Bisbee Wire/Council Agendas/Open Heart Surgery/2017 December #38

Hello, Rain or Snow, Holiday or no,  the Council trudges on putting in the hours necessary for doing the business of the city. In the holiday spirit, you might call or email your council person just to thank them for taking on the time-consuming task of managing our city. And maybe send some cookies to city employees for continuing to do the day to day operations that keep our City functioning. Several people have inquired about my health. I'm fine. I recently had open heart surgery. For the not so gory details, scroll down...and don't forget your annual physical. On the consent agenda there is a request to close Subway street one weekend a month. I have very mixed feelings about it even though I know and respect the business acumen of many of the people involved. Before this came to the council there have been successful meetings between the new org, Subway Underground, and the City to iron out safety, traffic flow, impact on other businesses and other details.   I understand what they are trying to do with closing Subway; developing an event/pedestrian/welcoming zone to build off-Main Street businesses and augment existing event areas of the city. It is a worthy goal. And I'm sure in the near future we will see what is being planned for the area. I'm glad to see the City involved helping businesses, However I hope there are quarterly evaluations built into this venture with specified objective metrics (car count during open weekends, pedestrian count when closed, city tax revenue increase or decrease, new business open or existing businesses close) that can be analyzed over a period of time to see whether it proves worthwhile to disrupt traffic by closing an arterial for 2 1/2 weekend days a month. Given the financial straits of the City I would hope that the city would devise and utilize an objective evaluation process for every event, not just this one,  that involves resident and business dislocation. Fred ................................ COUNCIL AGENDA WORK SESSIONTuesday December 19 5:01 pm Melody Lane Bldg G Background here: http://az-bisbee.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12192017-214 Currently there are 3 tour operators. There has been some criticism from residents that they are sometimes too intrusive for those living in OB. This session will clarify, and perhaps suggest changes, for the operation of these operators. 1. Discussion on Establishing Standard Requirements for Motorized Tour Operators. David M. Smith, Mayor 

<><><><><><><><><><><><>>< REGULAR SESSIONTuesday December 19 7:00 pm Melody Lane Bldg GBackground here: http://az-bisbee.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12192017-215

Of Interest:

The closing of Subway street one weekend (Friday-Sunday)  a month for one year.

INVOCATION:  A Moment of Silence                                     PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE MAYOR’S PROCLAMATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: CALL TO THE PUBLIC THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WILL BE DISCUSSED, CONSIDERED AND/OR DECIDED UPON AT THIS MEETING: GENERAL BUSINESS: 1.        ACCOUNTS PAYABLE:  Subject to availability of funds 2.       Approval of the Consent Agenda A.      Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Session of the Mayor and Council held on October 3, 2017 at 7:00PM. B.      Approval of the Minutes of the Work Session of Mayor and Council held on October 16, 2017 at 5:30PM. C.      Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Session of Mayor and Council held on October 17, 2017 at 7:00PM.  D.      Approval of the Minutes of the Special Session of Mayor and Council held on October 18, 2017 at 5:30PM. E.       Approval of the Minutes of the Special Session of Mayor and Council held on October 30, 2017 at 5:30PM. F.       Approval of the Resignation of Kelly Galligan from the Bisbee Arts Commission. G.     Approval of the Resignation of Keith Dennis from the Planning and Zoning Commission. H.      Approval of the park, facility, and right-of-way use permit for Vista Park to include a soft street closure from Tener Avenue to Cole Avenue for the Bisbee Run/Walk for the cure to be held on Saturday, February 10, 2018 from 5:00am to 12:00pm (noon). Set up to take place on Friday, February 9, 2018 from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Ashlee Coronado, City Clerk I.        Approval of a park, facility and right of way use permit for the use of Goar Park, Howell Avenue, Shearer, Subway, Main Street and Grassy Park for the Return of the Turkey Vultures Parade to be held on Saturday, March 10, 2018 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm. J.       Approval of a park, facility and right of way use permit for the use of Subway Street for Merchant Events to be held every third weekend for a period of one (1) year from 12:00pm (noon) on Friday’s until Sunday at 6:00pm.

