomi Noods Ramen Bar, Main Chick, Oi Asian Fusion, Starbucks, Wendys and Chase were secured before the pandemic struck.

The Uptown

Just south of Uptown Commons at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and 61st Street lies a 112,000 acre plot of land where Westland developers are seeking to build The Uptown: a mixed-use retail center with an industrial aesthetic across the street from Houghton Park.

The team at Westland has been in negotiations with The Blink Fitness to open a gym at The Uptown, making it the centerpoint of the project. Service businesses and retail shops such as a barbershop and a cafe will surround the gym. There will also be office space.The Uptown will connect with the Harding Plaza, which is currently open to the public.

Yanki Greenspan, president of Westland Real Estate Group, said his team is in project negotiations with the city and are seeking to break ground in early 2021.

With no end in sight to the pandemic, restaurants with outdoor seating have momentarily braved the wave of full-blown closures.

Our project is perfect for a post-COVID world, Greenspan said. The buildings all surround central courtyards with plenty of outdoor seating opportunities.

Greenspan said hes optimistic that tenants will be able to open their businesses by the time the project is completed late next year. So far, the restaurants showing interest in The Uptown are content with outdoor dining options, Greenspan said.

After hopefully breaking ground early next year, Greenspan said tenants will most likely have the keys to their spaces in late 2021.

Im not going to lie to you and say Im not nervous, Greenspan said. But were optimistic.

The Beat

The creative minds at LAB Holding, responsible for the LAB Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa, are retrofitting separate parcels of land around Atlantic Avenue in one of the larger developments in the north called The Beat.

What sets this project apart from the other two developments in North Long Beach is that its not contained to one location, but rather dotted along Atlantic Avenuesurrounding the Michelle Obama Library. The Beat is the umbrella term that covers four sub-projects.

These projects range from retail space to housing and residential. For one of the residential projects, LAB Holding will construct 14 cottage-style units on Lime and Atlantic avenues.

Another sub-development project is called the ARTery, which is located at South Street and Atlantic Avenue. The ARTery is a micro residential project that will include a community art gallery as well as 14 cottage-style housing units.

The largest of the four sub-projects will introduce a massive, mixed-use, office and retail space across the street from the Michelle Obama Library. Known as Spring: The Gardens of Long Beach, LAB Holdings design models for this project seem to take inspiration from The Anaheim Packing District in Orange County. Roman Ciuni with LAB Holding said they are planning to build 86 townhomes at this location with about 7,000 square feet of retail space.

Shaheen Sadeghi, chief executive officer of LAB Holding, said the designs of the proposed projects are mostly complete. He said his team is negotiating with the city to finalize entitlements and permits.

Sadeghi added that it would take between a year to two and a half years to complete construction depending on the project.

This year has been especially difficult for LAB Holdings retail developments, Sadeghi said, as COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in LAB Holdings commercial projects.

2020 is a bit of a write off, Sadeghi said, Everybody is on a hold pattern. From a leasing standpoint, there is a certain uncertainty.

The residential projects are steadily advancing, despite COVID-19 dampening LAB Holdings more commercial-focused endeavours.

We are moving forward with the residential development, Sadeghi said. We are redoing the current retail segment and will continue our leasing efforts.

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Here are the major retail, housing projects happening in North Long Beach - Long Beach Business Journal - Long Beach News

In her initial presentation on the issue, during an Oct. 20 SFMTA board meeting, Kirschbaum said that when the tunnel work began in 2018, contractors discovered the old ballast was contaminated with a higher level of heavy metals than had been anticipated. That made the ballast "more costly to handle and more costly to dispose of," she said.

"In order to keep the project on-time and on-budget, the decision was made to reuse rather than replace the ballast," Kirschbaum said in October.

Mandelman noted Kirschbaums statement on Tuesday that a decision was made to reuse the uncleaned ballast and asked her who was responsible. Tom Maguire, the SFMTAs director of sustainable streets, said the decision had been made jointly by agency staff and the project's contractor, a joint venture involving Oakland's Shimmick Construction and San Francisco-based Con-Quest Contractors.

They had to weigh a couple of tricky issues in the field, including the possibility that some of the material might be contaminated and might need to be removed, Maguire said. However, that critical decision needed to have been elevated sooner and faster with a comprehensive view of all the risks involved in leaving the old ballast in place.

Maguire told the SFMTA board in October that the agency was discussing the issue with the City Attorney's Office "and figuring out how to hold the contractor accountable."

"A competent contractor should be able to do work like this right," Maguire told board. "This is basic rail construction."

