Why plan for a garage was turned down
Within Albany’s historic districts, new structures are supposed to fit in with their neighborhoods. The Albany Landmarks Commission this week found that a planned garage was too big and turned it down....
View ArticleNo more ‘talking’ at Water Gardens
Talking Water Gardens once was hailed as an environmental success. But now, as a system to further treat already treated wastewater, it has been shut down. The news came late Friday in the weekly...
View ArticleYes, old brick and rail are still there
The Nov. 26 story about the remodeling of the former Oregon Electric Railway depot in Albany prompted a couple of comments about the brick paving that once covered that part of Southeast Fifth Avenue....
View ArticleWhat’s next at Talking Water Gardens
The City of Albany intends to maintain the constructed wetlands known as Talking Water Gardens as a place to enjoy nature even though the place no longer functions as part of the Albany and Millersburg...
View ArticleCity to homeless: Park somewhere else
If you’re homeless and living in your car, where in Albany can you park? Not in the city’s so-called “Central Albany Parking Area,” which is near two homeless shelters and should be called the...
View ArticleNeighbors given notice of chemical plant
The City of Albany’s Community Development Department has just given neighbors of a proposed chemical factory on Ferry Street notice that the site plan for the project is being considered. The city’s...
View ArticleDressed up: The corner of Santiam and Main
Bike rides through the east end of old Albany occasionally take me past the corner of Main Street and Santiam Road, the former site of the historic Cumberland Church. Now the corner has a new look....
View ArticleNext in Albany: A tax on new construction
Hoping to promote less expensive housing, one of the first things the new Albany City Council will do next month is to add a city tax on new construction valued at more than $50,000. The council would...
View ArticleFour-plex planned near Albany waterfront
A corner lot near the Albany waterfront may become the site of a four-plex of townhouses if a plan submitted to the city planning division is carried out. The planning division is reviewing a site plan...
View ArticleOn the Clark Path, an expensive repair
The first of this month I pointed out a gap in Albany’s Dave Clark Riverfront Path, where the metal cap of an expansion joint had gone missing. Turns out that replacing the cap or cover is not cheap....
View ArticlePothole is history but the issue is not
There’s important news happening all over this country and the world, but not on this site. Here, allow me to dwell once again on what had become my favorite Albany pothole. This is a spot in the...
View ArticleHere’s a status report on Water Avenue
The west end of Albany’s Water Avenue has been reopened to traffic. But until it is repaved next year, it might be best to avoid the street. A pavement cut filled with gravel runs the length of the...
View ArticleBehold the light in the middle of the lake
On the third of December I reported that the new fountain in Albany’s Waverly Lake might soon be lighted in color again. Tonight I finally thought to confirm that that’s the case. These photos don’t...
View ArticleStill needed, a suitable place to set up camp
If we don’t want people setting up tents along Albany’s public paths, we’ll have to come up with another place for them to go whether we like it or not. The city has a law against camping on public...
View ArticleNo waiting for fuel — for now, that is
For a year and a half now it has been legal to pump your own gas at Oregon stations, and getting fuel now often takes almost no time at all. That makes the contrast even bigger between the convenience...
View ArticleWhy ride in the rain if there’s no need?
The trouble with riding a bicycle around western Oregon in December is the weather. For the week until New Year’s, the National Weather Service forecast for the Albany area ranges from showers to 100...
View ArticleA break between showers: Get on the bike
Just yesterday, on Christmas Day, I complained that the Oregon weather in December made riding a bike more difficult. And today proved me wrong. Here’s the proof from this afternoon, on Dec. 26: You...
View ArticleIt’s the season for flooding in Bryant Park
It would not be winter if Bryant Park in Albany didn’t get flooded for at least a few days, sometimes for weeks. In the park at the confluence of the Calapooia and Willamette rivers, the annual...
View ArticleHigh water laps at Riverpark’s new stage
The Albany riverfront gets a little more interesting every time the water level rises, as it is doing now because of recent rains. On Sunday I stopped my afternoon bike ride at Monteith Riverpark and...
View ArticleHow high’s the water Momma? Hum that tune
“How high’s the water, Momma?” Johnny Cash asked in 1959. And the answer was: “Five feet high and rising.” On the Willamette River in Albany on Monday afternoon, the correct answer was: “Nearly 20 feet...
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