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STANWOOD City leaders are updating local rules after a proposal to build a privately operated waste treatment plant in town caused concern late last year.

Two businessmen from Camano Island submitted an application to build the McDay Septage Receiving Plant and Biosolids Processing Facility. It would treat waste from private septic tanks, and would be located north of Highway 532 off of 84th Avenue NW.

Many people expressed concerns about the plan, particularly about placing such an operation in the Stillaguamish River floodplain and close to downtown businesses. The applicants said they researched issues such as odor and safety.

Now, code updates are in the works. Previously, the city code dealt with sewage treatment plants but did not separately discuss septage. For the purposes of the McDay application, the code was interpreted to include septage under the umbrella of sewage. The difference is that sewage comes from a connected sewer system, whereas septage comes from septic tanks. Both contain human waste.

After a public hearing last week, the Stanwood Planning Commission is recommending that the citys code be updated to prohibit privately owned sewage plants and any septage plants, private or public, said Ryan Larsen, community development director. Only publicly owned sewage treatment plants would be allowed in Stanwood. That recommendation is set to go to the City Council for a vote later this month.

The changes would impact future applications. They do not retroactively apply to the McDay project, which will be considered under the rules that were in effect at the time the application was received, Larsen said.

City planners requested additional information from the applicants in late 2016 in order to continue processing their proposal. As of last week, Larsen said the city had not yet received a response. There is no time limit.

I have not heard from them in months, Larsen said. Theres a whole list of stuff that they needed to do.

The applicants, James McCafferty and Greg Gilday, did not comment about the proposed changes to city code. They still are pursuing development of the property off 84th, McCafferty said in an email. The goal is to bring jobs to the Stanwood-Camano community, he said.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.

See the original post here:
Plan for sewage treatment plant prompts Stanwood to update rules - The Daily Herald

VALDOSTA Every day Jeremiah Lawton expects something to happen to his septic tank. He doesn't know when, but one day, he worries he is going to wake up and find his toilets overflowing.

Lawton, president of the Westwood homeowners association, said he would love to see his septic tank replaced with a sewer system. Monday, he, along with other residents of Westwood Estates, met with theLowndes County utilities director and other county officials to discuss how much it would cost for the county to run water and sewer to their neighborhood, just west of Interstate 75.

Steve Stalvey, utilities director, spoke to the residents of Westwood Estates about including them in the water and sewer system of the county.

His report estimates a cost of $18,000 per resident and a cost of $1.3 million to the county, which would be paid through SPLOST. To move forward with the project, the county would need a commitment of at least 75 percent of the residents.

Thomas Lynn | The Valdosta Daily TimesSteve Stalvey, Lowndes County utilities director, speaks to Westwood Estate residents about extending county water and sewer to their homes.

Essentially, the county would pay to extend their pipes to the neighborhood, while the residents will pay for a sewage pump and installation of everything.

"It's really a team effort to get this thing up and running," Stalvey said. "Ideally, every resident will commit but that's up to (them) to work out."

At the meeting, residents were split. Some wanted to pay for county services, while others were perfectly content with their current system.

Barbara McFarland, a Westwood resident, said she wouldn't mind having county water and sewer but she isn't willing to go into debt to get it.

"It's just too much money," McFarland said. "I'm disabled and on a fixed income. I can't afford paying $10,000 for something I already have."

She has had no problem with her well or septic tank, she said.

But Shirley Garland, a Westwood homeowner, spoke about investing in the neighborhood and increasing home values. She said she was thinking of the future.

"This is modernization," Garland said. "Just like when we switched to cellphones from landlines."

Garland said those who don't want to switch won't have to switch, which is partly true.

Stalvey said anyone with property within 1,000 feet of the water and sewer line of the county would not be allowed a new permit to dig a new well or place a new septic tank.Meaning even if a Westwood resident rejects the proposal and the lines still go in, they will be required to attach to the county line if something happens to their well or septic tank.

"It's the policy that the board has adopted,"Stalvey said. "They want to limit wells and it's for the protection of the community as a whole."

At the end of the meeting, most of the residents in attendance left not sold on the cost of joining the county system. This isn't new. The Westwood Estates community has been looking into extending water and sewer for three years now.