In her own October presentation to the SFMTA board, Kirschbaum said that while the ballast problem didn't pose an immediate safety problem, inspections have determined that track stability issues are likely to develop in one particular location in the tunnel's eastern half.

"Where we know it's going to erode first based on visual inspections and what we've seen over the last two years is around the Eureka Curve," between the Forest Hill and Castro stations, Kirschbaum said.

Tuesday's details about the tunnel issue emerged just days after the SFMTA acknowledged that its long-delayed Central Subway project will blow through another completion target date and likely not open until 2022.

The Twin Peaks Tunnel problem, on top of delays in other major projects and an embarrassing August mishap in which spliced electrical wires derailed the SFMTA's attempt to relaunch Muni Metro light-rail service, prompted an exasperated response from Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who chairs the transportation board.

"If this were just the Central Subway ... I'd be frustrated," Peskin said. "But when you add the ballast in the tunnel, and when you add the frankly, I'm going to say it screw-up relative to the splices, when you add that to the Van Ness BRT (bus rapid transit) delays, which is nowhere near as complicated as these other projects, you're just, as I said in the newspaper the other day, you're out of excuses."

SFMTA officials didnt immediately respond to questions about when the ballast replacement work will begin. Except for its brief, troubled reopening in August, all Muni Metro light-rail service has been shut down since shortly after COVID-19 shelter-at-home orders were imposed in March.

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Muni Forced to Redo Part of $52 Million Tunnel Project Just 2 Years After Finishing It - KQED

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Customers shop inside Retail Therapy, 1005 Main St., Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 in Lafayette.(Photo: Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier)

LAFAYETTEFor some small businesses, the period of holiday shopping through November and December brings some of the biggest sales of the year.

And in the last few months of a difficult and unprecedented year that has included the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses, including Retail Therapy in Lafayette, were looking to safely bring shoppers into their stores.

So, Alicia Dunbar, Retail Therapys owner, took matters into her own hands, along with other downtown merchants by creating and promoting The Great Downtown Holiday Shopping Extravaganza.

The event was held in downtown Lafayette Wednesday evening, and for a few hours, 25 retailers remained open past their normal closing time and offered their goods and services to holiday shoppers.

Dunbar said she was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who came out to shop, noticing both familiar faces and new ones inside her boutique store.

Alot of people came out because something was organized, Dunbar said. It was a good start, and I hope we can keep the momentum going.

Some businesses have been able to respond by changing the delivery of their services, including pivoting or further promoting online sales and carryout and delivery, especially for food and drinks.

Even as businesses like Retail Therapy are doing their best to combat fears from shoppers over the coronavirus and exude excitement about shopping locally, Michael Hicks, a distinguished professor of economics and business research at Ball State University, said the coming months will likely not bring any major change or relief.

(The) bottom line is that no matter how businesses respond, the next 120 (to) 180 days will be very grim, Hicks said. We are in a deep and now unavoidable downturn.

Dunbar is among those working to counter that. She said she ishoping to continue hosting events in partnership with other downtown retailers to continually draw people into those small businesses through the winter and into the spring.

Dunbar opened her business in June, as restrictions surrounding earlier state stay-at-home orders began to cease. Even as she is not immediately concerned about capacity limits the store is the former Fuel Coffee space on 1005 Main St., and Dunbar said there are usually no more than two to three people inside at a time ongoing street construction and sidewalk projects have made it difficult for customers to parkand enter her store.

As far as the pandemic goes, things have been really good for us, Dunbar said. People dont want to go to a big store, and most of their dressing rooms are closed. From that standpoint, people are trying to keep their community aliveand are more willing to shop local than before. But the construction out front was a nightmare it killed business for six weeks.

Dunbar, and Retail Therapy, is just one among many businesses in the Greater Lafayette area preparing for a winter full of unknowns. As small businesses are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst

Cases in Tippecanoe County and around Indiana continue to climb to unprecedented levels. On Tuesday, the Tippecanoe County Health Department issued a new set of public health orders that will go into effect if the countys seven-day positivity rate for all COVID-19 tests equals or exceeds 10%.

Under the order, which is in addition to requirements found in a recent executive order from Gov. Eric Holcomb, retail businesses would go from a current 100% capacity to a more limited, 75% capacity. Bars would be limited to 25% indoor capacity and restaurants to 50% capacity indoors.

As of Friday, the order had not yet gone into effect. According to state data, Tippecanoe County reported 220 new positive cases and a seven-day positivity rate for all tests at 9.3%.

Hicks, said the real danger to small businesses is not restrictions from governments, but rather the COVID-19 virus itself.

