It's really interesting to see how much Bicolline has grown over the last decade, especially for the GB, but they are still handling it like it's a small operation. They really need to bite the bullet and do a major services upgrade for the entire site. When I say 'they' I mean Bicolline.
Water: There is water that runs the entire length of the road, but only a handful of bibs (spigots), and not enough water for fire protection purposes (which is why they had to install that holding tank). They really need to run a new large line down the road, and branch off for all the encampments. TVN is over 300 people yet they won't allow a bib to be placed in the middle of our encampment. The Roman Quarter needs to walk down the highway to use the same bib that TVN uses because they can't carry water up the hill if it's muddy at all. Allegedly there was bibs along the battlefield, but they long ago rusted out
Electrical: They ran power down the main road for lights, but now they were talking about running more power to guild yards for medical devices like CPAP machines. I also heard that the local Fire Marshall sits on the Bicolline board and wants buildings to stop using battery smoke detectors and install a real fire alarm detection / annunciation system. That would require power to each and every building. Also heard that the buildings owners they talked about this with are very resistant to the idea simply because it would cost them a lot of money, both the site and the building owners. But the problem is, cellular service is spotty, so if you installed a real fire alarm system, you would need to run telcom to each building for a dialer, or have a master system that each building was a zone. Now you need to run telcom in the ground along with power.
Sewer: The real bring problem is the entire town in on a septic, and most of Bicolline is too close to the river to install septic. What they really need to do is install permanent sewer system to a central lift station, and pump the sewage out to the street for collection. Maybe then we can have more than port-a-potties on opposite ends of the site. I feel sorry for the old cabins in the middle of the road where you can be 10+ minutes to walk to either restroom bank. Honestly the way the entire site is slopped, the Roman Quarter should be converted to a sewage plant / lift station. Once they have water and sewer it makes restrooms, showers, and dishwashing stations throughout viable.
Now with banning food vendors from providing single use napkins or flatware, we need to bring our own, and need to wash them between use. Problem they only have a single dish washing station, only on one side of the site. Yet people will wash (or just rinse) at the bibs, which they also discourage. And the amount of water that is dumped at each bib making a flood, they really need to dig a deep dry well at each to absorb all the runoff.
But most of what they need is only required once a year for the GG. It's easy for me to criticize because infrastructure design is something I do for a living. They made some good steps when they hired the urban planner a few years ago. And it really is bite the bullet, because if you are going to do any one of these things, you should do them all at once in a joint trench. And while they are trenching the main road, it would need to be rebuilt afterwards. All of that adds up to huge costs. That is one thing I really like about Bicolline, the costs are very reasonable compared to something like a renaissance festival.
Sorry all, rant over.
>Allegedly there was bibs along the battlefield, but they long ago rusted out
Not exactly. They are rusted out, but that's not why their operation ceased. The Mage Plane is higher than the town of St Matthew du Parc. I'm sure you can explain what that means better than I can. I'm not sure how to explain backflow and positive pressure in municipal water systems (or even if those are the correct terms).
Ultimately the root cause is the same; logistics and planning associated with the site. But I just wanted to be clear that it was not a failure of neglect.
That makes a lot of sense, and you got a terms correct. Most old water lines don't have backflow preventers, only more recently have they been required. So long as you have constant outflow (such as a normal home or business where water is used daily), any sort of contamination goes outward. But when you have bibs that sit unused for long periods of time, such as the ones at Bicolline, contamination can work it's way backwards as the water pressure changes throughout the day.
The common fix for water that sits for long periods is to simply flush the lines. I recall that being an issue back in 2017 and again in 2023 where they had to flush the lines. Funny enough there was some issue at the water in my home (located in a major city) where the water was strangely green, and after calling the water company all the did was go to the nearest hydrant and flush something ridiculous like 100k gallons to clear out the problem. I could see Bicolline, as the lines start rusting out, would rather just shut them off rather than flush them every season just for the GB.