The future of the project depends on what the community agrees to do.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256

Continued here:
Westwood residents debate water, sewer extension - Valdosta Daily Times

Paving the pump station by the Olympic Discovery Trail is one of the final projects for the Carlsborg Sewer Project. Physical work began in April 2016 and it will cost more than $9 million to finish. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

After more than a year under construction, the Carlsborg Sewer Project wraps up this week, Clallam County staff report.

Meggan Uecker, solid waste coordinator for Clallam County, said this week crews with contractor Pacific Civil and Infrastructure will stripe the roads including Carlsborg Road and Business Park Loop, pave the pump station, reroute the Olympic Discovery Trail and pave a portion of Hooker Road south of US Highway 101.

About 85 sites, Uecker said, can begin connecting to the system starting July 5.

They have until December to connect to the system, she said, but county staff are available to help people through the process. If residents do not finish their sewer by December, theyll have to renew their application and pay the current connection fee of $1,500.

Physical work on the $9.22 million project began in April last year and was deemed substantially complete prior to an April 1 deadline this year to obtain a 0.25 percent interest rate on the $10 million state Public Works Trust Fund loan.

The completion means water can travel through piping from the Carlsborg pump station to the City of Sequim via the Dungeness River Bridge over Highway 101 to a collection system at Grant Road and sent to the City of Sequims Water Reclamation Facility.

Uecker said they are holding off on saying just how well the project went because county staff are in the assessment process.

Were excited its done and ready to move into this phase (of completion), she said.

With the project nearly complete, Uecker said traveling should be easier following the cleanup and a new center turn lane painted along Carlsborg Road.

With it being unmarked, people were complaining of other folks not knowing where to drive, she said.

Businesses rebounding

Late last year, several Carlsborg businesses reported having a hard time with the construction detouring traffic away from the area, leading some to cutback on staff hours and days of operation.

Lisa Deese, owner of the Old Post Office Sweets &Gifts, 751 Carlsborg Road, said her business has been night and day and really close to not surviving.

It was so dead during the construction but now Im going to have to kick it into high gear, she said.

Now that the construction is over, its been amazing. All of my customers are thrilled.

Val Culp, co-owner of the Old Mill Cafe, 721 Carlsborg Road, previously said they were one of the businesses to cut back on staff hours but theyve gone back to pre-construction operations.

Its definitely a lot better since the road was finished, she said. Now that its picked up, weve got our regular schedule again.

Michael Dew, owner/general manager of Pioneer Propane, 931 Carlsborg Road, said in the winter construction made it difficult to get in and out of his business. However, his sales representative Stephanie Segle came up with the idea to introduce a loyalty card where after customers buy 50 gallons of propane in a canister for barbecues/RVs theyll receive five gallons free.

Dew, who opened Pioneer Propane in 2009, said Segles idea helped his business stay proactive and the idea was a boost for the business.

Logistics

Uecker said residents who signed up before March 31 paid $500 to connect to the sewer and those who sign up before April 1, 2019, will pay $1,500. Residents who sign up after that will pay $8,000.

A lot of sites can still connect and with a change in zoning many properties can sub-divide which may create more hook-ups, she said.

Carlsborg sewer customers will pay a $26 base rate per residential unit and those with meters will pay $8.66 per 100 cubic feet of water used per month and non-metered customers will pay a flat monthly fee of $78.80 per unit.

County officials estimate the average sewer bill to be around $70.

Dew, whose business is right next to the pump station, said he was a supporter of the system early on and signed up when first available.

It worked for the Romans and it certainly can work for us, he said.

Culp said she and her husband Larry opted not to connect to the sewer because they spent $40,000 in June 2015 to install new septic tanks at the prompting of the Department of Health.

I cant see paying the (connection fee) and paying to decommission the tanks, she said.

Were going to ride it out.

If the Culps or any homeowners/business owners with functioning septic systems not connected to the sewer system were to sell, thed have to connect within a year. Newly constructed homes also must connect to the system within a year because new septic tanks are not allowed in the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area.

For more information on the project, contact Uecker at 417-2441 or muecker@co.clallam.wa.us and/or visit http://www.clallam.net/PublicWorks/CarlsborgSewer.html.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

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Carlsborg Sewer Project to finish this week - Sequim Gazette

KOKOMO The Kokomo Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved multiple projects related to city sewers.