It is the disease, not government efforts to stop the disease that generated the downturn in the economy, Hicks said in an email. That should worry businesses in Lafayette, because the disease is spreading quickly and extensively.

Hicks said regardless of what the state or local governments decide to do, it will be a very bad few months for the Indiana economy.

Even as Indiana's unemployment is down compared to earlier in the year with a 5% unemployment rateOctober versus 12.3% in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Hicks said it is not a good measure of overall economic performance because of a large increase in low hour, part-time work and the loss of the labor force.

The rising cases and possibility of new restrictions are daunting, especially for places like Linnwood Tavern in Lafayette's north end. When the stay-at-home order began in March, Linnwood Tavern tried to stay open through carryout ordersbut eventually closed its doors completely until reopening again in July.

Weve been knocking on wood ever since we reopened, owner Greg Glotzbach said.

Glotzbach said the neighborhood bar on 1244 N. 14th St. is classified as a restaurant due to its menu options. The Linnwood Tavern has seen a slowdown in the number of people coming inside, which he correlated with worry about rising cases in the county. If the new county health order goes into place, Linnwoods capacity would be reduced to 50% indoors, and the dance floor would also have to close.

It seems like each time they talk about a higher number and cases being worse, Glotzbach said, referring to the data accumulated by the state, we see a slower day or two. But people want social interaction, and theyre also just bored.

Even while looking at the record-breaking number of cases in Indiana,Glotzbach said he would be surprised to see the state make adecision to shut down in any way remotely like the original stay-at-home orders in March.

"A lot of us bar and restaurant owners, we've all tried to do what we've been expected to do with all rules and regulations," Glotzbach said."But I keep hearing over and overonce customers come in and have that interaction with other people, it makes them feel like the world is back tonormal."

Some businesses, like Rveille Coffee Bar, have only opened recently and have only operated in the midst of the pandemic.

Michelle Wise, owner of Rveille Coffee Bar, stands inside her Main Street coffee bar, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020 in Lafayette.(Photo: Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier)

Owner Michelle Wise, who also co-owns the Cellar Wine Bistro with her sister, Marla Milner, said the coffee shop on 835 Main St. opened quietly three weeks ago but has been steadily picking up steam ever since.

I dont fear winter that much, as its typically a busier time for downtown restaurants, but with COVID, its very scary, Wise said.

The interior of Wises French-themed coffee shop on Main Street already has a small indoor capacity of around 18 people at a time, although she said many come inside just for to-go orders.

The honest truth is that I dont know how many places can survive on 50%, Wise said, referring to restaurant capacities should the countys restrictions go into place. Its going to be really touch and go, but Ill have to push carryout and deliveries and get on by that. I think the other restaurants and such downtown will probably try do to the same thing. Im not sure what else we can do.

Wise said the Cellar Wine Bistro had previously applied for and used a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program from the Small Business Administration, which was mainly used for employee retention. She said she would consider applying for one again, should it become available once more.

Thats really how we survived, Wise said.

Recently, the city of Lafayette brought back a program from earlier in the year, which allowed downtown restaurants to have designated spaces for customers picking up carryout orders. During the fall, the city also instituted Fresh Air Eats, which closed downtown streets to traffic over several weekends and allowed for outdoor, socially distanced dining.

Including the changes brought on by the pandemic, Mad Love Boutique in downtown Lafayette also just finished moving spaces from Sixth Street around the corner to a much larger location on 609 Main St. The new space is much larger, owner Stephanie Deckard said, and will be much more accommodating to allow customers to be inside the store while keeping social distancing.

Stephanie Deckard, owner of Mad Love Boutique, stands inside her Main Street boutique, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020 in Lafayette.(Photo: Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier)

The Sixth Street store was really tiny, and there were a few times customers left the store because they werent comfortable, Deckard said. The new store has a lot more space for people to spread out, and it shouldnt be an issue any longer.

But sales have been down overall this year for Deckard, especially when compared to last year, she said, with the boutique doing about one-fifth of the sales as compared to 2019.

I fully expect the winter to be hard, Deckard said.

And in nearby Delphi, where Carroll County has reported a seven-day positivity rate for all tests on Friday at 12.1%, some small businesses are fighting with online retail giants like Amazon to attract customers and keep their storefronts alive.

That includes Tricia Mendel, owner of Hometown Shirts and Graphix on 101 S. Washington St., who recently revamped her store selling custom T-shirts to become a one stop shop in an attempt to draw customers away from online retailers and bigger chain stores. In addition to T-shirts, the store now also offers gifts and home dcor.

