[Rhodes22-list] Political - Now Ark Building, planning boards

[Robert Skinner]

Thanks, Brad.  I don't think the Town Council has ever 
been faced with such persistant and rational opposition.  

I, too, admire the people on the Planning Board, 
volunteers all, who try to find the balance between 
the many and varied interests in Gorham.

/Robert

Brad Haslett wrote:
> 
> Robert,
> 
> First came the outsiders, immediately. The Salvation Army and Red Cross
> asked, do you need a blanket?  Do you need food?  Then came the National
> Guard.  "We'll protect whatever wasn't stolen in the first 48 hours".  Then
> came the contractors mixed with FEMA.  All FEMA has to offer is other
> peoples money which they dispersed freely.  Then the cries of "I've been
> treated unfairly" began.  "The National Guard checked my ID". "The Red Cross
> and Salvation Army shouldn't be feeding my neighbor, his house is still
> standing". "FEMA didn't replace my shit overnight!" The Rolling Stones said
> it best, "you don't always get what you want, but you get what you need."
> Good luck to your wife and god bless people like her - it is a thankless
> job.
> 
> Brad
> 
> On Feb 18, 2008 3:38 PM, Robert Skinner <robert at squirrelhaven.com> wrote:
> 
> > Brad Haslett wrote:
> > >
> > > The Lord spoke to Noah ...
> >
> > Good one!  My wife is Secretary of the Gorham, Maine
> > Planning Board.  She appreciated it.  Right now, even
> > as we speak, one businessman is trying to get approval
> > for a quarry, rock crusher, and asphalt plant 1500
> > feet from a 76-residence subdivision.
> >
> > Yup - periodic blasting, significant noise and dust
> > from the rock crusher, hydrocarbon fumes from the
> > asphault plant, and truck traffic and back-up beepers
> > 24x7 during the road-building season.
> >
> > Seems someone screwed up/was bought(?) in the zoning
> > office, and the proposed use fits within the uses
> > permitted within the zone.  And (Oh my!) somehow the
> > new zoning did not show up on plans made available to
> > persons who bought property nearby.
> >
> > There were many townspeople who objected to the
> > proposed use, and the proposed quarry and plant
> > conflicted with some ordinances of the town.  The
> > Planning Board also expressed some immediate
> > reservations about the project.
> >
> > One week, out of the blue, against reccommendations
> > from those who reviewed them, the Town Council (one
> > of whom has a son employed at the proposing company)
> > rushed through some new ordinances "clarifying" some
> > issues AFTER the proposal had been presented to the
> > Planning Board and been severly questioned,
> > effectively forcing the Planning Board to accept the
> > proposal, despite significant opposition.
> >
> > After a year of such fooling around, the final
> > decision (Donneybrook) is due within a few weeks.
> > The Planning Board (the voice of the people) will
> > try to strangle the project with qualifications,
> > limits on operating hours, and environmental
> > monitoring of noise, toxic emissions, and wind-
> > carried particulate.
> >
> > It is expected that whatever the Board puts down, the
> > follow-on law suits will tie things up for years.
> >
> > Given:
> >
> > 1. the questionable operational decisions by town
> > staff,
> >
> > 2. the curious and clearly partisan decisions and
> > ordinance changes by the Town Council during the
> > processing of the application by the Planning Board,
> > and
> >
> > 3. the clearly expressed preferences of the concerned
> > townspeople,
> >
> > the delays and obfuscation thrown down in front of
> > this planned use are a good thing.
> >
> > Doncha love small town politics?  Money and the "old
> > boy" connections are a very powerful force, often
> > subverting the best interests of the citizens.  But
> > there is always hope...
> >
> > /Robert
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
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-- 
Robert Skinner  "Squirrel Haven" 
Gorham, Maine         04038-1331
s/v "Little Dipper" & "Edith P."