The two projects one concerning future sanitary sewers in the Ivy Hills subdivision, the other a combined sewer overflow project to be funded through a recently-approved city ordinance are expected to bring relief to subdivision residents and satisfy the citys federal mandates.

At the meeting, the board approved sanitary sewer easements for nine properties. Currently, Ivy Hills has no sanitary sewers, something the city is hoping to change.

While the sewer service, or Ivy Hills sewer extension, wont affect flooding in the often rain-soaked area, it will help with the subdivision's quality of life, especially during a flooding event, say city officials.

Effectively, the sewers will allow people who currently are unable to flush their toilets, run their washer or complete other household tasks during heavy rain to operate as normal in flooding or near-flooding situations if they connect to the sewer.

As Kokomo city engineer Carey Stranahan explained, the easements are required to install the projects pipe. While most of the sewers are in the right-of-way, there are places where the city will need to go into backyards, he noted.

Stranahan said that once the city identifies the location of the easements, officials will meet with property owners to obtain them. The city is not being charged for the easements and still has a few left to acquire.

The project will go out for bids in the next month, said Stranahan, and will begin in late summer. The project will likely take nine months to complete.

While the project design was started in mid-2013, Stranahan said that obtaining easements has been very challenging, especially across the preserve property.

It took a tremendous amount of time to work out the details due to the [Indiana Department of Transportation] easement, he continued. INDOT restored that wetland in 2011 and placed an additional conservation easement across the property that we had to work through.

We didnt get that issue worked out until this spring. Also, there have been several residents who have been difficult to contact.

In total, 35 percent of Ivy Hills property owners petitioned for the project and will be required to connect to the sewer, said Stranahan, noting that their share will be $6,000 per lot. Those residents will also pay $1,250 for their sewer tap fee and be required to extend their lateral to connect.

Property owners who didnt sign the petition will not be required to connect unless their septic system fails, he added.

During Wednesdays meeting, the board also received bids for a noteworthy CSO project.

Bids for the project came from Indianapolis-based Wilhelm Construction for $3.4 million and Peru-based Boyer Excavating for $2.9 million. The bids were taken under advisement.

The project should be completed in early 2018 and wont cause any significant issues for residents, as crews will be in alleys and easements, noted Stranahan.

The purpose of the project, he said, is to reduce the number and volume of combined sewerage that enters Wildcat Creek at that point. In technical terms, Stranahan explained that the project includes placing five control structures in the CSO basin to use the pipe for storage.

The basin itself extends northeast from Memorial Gym to the Humane Society.

The pipe is approximately [84 inches] in diameter, so the structures are quite large, said Stranahan. In order for the system to be reliable and low maintenance, we are using special motors and actuators.

About the cost of the project, Stranahan said, The bids were higher than our estimate, but is still better than the alternative. He added that the city is also looking at value engineering opportunities.

Notably, the undertaking is a Long-Term Control Plan project the city has been federally-mandated to undertake.

Such projects will be paid for through measures approved earlier this year by the Kokomo Common Council. The council approved in April roughly $23 million in bonds for local sewage projects, an action that will be funded in part by wastewater fee increases approved by the city late last year.

The ordinance, which was approved by the council on first and second reading, continues the citys federally-mandated long-term control plans for sewage and flood mitigation. Included are CSO-related projects.

In December, the council approved an ordinance that increased wastewater and stormwater utility costs for residential and commercial properties in the city.

The measure amounts to a 9.7 percent increase, or $3.67 per month for the average customer utilizing 6,000 gallons, a total Kokomo Common Council Vice President Mike Kennedy called a "tremendous amount" for residential users.

At the time, Mayor Greg Goodnight said the reason for the raise was to help the city pay for the CSO projects. In the remaining 10 years of a 20-year long-term control plan, the city has $27.7 million in costs related to CSO projects. Cash on hand will also be utilized by the city for the projects.

More here:
BOW acts on Ivy Hills sanitary sewers, additional sewer project - Kokomo Tribune

Local governments also will need to make sure the property's lateral line the sewer pipe that leads from the house to the street isn't letting clean water leak into the sewer system.