Mendel said many Delphi and other Carroll County business owners are worried about what is to come, especially as cases climb and politics become involved when making decisions that affect businesses on every level be it local, statewide or nationally.

I think if people are only online shopping and arent supporting small businesses now, when you go to look for those small businesses next time they wont be there, Mendel said. Its been one thing after another for us, and people need to support small businesses now more than ever.

Emily DeLetter is a news reporter for the Journal & Courier. Contact her at (765) 201-8515 or via email at edeletter@jconline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @EmilyDeLetter.

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'I fully expect the winter to be hard': How Greater Lafayette small businesses are responding to rise in COVID cases - Journal & Courier

PEEKSKILL The owner of an average single-family home would see property taxes rise by$83.44 next year if the cityvotes to exceed the tax cap.

That's based ona home with an equalized assessed value of $310,000, according to the city assessor's office.

Blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for a revenue decline, officials are considering pushing abovethe state tax cap to support aproposed2021 city budget.

The economic impact of the coronavirus has been compared to the Great Depression, City Manager Andy Stewart said in his budget messageto the public. Its extraordinary effects on families and businesses are equaled in its impacts on local government budgets, which have suffered terribly, imperiling our ability to provide essential services.

The Common Council is scheduled to vote Monday night on whether to approve a local law to raise thelevy above the state cap and to vote on the proposed$63.3 million municipal budget, up$309,000from this year. By state law, the city must adopt a budget by Dec. 1.

Peekskill City Hall(Photo: File photo/The Journal News)

Abudgetwithinthestate cap would be limited to a $200,000 levy increase, or a 0.67% tax rate rise, Stewart said. Peekskills revenue isprojected to drop by millions for 2020 largely due to COVID's effects, the budget message said, so the councilis considering raising thetax rateby2.79%for a 3.46% overall increase.

Revenue has dropped significantly amid COVID-19, Stewart said,citing:

Peekskill City Manager Andy Stewart(Photo: Submitted)

The 2021 budget proposal includes cuts of 5% to 12% to the city's departments, mostly by eliminating overtime and not filling vacancies, according to the budget message. Five vacant positions are eliminated, saving about $425,000. Thebudget plan also calls for using no more than $1 million from the"rainy day fund" fund balance to help balance the budget.

At the end of this year, Peekskill's fund balance is project at $4.3 million.

REVITALIZATION:Peekskill recommends 19 projects for potential funding under $10 million revitalization grant

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TRANSFORMATION:Peekskill experiences growing pains as change comes quickly

"Unfortunately, the global coronavirus pandemic that began this past spring and continues today means 2020 and 2021 are the proverbial 'rain days'for which previous administrations have been saving up reserve funds,"the budget message said.

In mid-June, the council approved just more than $1 million in cuts to the already-adopted current-year budget. Stewart's messagesaid those froze most vacant positions, eliminated overtime spending for non-emergencies, canceled recreational programming, and shelved thehiring of dozens of part-time workers. The city also applied $500,000 of fund balance to help balance the budget

The difficult financesblamed on COVID-19 comeafter Peekskill has experienced largely positive newsin recent years in theform of developers'interest, and a burgeoning restaurant and nightlife scene. It's seena wave of newapartments built, under construction or proposed that are geared to millennials leaving New York City and empty-nesters looking to downsize for amore walkable lifestyle.

The city also has a necklace ofriverfront parks with walking and bike paths, a restaurant and entertainment scene and saw the recent relocation here of ahigh-tech manufacturer from the San Francisco Bay area.

Michael McKinney covers northern Westchester.Follow him on Twitter@mikemckwrite.

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COVID problems pushing Peekskill to possibly exceed budget tax cap, increase taxes - The Journal News

New Delhi, November 19

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday launched Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge across 243 cities in the country, a move that aims to mechanise all sewer and septic tank cleaning operations by April 30 next year.

Addressing a webinar on World Toilet Day, Puri said the challenge is to ensure that no life of any sewer or septic tank cleaner is ever lost again owing to the issue of hazardous cleaning.

The minister, according to a statement, said this is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision, who has always placed the safety and dignity of sanitation workers at the core of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U).

The virtual event saw the chief secretaries, state mission directors and other senior state and union territories coming together to take a pledge on behalf of 243 cities to mechanise all sewer and septic tank cleaning operations by April 30, 2021, and gave their commitment to work towards preventing any deaths from hazardous entry, it said.

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act (2013) and various judgements of Honble Supreme Court expressly prohibit hazardous cleaning, i.e. manual entry into a septic tank or sewer without protective gear and observing operating procedures, the statement quoted Puri as saying at the event.

