City-Wide Tell-All Published

We came home from picking up my number 1 daughter from college tonight and I was thrilled to find my Department of Public Works Resident Information Packet for 2007 hanging on our door. If you live in the City of Laurel, please be sure to find yours, read it carefully and save it away.

Maryland Science Center graduate students have found that the info packet will help you lose weight, increases your IQ by 25 points, improves your gas mileage and answers most of your deepest municipal questions. Think…Dr. Phil meets Bill Nye the Science Guy at City Hall.

It’s an extremely well done package. In it you will find answers to many of your municipal questions, including:

- Where is the big red button? Or what to do when the Mayor declares a city emergency?

- Do you live on an emergency route? (How to avoid the magic tow fairy.)

- When is your recycling, trash and bulk pick-up day? (Learn about our year-end special pick-up for unruly children, unemployed teens, and nagging spouses.)

- What to do with your used Christmas tree? (Please see the story of how the angel got on top of the tree.)

- Lawns, how high is too high? Or when you should cut your grass? (Code enforcement officer Pat Walsh gives you his thoughts on the challenges of meadow gardening in Laurel.)

- How to get rid of hazardous waste? (No, hauling it out to West Laurel is not encouraged.)

- Where to get rid of unused paint? (See above.)

- What to do about yard debris? (Hint – your neighbor’s yard is big and the night is dark and long.)

- Where to get a building permit? (Or how to re-build your deck to comply with city rules.)

- What to do to be prepared? (No joke here, being prepared for natural disasters is too important.)

All kidding aside, Mayor Moe, the City Council, City Administrator Kristie Mills, Emergency Manager Marty Flemion and the entire city team have created a wonderful info packet for us. It might not help you lose weight, but it could answer some of your questions.