Both requirements are part of a new ordinance expected to pass the WLSSD board at their regular monthly meeting Monday, June 26.

City officials, Realtors and home sellers can relax for the time being, however. WLSSD wants cities and townships have those new rules on the books by Feb. 15, 2019, and enforced by Feb.15, 2020. (Earlier drafts called for the ordinance to take effect as early as next year.)

Still, the new rule is coming, and cities and townships will have to ramp up their inspection services at a cost to home sellers and/or taxpayers. With big downstream fixes in place, the WLSSD says now the best way to keep clean water out is upstream, at the start of the collection system, where homes and businesses send their sewage into pipes that flow down each street.

Specifically, WLSSD is requiring cities and townships in its service area to pass their own ordinances requiring the owners of homes or other buildings connected to the sewer system obtain a certificate, before selling that property, that shows the sump pump is not contributing clean water to the sewage system.

If the system is dumping water into the sewer, the home would have to be disconnected within 120 days of the title transfer. The fix can either be part of the sale price or, if it doesn't happen within 120 days, the municipality can assess a fee or surcharge on the property's tax bill.

Either way, homes needing disconnects will pay.

Duluth halfway there

The so-called point of sale rule for sump pump/foundation drain disconnects from the sewage system has been required in Duluth since 2011. But it will be a new requirement for all home and building sellers outside the city whose homes send wastewater to the WLSSD plant in Lincoln Park.

The WLSSD area includes Duluth, Proctor, Hermantown, Wrenshall, Rice Lake, Carlton, Scanlon, Cloquet, the Village of Oliver in Wisconsin, Midway, Thomson and Twin Lakes townships in Minnesota, as well as areas served by the Pike Lake and Larsmont sewage districts.

"The district has been good about backing off on their timeline to help their customers," said Caleb Peterson, Cloquet's director of Public Works. "But these are big changes coming down the line that are going to cost money. We realize it's going to be more work. ... But we also realize there's still an issue with inflow and infiltration we have to get to."

Eric Shaffer, Duluth's chief engineer for utilities, said the city's current program of inspecting sump pump and storm drain disconnects before home sales "should meet the (new) WLSSD requirement." Already "if you sell your home today in the city, it will need a foundation drain/sump pump inspection."

It will be up to each municipality to decide how to handle the lateral line issue. Small municipalities with fewer home sales may decide to require lateral inspections at the time of sales, just like the sump pump/foundation drain inspection. But larger cities, especially Duluth, probably will comply with the new WLSSD ordinance by ramping up lateral line inspection programs where the city inspects entire neighborhoods for lateral line leakage.

"We are trying to be as flexible as possible and still reach the goal of reducing those peak flows," said Karen Anderson, WLSSD spokeswoman.

Duluth could never afford to inspect lateral lines for the roughly 1,200 buildings sold each year, city officials noted. The most the city ever accomplished was 275 in one year.

Shaffer said Duluth will have to ramp up lateral line inspections across the entire city, reaching more than 100 homes annually, to satisfy the WLSSD ordinance. The city can do the work using remote-controlled cameras that snake through the sewage system, from a manhole in the street to residents' homes. On rainy days, crews can easily see which lateral lines are allowing water to pour in.

At that point, the city can require homeowners to stop the lateral line leaks, which can cost upwards of $5,000 to either dig up and replace or re-line leaky pipes. In past years, the city offered grants of up to $4,000. But there's currently no money in the city budget to continue those grants. That would be up to the mayor and city council to decide. If the city agreed with WLSSD to fix 100 leaky lateral lines annually, for example, that would be a $400,000 cost to the city.

Over the past decade, Duluth, WLSSD and other municipalities in the area have spent millions of dollars to try to solve the problem of clean rainwater and snowmelt entering and overwhelming the sewage system. That overload caused overflows of untreated sewage into local streams and Lake Superior.

Expensive fix, but overflows have mostly ended

WLSSD and cities have expanded pipelines, added new pumps and built giant storage basins to hold the extra water that enters the system during heavy rains or spring thaws. The last big overflow tank, above the Lakewalk near Endion Station, was completed in early 2012. It cost $20 million and holds 8.2 million gallons.