He said despite this, recurring episodes of human fatalities among those engaged in cleaning of septic tanks and sewers, typically belonging to the economically disadvantaged and marginalised communities of society, continue to be an issue of concern.

The minister also highlighted that the success of the challenge does not only depend on the intent and commitment of political representatives, bureaucrats or municipal authorities but also on the citizens of the country.

Just like citizens have taken complete ownership of the Swachhata of their cities, their involvement in this endeavor is absolutely crucial, Puri said, and appealed to people to be vigilant and responsible and play their part in saving the lives of the Sanitation or Swachhata Commandos.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said the challenge will focus extensively on creating citizen awareness on this critical issue along with infrastructure creation for mechanised cleaning and capacity building of workforce.

The ministry said that since its launch in 2014, SBM-U has made significant progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management.

As many as 4,337 Urban local bodies (ULBs) have been declared open defecation free (ODF) (except 35 ULBs of West Bengal), it said.

Besides, over 62 lakhs individual household toilets and over 5.9 lakhs community/ public toilets have been constructed. Additionally, over 59,900 toilets across 2900 plus cities have been made live on Google Maps, it added.

In the area of solid waste management, 97 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to-door collection while 67 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed, the ministry said. PTI

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Scheme launched to mechanise sewer, septic tank cleaning Ops in 243 cities by Apr 30 - The Tribune India

Christine Legere| Cape Cod Times

SOUTH DENNIS The Dennis Select Board will hire an independent consultant to study the possible impacts of releasing cleaned water from the proposed regional wastewater treatment plant into Swan Pond River.

Under a regional plan being developed for Dennis, Yarmouth and parts of Harwich, wastewater from the three towns would be treated at a single plant proposed for the Department of Public Works property in South Dennis.

Once the water has been treated, the cleaned water will be discharged at various locations in the three towns. Initially, about 300,000 gallons per day will be discharged to land at the Dennis treatment plant site and 2 million gallons per day will be piped to the Bass River Golf Course in Yarmouth and used for irrigation.

The Dennis treatment plant will be located in the Swan Pond River watershed, so the recharged effluent released there will eventually reach the groundwater and flow down through the river into Nantucket Sound.

Based on the water quality studies of the region, the wastewater treatment system is expected to go a long way toward cleaning up the impaired watersheds in the three towns by eliminating the current single onsite septic systems that have been loading nitrogen into the estuaries.

Voters in all three towns will be asked to approve a DHY Clean Waters Community Partnership at next springs annual town meetings, allowing the project to move forward.

Dennis Finance Committee Chairman James Plath recently suggested to the Select Board that an independent study be conducted before thetown meeting.

If the Finance Committee is going to make a recommendation, we want some assurance there will be no impact on the Swan Pond River, Plath said. I dont want to be sitting at town meeting with these questions.

Plath said he meant no disrespect to the towns Wastewater Implementation Committee or to engineers at CDM Smith who produced the preliminary design for the system.

Plath just wanted an independent study: take the players out of it, he said.

Select Board member Paul McCormick, who has served on the regional study committee that looked at wastewater solutions, supported Plaths proposal.

We can use the study as part of the publicity to inform townspeople, McCormick said. Wastewater treatment is very expensive. Its important to educate the townspeople so they have their questions answered before we get to town meeting.

Member Christopher Lambton called the decision for a study a no-brainer.

Its a great way to reinforce to our public that were doing our due diligence to show that investing in wastewater (treatment) is the right thing to do, he said.

A subcommittee that includes Select Board members McCormick and John Terrio and Finance Committee members Peter McDowelland Robert Prall will work with the town administration on a request for proposals for thestudy and bring it to the boardfor approval.

The DHY Cleanwaters Community Partnerships sewer network and shared treatment system will save each town millions of dollars.

Sharing a treatment plant would save the towns a combined $83 million in capital costs along with an estimated $6 million in annual operating costs.

The project will be built in eight phases, each about five years long.

Christine Legere can be reached at clegere@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ChrisLegereCCT.

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Dennis to study impact of treated wastewater on Swan Pond River - Cape Cod Times

When thinking about conserving and keeping our limited freshwater supplies safe, three types of solutions spring to mind. Street sweepers, winter maintenance equipment and sewer cleaning tanker trucks are all good solutions.

Why not use all three to turn good into extraordinary?

Street sweepers fall into two major categories, compact sweepers and truck-mounted sweepers. Both are the best at keeping the streets clean and preventing freshwater supply pollution.