NEW BUSINESS 3.        Discussion and Possible Approval of Amendment #1 to the Agreement between the City of Bisbee and the Friends of the Bisbee Animal Shelter, a nonprofit  corporation for the Operation of the Animal Shelter in Bisbee. David M. Smith, Mayor 4.        Discussion and Possible Approval of an Engagement Letter with Stifel to examine the City’s Debt Structure. David M. Smith, Mayor 5.        City Manager's Report:

COUNCIL COMMENTS OR FUTURE AGENDA ITEM SUGGESTIONS: (Council members may suggest topics for future meeting agendas, but Council will not here discuss, deliberate or take any action on these topics.):

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THE VALUE OF ANNUAL PHYSICALS (or how to avoid death) Several people asked me why I required surgery. So here it is, likely more than you want to know..... I have been recovering from open-heart surgery. I had an aortic valve replaced (pig valve rather than mechanical) and an aneurysm repaired. Previously, I had had no heart-problem symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness, tiredness; nothing.

Three months or so ago at my annual physical, PA Lanya Turner then with CQ associates, picked up a heart murmur. (She also picked up same exact thing with Russ McConnell, a city employee, five years ago.) That led to an EKG, a viz to a cardiologist, and a series of tests including a stress test, 24 hr. monitoring, MRI, echo-cardiogram, and a couple more that clearly indicated my aortic valve was not functioning properly because of some calcium buildup as well weakened ‘flaps’ allowing blood to flow back into the ventricle which made that part of my heart work harder.  Additionally I had an ascending aortic aneurysm that was 5.1 cm, just a bit shy of when they want to do surgery. After the tests were completed I saw a cardiac surgeon and discussed the sitch. He explained that I did not need surgery right away, that the valve might continue to function as is had been and the aneurysm might stabilize. And he also explained what surgery would entail; cutting open my sternum, putting me on a heart/lung machine while he made repairs Once we had that info, I did more research, Anita and I talked it over and we made a decision to have open heart surgery right away before the holidays rather than continue on with a weakened heart and a potential stroke at any moment; a lil bomb in my chest was not how I wanted to live.

I am recovering well and will be behind the Roka bar this weekend, six weeks after my opo.  I credit much of my recovery to going to Debbie Gardner’s 3- times a week exercise class at Room to Move for the past seven years as well as hundreds of trips up and down stairs at Roka.

I was in relatively good condition (for 76) when I went into surgery. This sounds kind of dumb as I write it but...Out of ICU and in recovery I was able to use abs to sit up in bed and cough and use the breathalyzer (Spirometer) instead of lying there getting more congested and not expanding my lungs. I was able to go to the bathroom by myself-every fuckin hour it felt like. I was able to walk for 15 minutes 2 days after my opo and 20 minutes before I went home. My lung capacity increased a bit every day, and after I was home after a 5-day stay in the hospital, I walked about an hour or more a day. I was able to do some leg, thigh, and stretching exercises at 3 weeks. In short my physical condition allowed me to recover quickly.

Patience is not one of my virtues but at the urging of Anita (we had a come-to-Jesus moment when I belatedly remembered she was from Detroit and I said ‘Yes dear I will not overdo it again’) I have stuck with being considerate of my bod and not overdoing it.

When I was in the hospital I saw younger people so out of condition that they were unable to move without help, overweight and fat people who were out of breath after a couple of steps, older people with no muscle. What I saw reinforced my attitude and desire to continue to make exercise and stretching a part of my life, not an afterthought or something to dread doing, but something as basic as walking and breathing. I appreciated the soups and food that people brought to us. Being that neither of us are good cooks, we always appreciate other people's cooking. It tastes better when someone else prepares it. Thank you so much. I went back to exercise class today and got a wonderful welcome back. It is good to be alive

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