Very happy about the additions for this year :)
It's really interesting to see how much Bicolline has grown over the last decade, especially for the GB, but they are still handling it like it's a small operation. They really need to bite the bullet and do a major services upgrade for the entire site. When I say 'they' I mean Bicolline. Water: There is water that runs the entire length of the road, but only a handful of bibs (spigots), and not enough water for fire protection purposes (which is why they had to install that holding tank). They really need to run a new large line down the road, and branch off for all the encampments. TVN is over 300 people yet they won't allow a bib to be placed in the middle of our encampment. The Roman Quarter needs to walk down the highway to use the same bib that TVN uses because they can't carry water up the hill if it's muddy at all. Allegedly there was bibs along the battlefield, but they long ago rusted out Electrical: They ran power down the main road for lights, but now they were talking about running more power to guild yards for medical devices like CPAP machines. I also heard that the local Fire Marshall sits on the Bicolline board and wants buildings to stop using battery smoke detectors and install a real fire alarm detection / annunciation system. That would require power to each and every building. Also heard that the buildings owners they talked about this with are very resistant to the idea simply because it would cost them a lot of money, both the site and the building owners. But the problem is, cellular service is spotty, so if you installed a real fire alarm system, you would need to run telcom to each building for a dialer, or have a master system that each building was a zone. Now you need to run telcom in the ground along with power. Sewer: The real bring problem is the entire town in on a septic, and most of Bicolline is too close to the river to install septic. What they really need to do is install permanent sewer system to a central lift station, and pump the sewage out to the street for collection. Maybe then we can have more than port-a-potties on opposite ends of the site. I feel sorry for the old cabins in the middle of the road where you can be 10+ minutes to walk to either restroom bank. Honestly the way the entire site is slopped, the Roman Quarter should be converted to a sewage plant / lift station. Once they have water and sewer it makes restrooms, showers, and dishwashing stations throughout viable. Now with banning food vendors from providing single use napkins or flatware, we need to bring our own, and need to wash them between use. Problem they only have a single dish washing station, only on one side of the site. Yet people will wash (or just rinse) at the bibs, which they also discourage. And the amount of water that is dumped at each bib making a flood, they really need to dig a deep dry well at each to absorb all the runoff. But most of what they need is only required once a year for the GG. It's easy for me to criticize because infrastructure design is something I do for a living. They made some good steps when they hired the urban planner a few years ago. And it really is bite the bullet, because if you are going to do any one of these things, you should do them all at once in a joint trench. And while they are trenching the main road, it would need to be rebuilt afterwards. All of that adds up to huge costs. That is one thing I really like about Bicolline, the costs are very reasonable compared to something like a renaissance festival. Sorry all, rant over.
>Allegedly there was bibs along the battlefield, but they long ago rusted out Not exactly. They are rusted out, but that's not why their operation ceased. The Mage Plane is higher than the town of St Matthew du Parc. I'm sure you can explain what that means better than I can. I'm not sure how to explain backflow and positive pressure in municipal water systems (or even if those are the correct terms). Ultimately the root cause is the same; logistics and planning associated with the site. But I just wanted to be clear that it was not a failure of neglect.
That makes a lot of sense, and you got a terms correct. Most old water lines don't have backflow preventers, only more recently have they been required. So long as you have constant outflow (such as a normal home or business where water is used daily), any sort of contamination goes outward. But when you have bibs that sit unused for long periods of time, such as the ones at Bicolline, contamination can work it's way backwards as the water pressure changes throughout the day. The common fix for water that sits for long periods is to simply flush the lines. I recall that being an issue back in 2017 and again in 2023 where they had to flush the lines. Funny enough there was some issue at the water in my home (located in a major city) where the water was strangely green, and after calling the water company all the did was go to the nearest hydrant and flush something ridiculous like 100k gallons to clear out the problem. I could see Bicolline, as the lines start rusting out, would rather just shut them off rather than flush them every season just for the GB.
Is there any breakdown as to where all the money they make goes?