The compact sweepers's primary advantage is maximum maneuverability that ensures perfect directional stability and safety for everyday work while also safe for city dwellers. Compacts's agility shines through in municipal streets, bike lanes and even sidewalks. Advantages are narrow design, more economical to operate, diesel fuel options (and electric) and quieter operation. The reduced noise emissions make compacts ideal for mixed-use business and residential areas and much appreciated by neighbors. More and more electric street sweepers are coming onto the market, providing environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuel units.

Heavy-duty truck-mounted sweepers made for broad surfaces consist of three different sweeping technologies.

Mechanical street sweepers

Designed in the Industrial Revolution, mechanical street sweepers predate the automobile.Today, municipalities will often hire contractors to take care of heavy road construction material, such as broken pavement, chunks of asphalt, concrete millings, mud and various construction debris. Mechanical sweepers use a series of brushes to sweep debris into a hopper. The sweepers then dump the waste into a dumpster or dump truck bed.

Regenerative air provides cost-effective, efficient road sweeping. Regenerative air circulation allows for large forward-facing digger gutter brooms and a full-width suction to maximize sweeping speed. Combined with ergonomic operator controls and low running costs, regenerative air sweepers provide an ideal solution to airports, long low cambered roads and urban environments.

Vacuum sweepers are suited for catch basin cleaning, general street sweeping and porous pavement. The suction mechanism will suck the debris into the hopper container for disposal.

Truck-mounted sweepers come in a wide range of dependably configured options from single-engine hydrostatic truck-mounted sweepers to twin-engine sweepers.

Like the compact sweepers, truck-mounted sweeper manufacturers are also introducing electric powered zero-emission machines.

Street sweepers' role in our ecosystem is much more than to keep things clean. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the PM-10 standard. PM-10 regulates the number of particles in the air 10 microns (.0004 inches) or smaller. Why that small? Because the particles are small enough to reach our lungs's lower regions. So the PM-10 street sweeper removal standards protect not only our streets but also our lungs.

Sweepers pick up chemicals, construction debris, dirt, motor oil, trash, and other contaminants, but they do so much more. When street sweepers remove potentially harmful substances from construction sites, parking lots, roadways, and other paved surfaces before they go down storm drains, they are less likely to end up in our lakes, rivers and other freshwater sources.

The MS4 study found street sweepers far more effective and cost-effective than all other best management practices (BMPs) against water pollutions. BMPs are structural, vegetative or managerial practices used to treat, prevent or reduce water pollution BMPs for stormwater runoff pollutant removal.

The study looked at the cost per pound for separation and recovery in regards to Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), and Particulate Matter (PM).

Cleaning via street sweeping came in at the lowest cost. The cost per pound for TN? $189. TP? $294. PM? $0.11, the most economical choice.

The next least expensive alternative? Catch basin cleaning, which vacuum compact and truck-mounted street sweepers can accomplish via a power boom hose. Catch basin cleaning comes in at $1,016 cost per pound for TN. $1,656 for TP, and $0.70 for PM. In comparison, BMP Treatment Trains come in at $1,068 per pound for TN, a whopping $37,243 for TP, and $29.70 for PM.

References: https://www.floridastormwater.org/assets/FSAEF/Research/MS4/UF%20FDEP%2

Northern areas in the U.S. and Canada depend on snow removal and treatment via snow plows and spreaders. Municipalities, contractors and airports rely on customer-orientated solutions for efficient and environment-friendly winter maintenance.

In some lighter snow/high temperate areas, street sweepers are used even in the winter to clean the salt or brine off streets depending on the snow removal technology deployed. Not all areas of the country need a snowplow or spreader.

So what happens if the threat to freshwater is an unseen enemy?

Unseen is usually the case with clogged sewer lines or catch basins. Unfortunately, sewer problems are not un-smelled. Likewise, when residents call their municipalities for help, usually a stinky situation or backup into their homes is an emergency.

One use of flexible sewer cleaning units is as a first responder type of tool. These vehicles are especially useful to get in tight and densely populated metro areas as they have a smaller footprint than a recycling or supersucker truck. Combo units are powerful preventive cleaning, emergency cleaning of mains, septic and collection tanks and transport of dangerous goods.

The advantage is the low maintenance costs, increased capabilities, low noise levels and high quality.If you need even a smaller approach, a remote or easement reel is perfect for jetting in parking decks, inside buildings and to navigate stairs with its mini-tank like treads.

