Rural Preservation League – Working Meeting Minutes |
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Saturday, Feb. 23, 2002Thursday March 14, 2002Thursday March 28, 2002Thursday April 25, 2002Thursday May 16, 2002Thursday June 13, 2002 |
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2002 Present: Chuck Davenport, Covington; Gail Mortimer, Middlebury; Karen McCulley, Covington. (Excused: Bob Kelley, Covington; Art Klein, Attica; Rick Stevens, Covington).
The meeting came to order at approximately 12:15 p.m. at the Cordelia Greene Library in Castile. Those present agreed:
• • We favor of the use of existing resources and infrastructure (roads, buildings, and parking lots, etc) as opposed to new construction;
• • We promote the preservation of farmland and open space, as well as historical structures and districts;
• • We will oppose any development that threatens our clean air and water, to maintain the high quality of life we have chosen as residents of an agri-rural county.
Draft Mission Statement: Through the use of existing resources and infrastructure and the preservation of open space, we can protect our clean air and water and preserve the quality of life that comes from living in a rural agricultural area.
We identified the following five points as critical:
Action Items: Begin an awareness campaign about our group
Next meeting date: March 14th, 6:30 p.m.
Next meeting agenda: 1. 1. Select a date for our first public meeting 2. 2. Bring research and finalize presentation 3. 3. Bring all new contact info for like-minded people / groups to build league database 4. 4. Plan to encourage supervisors to hold town meetings to address their constituents on the issue
Meeting adjourned at 3:20 p.m. Select text you would like to replace and type over it. Use styles such as Heading 1-3 and Normal in the Style control on the Formatting toolbar. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Thursday March 14, 2002 Present: Chuck Davenport, Covington; Gail Mortimer, Covington; Karen McCulley, Covington, Bob Kelley, Covington; Art Klein, Attica; Rick Stevens, Covington. The meeting came to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. News Regarding Outside Groups: Bob Kelley reported his recent discussions at the Covington Town Board meeting. Mr. Kelley suggested a remedy to alleviate the truck traffic problem on Rt. 63 without having to construct an Interstate: requiring thru traffic to stay on 390 to the Thruway. The Town Board, with the exception of Supervisor Jerry Davis, felt this was the perfect solution. They believe that Covington's identity is linked closely with agriculture and open land, and that's the way they want to keep it. NYSDOT Update: We received from NYSDOT the list of participants in the focus groups and the Study Advisory Committee. Unfortunately, our suspicions proved true: The focus groups and the committee are comprised primarily of business and political interests that support the construction of an expressway through Wyoming County. Outreach: A letter was sent to the editor of approximately 15 local and regional news outlets One important point to make is that increased population densities require increased services such as schools, roads, police, etc. This causes taxes to go up for everyone, including farmers. Next meeting date: March 28, 2002, 7:00 p.m. Next meeting agenda: 5. Finalize Vision statement 6. Review draft of presentation - are we near final? 7. Assign someone to draft leave-behind survey 8. Report on new working members and supporters 9. Make plan to contact with local groups to schedule presentations 10. Once we have our presentation honed, we should contact Cuomo, McCall, Schumer, Clinton, Pataki, etc. to determine their position on the issue. Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Thursday March 28, 2002 Present: Chuck Davenport, Covington; Gail Mortimer, Covington; Karen McCulley, Covington, Bob Kelley, Covington; Art Klein, Attica; Rick Stevens, Covington. The meeting came to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. NYSDOT Focus Group
Meetings: We discussed the minutes from the three focus group meetings we have attended to date, these being Emergency Services (Mar 20), Truckers/Shippers (Mar 22), and Economic Development (Mar 27). Of this final meeting, Chuck said that only Wyoming County representatives seem to be actively promoting the construction of a highway. Reps of the other counties do not seem to have the same drive to see the highway built. RPL Outreach Activities: Art said he spent approximately 2 hours in conversation with Paul Agan, Attica Town Supervisor. According to Art: Agan said "ideas like this snowball, and there's not much you can do to stop them." Agan said farms in Allegheny County have been cut in half by Routes 17 and 