All told, the city has put more than $126 million into the effort, and WLSSD has spent another $40 million, with local taxes and state and federal grants helping foot the bill. Those numbers are for major capital expenses and don't count the city's contribution to sump pump installations in homes.

To a large extent, the effort has worked well. The only major sewage overflow into local waters in recent years was during the June 2012 flood, a 1-in-500-years event.

Still, millions of gallons of clean water are getting into the system after every rain. Anderson said peak flows during heavy rainfall and snowmelt events can reach eight times the dry-weather flow of wastewater to the plant, and overflows could still occur.

City officials said they had some overflows on their end of the system during a rain event on frozen ground in March 2016, with the water coming from private homes and other buildings, not leaky city pipes or manholes.

The ordinance being voted on Monday is not the first local rule requiring sewage inspection before building sales.

St. Louis County has had rules on the books for decades requiring septic system inspections at the time of rural home sales, but the rule was rarely enforced because of the high cost of new septic systems. In 2014, the county moved to require sellers of homes with uninspected septic systems to set up an escrow account to pay for a new system if it's not working properly to treat sewage, a potential pollution problem for nearby waterways or wells. The escrow essentially applies to any home sales where the septic system hasn't been tested or replaced in the past 10 years. In reality, escrows will be used only in winter, when the ground is frozen and septic tests can't be done before the sale.

Read more:
Sump pump, line inspections will be mandatory before home sales in Duluth - West Central Tribune

President Trump on Friday floated a potential Plan B to Senate Republicans who are struggling to break an intraparty logjam and pass a health care bill.

If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date! he tweeted.

The idea mirrors one floated by Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican, in a Friday letter to Mr. Trump.

It says if Senate Republicans cannot agree on an Obamacare replacement by July 10, when Congress returns from the Independence Day recess, they should revive a 2015 bill that used fast-track budget rules to gut the 2010 law without fear of a Democratic filibuster.

He said senators should then cancel the August recess and work six days a week on a reform package that can be passed by Labor Day.

You campaigned and won on the repeal of ObamaCare. So did every Republican senator. We should keep our word, Mr. Sasse told Mr. Trump.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, offered his support for the idea on Twitter, saying Lets keep our word to repeal then work on replacing right away.

Breaking the Republican repeal-and-replace effort into discrete parts would be a departure from the current strategy.

The House already passed a bill that attempts to gut the 2010 Affordable Care Act and replace as much of it as possible under the budget process.

Yet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is still trying to mollify competing factions within his conference.

Moderates are leery of gutting Obamacares consumer protections for the sick and curtailing federal spending on Medicaid coverage for the poor, while conservatives have been pushing to kill off as much of President Obamas signature program as they can.

On the current path, it looks like Republicans will either fail to pass any meaningful bill at all, or will instead pass a bill that attempts to prop up much of the crumbling ObamaCare structures, Mr. Sasse said in his letter. We can and must do better than either of these both because the American people deserve better, and because we promised better.

Mr. Sasse had been in touch with the Trump administration, including Vice President Mike Pences team, for months on repeal-and-replace strategy.

The senator discussed his repeal, then replace strategy in an interview on the Fox & Friends television program early Friday, and Mr. Trump tweeted his support for the idea shortly thereafter.

Its unclear how much traction the repeal-then-replace idea will get.

Republican leaders initially planned to pursue a form of that strategy, delivering a quick strike at the law and then using a multi-year transition to usher in a replacement, yet key senators and Mr. Trump pushed for a simultaneous replacement.

Moderate Republicans whove already balked at a bill that preserves parts of Obamacare would likely be skittish about voting to gut Obamacare without knowing if their party can agree on a replacement.

A coalition of conservative groups blasted centrists for appearing to get cold feet on full repeal of Obamacare, saying they want to trim the hedges instead of ripping out the law root and branch.

And they applauded Mr. Trump and Mr. Sasse for prioritizing repeal ahead of the replacement effort, saying it would fulfill a Republican pledge that dates back to the tea party wave of 2010.

This would get repeal done and allow the Democrats and the Republicans to work together on improving our health care system, said Jim DeMint, a former U.S. senator and president of the Heritage Foundation who is now adviser at the Convention of States.