Recycler sewer cleaning trucks equipped with fully automatic water filtration systems clean the toughest blockages, even the dreaded fatbergs. The advantage of sewer cleaner tankers is that they automatically and continuously separate water from the sludge to use the cleaned water to clean the sewer. This technology is not just right for the environment for the water recycling aspect, but the longer job-site time means less fuel used. Additionally, compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled trucks provide a cleaner working experience. It is also healthy for the bottom line and the sewer cleaner operator.

The benefits of using street sweepers, winter maintenance equipment and sewer cleaning tanker trucks in unison is a smart offense in protecting and conserving freshwater.

I ask again, could this three-pronged approach help your DOT, municipality, or contracting business save your freshwater supplies? Some food for thought.

Link:
Three-pronged Approach to Protecting Water Resources - Storm Water Solutions

November 20, 2020 5:54:33 pm

Written byN Dayasindhu

In one of the most unforgettable scenes of the Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, released in 2005, surgical robots dramatically transform Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader, one of most identifiable characters in Hollywood movies. Robotic surgery has been around since the mid-1980s, when Arthrobot helped surgeons perform orthopaedic surgical procedures. The space connection is not all imagination. The AESOP robot was funded by NASA to work as a robotic arm in space but soon became a pioneer as a camera for laparoscopic procedures in the mid-1990s. ZEUS, another robotic surgical aid, was used in a beating heart coronary artery bypass graft in the late 1990s. Today, robotic surgical aids are used across the world.

General-purpose robots are making their mark in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has stretched our healthcare sector to its limits. Mitra, a friendly Indian robot, helps COVID-19 patients make video calls with their families using its camera and a video screen on its torso. Mitra can move on its own from the bedside of one patient to another. Another robot from Milagrow, a Gurgaon-based firm, is cleaning and disinfecting hospitals. These robots are doing their part in assisting our healthcare heroes and reducing their exposure to COVID-positive patients. Both patients and healthcare heroes appear to have formed a bond with the machines. Many patients who have seen these robots in action dont leave the hospital without a selfie.

This brings us to the important question: Will robots replace Indians at work? The answer lies in how we plan to use robots. One approach that Indian policymakers should consider is to encourage use of robots that assist us in making our jobs more productive, rather than focus on robots that are likely to entirely replace us at work. The real possibility of robots replacing humans has been highlighted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as well. In a 2016 report, it indicated that while robots threaten up to two-thirds of jobs developing countries, robots will also open up new opportunities for work. Let us also not forget the externalities in play. Sometime in the near future, robots can reduce the labour costs in manufacturing to such an extent that factories are likely to be re-shored from their current offshore low-labour cost locations.

However, there are application domains where we will want robots to entirely replace us as soon as possible. One of them is manual scavenging. A team from IIT Madras has developed a Sepoy Septic Tank Robot, which uses high-velocity cutters to cut through the sludge in septic tanks and a vacuum pump to suck it out. This Indian robot comes at fraction of the price of a similar imported robot. A couple of years ago, Bandicoot, a scavenging robot, was piloted to clean the sewers in Thiruvananthapuram. According to a 2018 report by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, one life is lost in about every five days while cleaning sewers and septic tanks across the country. Manual scavenging has to end in India and robots can play an important role in rooting this practice out. Like India, other countries are also making their assessments of robots and their use.

Labour-rich countries like China have been working on a policy for robots for almost a decade. Their Ministry of Industry and Information Technology came up with a report Guidance on the Promotion and Development of the Robot Industry. The Made in China 2025 programme set a goal of producing 1,00,000 industrial robots per year and achieving a density of 150 robots per 10,000 workers by 2020 from about 97 in 2017. There is also a definite possibility of inducting robots in the military. Earlier this year, the head of Russias Advanced Research Foundation indicated that humans in the military will be gradually replaced by robots who can act faster, more accurately and more selectively than humans. These international developments provide yet another context for India to fine-tune its policy on robots.

We need to assess the benefits and risks of robots in different sectors of the economy. India has been proactive in identifying priority sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, and smart mobility where artificial intelligence, including robotics, will make a positive difference to India. Multiple government organisations like NITI Aayog, office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the government of India, the Prime Ministers Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Department of Science and Technology are working on refining the Indian policy on artificial intelligence and robotics. The economic potential of using artificial intelligence seems impressive, with NITI Aayog forecasting that artificial intelligence is likely to add about $1 trillion to the Indian economy by 2035. While Indian policymakers have been at work, the Indian robotics startup ecosystem has also been busy.

