HARD TIMES... ETERNAL FLAME OR GAS BILL

[Railroad94]

Eternal flame only lasts until gas bill arrives
Sat Jan 10, 4:57 am ET

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – An "eternal" flame at Bullhead City's new veterans memorial park that only lasted until city officials received a $961 gas bill has been re-lit following complaints by veterans groups.

The Medal of Honor Memorial at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Park alongside the Colorado River was lit on Veterans Day in November. When the bill arrived in late December, city officials were stunned.
"It caught us by surprise," City Manager Tim Ernster said Thursday. "What we decided to do for the time being is to turn the flame on ... for special events, for Veterans Day, Fourth of July, Memorial Day — those types of activities."

The flame was extinguished on Monday. The Mohave Valley Daily News published a story Friday quoting city officials and disgruntled veterans who had worked to pay for and build the memorial before turning it over to the city.

The flame was back on by midmorning Friday following a meeting of city officials.
"What happened was really a miscommunication," city spokesman Steve Johnson said. "The issue came up one day and it was never intended to be shut off."

Johnson said the flame is impressive, but city parks officials are looking at ways to put a smaller burner in place and only use the larger one at special events.
"We're looking at alternatives, because $1,000 a month in these economic times is certainly a consideration," Johnson said.
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Information from: Mohave Valley Daily News, http://www.mohavedailynews.com

[StatFreak]

Couldn't they have designed it with a knob that adjusts the intensity (and the gas consumption) of the unit so they could keep it low most of the time and turn it up for holidays?   

I think someone already invented the concept... I see it everyday when I use my stove...   

[Joeylc]

Sunday JANUARY 11, 2009 Last modified:
Saturday, January 10, 2009 11:17 PM CST

Flame on

Compromise re-ignites Veteran's Memorial fire

By NEIL YOUNG/The Daily News

BULLHEAD CITY - City officials quickly reversed course Friday morning and turned the perpetual, or eternal, flame back on at the new Medal of Honor Memorial at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Park.

Now if only the wind will cooperate, it will stay on for a while.

The city had turned off the flame Monday, after receiving a $961.17 bill from Southwest Gas for just one month of service. Bullhead City took over maintenance of the park from the Veterans United organization last July.

Bullhead City Mayor Jack Hakim and Karla Brady, parks, recreation and community services director, met Thursday with John “Mickey� McClure, Veterans United spokesman.

Hakim told McClure the city would make every effort to turn the flame back on within two weeks, after researching ways to save money on the natural gas bill.

“I rushed to judgment in my conversation, saying, ‘Let's wait. Give us two weeks and we'll take care of it,' � Hakim said Friday. “I erred. I should have just said, ‘Turn it back on.' And that's what I thought afterwards.�

Hakim said he got together with City Manager Tim Ernster after the McClure meeting. “We thought about it, and yes, an eternal flame is an eternal flame and our intentions were to turn it on (Friday).� Hakim said the decision to turn the flame back on was obviously the right thing to do “and it didn't come from pressure.�

“I don't think anyone intended for that flame to be off permanently,� Ernster said. “And, in hindsight, we should have just left the flame on, and then gone ahead and worked this out.�

Saturday morning, though, the flame wasn't lit. More accurately, it wouldn't stay lit as gusting winds played havoc with the automatic ignition system.

In the meantime, the city will decide how best to lower the flame, which will reduce the cost significantly. The flame would be turned up during special events and holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veterans Day, Ernster said.

“I'm proud that he re-thought it and decided that's a better avenue to go,� McClure said Friday, “and hopefully now all the veterans groups and everybody else can go happily on their way.�

A Veterans Advisory Council meeting was scheduled for Jan. 22, but city officials decided to move it up one week to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Council chamber, 1255 Marina Blvd. The veterans council consists of area veterans organizations “and the purpose is to sit down together and discuss ways and means to keep the park functioning,� Hakim said.

Ernster said Thursday's meeting will focus on the eternal flame issue with possible “suggestions on maybe how there might be some way to raise funds in the community.