The 2015 repeal effort would have scrapped Obamacares mandate penalties on individuals and employers and then phased out its taxpayer-funded subsidies and expansion of Medicaid a couple years out, so no one would lose their coverage right away.

Conservatives want to replicate that effort, though the free-market Club for Growth said congressional Republicans should try to scrap all of Obamacares regulations on insurers, too, so lawmakers dont lock them in during the replacement phase.

All of it needs to go, said Andy Roth, a vice president of government affairs for the group.

The Senate parliamentarian could strike the deregulation push as outside the scope of the budget process, though Mr. Roth said Republicans need to test the waters instead of hiding behind an assumption of defeat to preserve aspects of Obamacare.

Jenny Beth Martin, president of the Tea Party Patriots, said at a minimum, Senate GOP leaders should adopt an idea being pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas that would allow insurers who sell Obamacare-compliant plans to also offer noncompliant plans that would be cheaper for consumers.

Providing those options could win over the likes of Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, and other conservatives.

Centrist holdouts, meanwhile, are focused on applying savings from the plan to soften the bill and satisfy their priorities, including $45

Senators were weighing a proposal that would keep Obamacares 3.8 percent investment tax on wealthier individuals, which could free up $172 billion elsewhere to head off rising premiums or help people in danger of losing coverage.

But idea has run into opposition from conservatives, who want to repeal as many of Obamacares taxes and regulations as possible.

The Congressional Budget Office also released an updated analysis of Republicans bill on Thursday that said Medicaid spending would drop by 35 percent over 20 years compared to its baseline budget.

Democrats said the figures prove the GOP plan would force states to shoulder more health care costs or slash benefits beyond the 10-year budget window thats typically used to vet legislation.

David Sherfinski contributed to this report.

Read this article:
Trump floats repeal, then quickly replace, idea on health care - Washington Times

The Conservative deal with the Democratic Unionist Party means that Theresa May has a majority in the House of Commons for its critical votes on the Queens Speech. Today MPs will vote on Labours alternative programme for government. Unless the DUP has a last-minute change of heart, it will be defeated. And then tomorrow MPs will vote to endorse the Governments watered-down, DUP-approved programme.

The immediate threat to Theresa Mays position has receded,but the question keeps coming up: what would happen if, having secured the Governments future, she just quit?

What if she just said, Im off for a walk in the Welsh hills; someone else can get us out of this mess after all.

The usual procedure is well known. The Prime Minister would announce her intention to stand down as soon as a successor is elected to replace her. That is what David Cameron did the day after the referendum a year ago.

Theresa May's Government at risk of collapse within two years, warns Lord Heseltine

We are familiar, too, with the rules for an involuntary departure. Fifteen per cent of Conservative MPs, currently 48, would have to write to Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, which represents Tory backbenchers, to ask for a vote of confidence in the leader. If that vote among all Tory MPs is carried, an election is then held, in which the leader may not stand. The device has been used in opposition, against Iain Duncan Smith in 2003, but not while the party has been in government. Even so, the rules are well known, and they assume that the Prime Minister would continue in office until a successor has been elected.

But what would happen if she resigned now, or this weekend, with immediate effect?

It may not be likely, but it is an interesting question. It is similar to that which has troubled the most senior civil servants (and constitutional historians such as Lord Norton) from time to time: What if the Prime Minister dies?

There are no fixed rules. Robin Butler, the former Cabinet Secretary, told the House of Lords a while ago: I think that this question is too difficult and that it would have to be solved pragmatically in the circumstances in which it arose.

He explained he had thought about it:I remember being concerned about this after the Brighton bomb. If the Prime Minister were assassinated, what would happen in the interim? I tried to suggest some procedures but at that point the cabinet was not really inclined to take them seriously.

A prime minister hasnt died in office since Lord Palmerston in 1865. He was succeeded, in the days when leaders would emerge from private conclaves of great men, by Lord Russell, his Foreign Secretary, who had been Prime Minister before.

However, Lord Butler explained what he thought would have happened if Margaret Thatcher had been killed in 1984: I am quite sure that thecabinet would have had a discussion and the Queen would have sent for a member of the cabinet someone whom the cabinet had agreed on to hold the position in the interim while the election procedures were gone through.

