Wednesday, September 12, 2007

With so many frustrated taxpayers complaining about government bungling and waste, it's good to hear an example of bureaucracy thinking outside the box and doing something right.

That's what happened Aug. 22 when Hanover Community School Corp. and Todd Olthof of Olthof Homes received Cedar Lake's blessing for a land swap that provides a new site for a proposed Hanover middle school.

The site originally proposed for the school was on the west side of U.S. 41 at West 125th Avenue. Opponents cited safety concerns in entering and leaving the property because of limited sight lines.

So the School Board looked at other options, including swapping land with Olthof for property on the east side of U.S. 41 at 141st Avenue.

Advantages of swapping the land include a speedy transaction -- well, as speedy as these transactions can be, with a closing date in early November -- and saving the expense of a new hunt for available land, negotiations with the property owner and the possibility of eminent domain.

Time is important because Hanover already has about 100 more students than the district's demographic studies had predicted.

This was a good example of how developers and public agencies can work together for the good of a community. Both are to be commended.

In an era when government is being treated as a villain because of its high costs, isn't it refreshing to hear this example of common sense at work in the public sector?

Your opinion, please

What good examples of government functioning well can you cite?