All the Indian robots mentioned so far are from startups or translational research initiatives in our universities. Cruchbase indicates suggest that there are close to about 400 robot startups in India. The top robotics startups have raised about $200 million in venture funding. It is impressive that our robot companies are solving problems that are common for India and many other parts of the world. Plansys, an IIT Madras alumni and faculty startup, provides submersible robotic inspection and survey solutions using remotely operated vehicles. Apart from underwater inspection of marine structures, Plansyss services also impact the largest sector of the Indian economy agriculture. Proper functioning of dams is critical to the livelihoods of many Indian farmers. Plansys provides underwater assessment of dam gates. This is critical for early assessment of preventive work to ensure the proper functioning of dams. Inspection by submersible robots is sometimes the only effective solution since reservoirs can be too turbid for effective human diver inspection. Many a time, human diver inspection is dangerous since the reservoirs are home to crocodiles. While the Indian robotics startup ecosystem has made a good start, we still have a long journey ahead of us.

There is optimism about the future of robots in India and Im waiting for the day where job postings will include the phrase should be comfortable working with our friendly robots. We need to refine and implement an Indian policy on robots as well as to nurture a larger and more vibrant startup ecosystem to build indigenous robots. If robots still feel alien for some of us, let me leave you with a quote from Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene, We are survival machines robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.

The writer is co-founder and CEO of Itihaasa Research and Digital. Views are personal

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The friendly robot and the future of work - The Indian Express

As the UN observed World Toilet Day on Thursday, Amnesty International, WaterAid and the International Dalit Solidarity Network called on the authorities in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan to take immediate action to protect the sanitation workers who hae been risking their lives as Covid-19 frontliners.

According to a joint statement released by these organisations, across South Asia, workers cleaning toilets and streets, emptying latrine pits and maintaining sewers are faced with acute health and safety risks. However, they lack adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), training support to cope with risks, job security, social security, health insurance and access to handwashing facilities.

The three organisations have appealed to the national governments and local authorities in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan to urgently provide immediate support and implement protective measures to help sanitation and waste workers cope with the heightened risks of the pandemic.

The caste dimension of sanitation work in these countries also means that workers are highly stigmatised and discriminated against when accessing services or seeking other occupations, the statement said.

A new research by WaterAid in Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh showed that the Covid-19 pandemic worsened the situation for the vast majority of these workers. Some have even been redeployed to service Covid-19 quarantine centres with limited training on Covid-19 related risks or how to use PPE, the study found.

The WaterAid study further found that these workers' financial security has also been affected either due to increased but non-compensated working hours in some cases, and reduced demand for their services in others. Likewise, their transportation costs increased due to lockdowns and many had to buy face masks and other equipment that their employers did not regularly provide.

Sanitation workers are the hidden workforce keeping towns and cities in South Asia functioning throughout the pandemic, but they work in very poor and too often life-threatening conditions and are subject to stigma and discrimination based on caste and religion, Vanita Suneja, South Asia Regional Advocacy Manager at WaterAid, said. Covid-19 and related lockdowns have exacerbated these risks, especially among the many sanitation workers informally employed. Most female sanitation workers are informal workers risking their lives every day. The safety and dignity of these workers have been disproportionately affected.

The International Dalit Solidarity Network has campaigned to raise the plight of low caste sanitation workers, being lowered into sewers or cleaning dry latrines with no protective equipment. Many of these workers inherit these occupations due to their designated status in the caste system. This status has travelled with them to countries like Bangladesh, where many street sweepers are Dalits and live in segregation in sweepers colonies.

These workers are not asking for a medal. They are asking for their rights and dignity to be respected and that the same concern authorities are showing for the health and safety of other segments of the population is also extended to them, said Meena Varma, Executive Director of the International Dalit Solidarity Network.

Issues of stigma and discrimination against sanitation workers are reported across South Asia. Amnesty International has appealed for action in India urging the government to ensure dignity and protection of sanitation workers.

An estimated five million sanitation workers, mostly belonging to Dalit communities, are forced to work as manual scavengers to clean faecal sludge in sewers, septic tanks, etc.

Many of the sanitation workers are Dalits, the so-called lowest caste in South Asia. Because of their descent, they are historically subjected to extreme forms of indignity, oppression, exclusion, and discrimination. Their already marginalised position is even further compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, said David Griffiths, Director of the Office of the Secretary-General at Amnesty International. It beggars belief that anyone should be forced into the practice of manually cleaning and carrying human excrement, often simply because of their birth. Governments must take urgent action to protect the rights of these workers and immediately stop anybody from being subject to this illegal, degrading, and inhumane treatment.

Read more:
Authorities must urgently protect sanitation workers risking their lives on the Covid-19 frontlines - The Kathmandu Post