Curiously, the Labour Party wrote into its rules what would happen under a Labour government. Prompted by the death of John Smith as leader of the opposition in 1994, chapter 4, clause II, 2, E, i now reads: When the party is in government and the party leader is prime minister and the party leader, for whatever reason, becomes permanently unavailable, the cabinet shall, in consultation with the NEC, appoint one of its members to serve as party leader until a ballot under these rules can be carried out.

It would seem that there is a consensus, then. If Theresa May should become, in the delicate words of the Labour Rule Book, permanently unavailable, the Cabinet would meet and agree to recommend to the Queen that she invite one of their number to form a government. That Cabinet meeting would be chaired by Damian Green who, as First Secretary of State, would be the highest-ranking minister in the Prime Ministers absence.

Just as the Labour rules specify that the Cabinet would consult the partys National Executive Committee, no doubt Green would consult Brady, as chairman of the 1922 Committee, which represents backbench Conservative MPs, and Rob Semple, the chairman of the Conservative Party Board, representing the party in the country. But the decision would be taken by the 22 full members of the Cabinet.

Despite some of the hopes of Labour supporters, there is no prospect that Jeremy Corbyn would become prime minister as long as the DUP agreement holds.

The constitutional theory is that the leader of the Conservatives, with the support of the DUP, could expect to command a majority in the House of Commons and so is the person who should be invited by the Queen to form a government. It is a question for the Conservative Party who its interim leader would be, pending the election of a permanent replacement. And the Cabinet is the highest body that happens to combine the parliamentary Conservative Party and the Government.

So who would they choose? I think that would depend on how and why May had become permanently unavailable, and what had happened in the days and hours before the Cabinet met. But the obvious candidates would be Boris Johnson, David Davis, Amber Rudd and Philip Hammond. At the moment Johnson doesnt seem likely, while Rudd and Hammond might be considered too strong Remainers. Whoever is chosen would have a big advantage in the leadership election, because they would be fighting it as a new prime minister. There is no precedent for a temporary prime minister in the British constitution. The Cabinet would, therefore, probably be deciding who would lead the Conservatives into the next general election.

At the moment, my best guess is that it would be the working-class boy brought up on a council estate by his single mother, ex-SAS soldier David Davis.

More:
What would happen if Theresa May resigned? - The Independent

LIVINGSTON Co, Ky -

A commitment to repair aged bridges assures drivers in a local county they'll get a new bridge.

One driver I spoke with who is ready for a replacement for the U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge in Smithland, Kentucky said: "I try to get across it as quick as I can. It's kind of a narrow bridge. It's a little nerve-racking."

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the bridge is in good condition, but the state wants to replace it before problems start.

A spokesperson says the bridge is critical in the area, becauseit connects the north side of Livingston County to the south side.

This week, KYTC announced that the six-year highway plan starting in fiscal year 2018 will set aside more than $200 million for aging bridges. This ensures a project to replace the Smithland bridge on track.

To get to and from her office in the University of Kentucky Agriculture Extension Office just outside of Smithland, Dominique Wood travels across this bridge each day.

"That's our only place for lunch is in Smithland, so we always have to go across to go into town," Wood said.

The trip makes her nervous.

"The cement is crumbling along the sides, and a couple of guardrails are bent or crumbling at the top," she said.

KYTC spokesman Keith Todd saidat almost 90 years old, the bridge is in good condition. He says the bridge will be at the end of its lifespan at some point in the next 20 years or so, so KYTC wants to build a new bridge before the existing one develops problems.

The transportation cabinet is trying to stay on track with a project to replace the bridge in the next two years or so.

One problem drivers say they have with the bridge is that it's just too narrow. Todd says the new bridge will meet today's standards, so it will be about twice the width and have a new shoulder.

Design work for the new $40 million projectis underway. Federal funds will pay for 80 percentof the project. A $205 million commitment just announced for the upcoming state highway plan will help the state pay for its portion of the cost.

"I think it needs to get done," Wood said.

Drivers like Wood are ready to see work begin.

On top of design work, the state is also starting to buyright of ways and prepare for work with utility companies. Todd expects work to begin in the next two years. The current bridge will remain open until the new bridge is complete.

Read more from the original source:
US 60 Cumberland River Bridge on track to be replaced in next 2 years - WPSD Local 6