390. He also said that Trumansburg / Ithaca area was able to stop an interstate coming through. Chuck spoke with Howard Miller, Warsaw Town Supervisor, who called after seeing a poster at Bud's Delicatessen. Miller told Chuck: "The Board of Supervisors has already signed off on the idea by approving Target Tomorrow." Miller said it would be a great idea for our group to come to Warsaw to discuss our ideas with the Town board. Gail reported that she hung posters at points all around the area and spoke with business owners and patrons, who are largely uninformed or ill-informed on the issue. Both she and Chuck are encountering people who incorrectly believe the pink area on the NYSDOT map is the 'primary route' for a highway, and the yellow areas are the 'alternate routes'. We need to do what NYSDOT is NOT doing - to get accurate information out into the community. Presentation Planning: Bob provided us with a comprehensive list of the town and village board representatives, meeting dates and times, and contact info to use in scheduling our meetings with local governments. NYSDOT Update: Chuck learned that the Route 63 Bypass committee of the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce pushed for and received the funding for NYSDOT to conduct this study. NYSDOT has agreed to host a focus group meeting with RPL. We suggested the dates of April 5th and 11th.Bob reminded us that safety is facilitated when the trucks leave Rt. 63. This is a point we want to make in our meeting with NYSDOT. Next meeting date: April 11th, unless our RPL focus group is scheduled for that date. Meeting adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Thursday April 25, 2002 Present: Chuck Davenport, Gail Mortimer, Karen McCulley, Bob Kelley; Art Klein, Deb Hagen, Bill Zuber. New members: Terry Gallagher, Adele Kunze, Monica Ghise, Lou Ghise, Rich Unger, Gil Jordan, Joyce Jordan, Greg Chamberlain, Jodi Chamberlain, Sandi Duckworth Meeting came to order at approximately 7:05 p.m. Around the Table: Karen & Chuck have set up a table at the recycling center in Pavilion for two weekends. Good way to reach local residents. Jerry Davis, Covington Town Supervisor, was encountered there recently and agreed to be present at a public meeting to be held in the near future. It was decided that this first public meeting should be hosted by RPL. Anyone who wants to attend and speak should be allowed to do so. The date was set for Friday May 17th. Bob Kelley reported that the Oatka Creek Watershed Committee is sympathetic to our cause and wants to cooperate on the issues that are of importance to both groups. Deb Hagen has contacted the dean of UB Law School to find students in clinics or those doing independent study projects and see if they'll take up our cause. Bill Zuber brought the issue to the Farm Bureau board, commenting that everyone present was against the highway. One county farmer is believed to be in favor, but wasn't at that meeting. Jodi Chamberlain has been in contact with a teacher at Wyoming School who will engage students there in a letter writing campaign against the highway. It was mentioned that a highway would make it a shorter trip from Wyoming County to Buffalo, paving the way for certain Wy. Co. towns to become bedroom communities for Buffalo. This is undesirable. It was suggested that Bennington has already become just that. Art mentioned that Ithaca/Trumansburg area successfully fought a highway when it had progressed to the surveying stage. Art will continue to investigate this issue. Jodi mentioned that Rt. 96 is closed to truck traffic from Ovid to Ithaca. Sandi mentioned that Rt. 86 in the southern tier has devastated communities along it. She will look for more information. Study Advisory Committee: NYSDOT has asked for a representative and an alternate. Chuck Davenport will represent us. The group nominated Scott Blond, who volunteered for this at a recent meeting, to serve as alternate. We will contact Scott to make sure he is still available for this duty. Other organizational
alignments: Bill Zuber mentioned that the Farmland Protection Board has requested a member from RPL to serve on the Board. Art Klein has volunteered. Chuck has been in touch with a WNY rep from the American Farmland Trust. We want to get our hands on a study about the deleterious effects of highways on agriculture. Our next RPL working meeting will be Thursday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Wyoming Village Hall. Meeting Adjourned at
approximately 9:00 p.m. Thursday May 16, 2002 Present: Chuck Davenport, Gail Mortimer, Karen McCulley, Bob Kelley; Art Klein, Deb Hagen, Adele Kunze, Monica Ghise, Sandi Duckworth. Also: Marla Welch, Carol Leah Smith, Diianne Burnham, Jack Lockwood, John Curtis, NYSDEC, Rich Furlong, Vance Richenberg, Melina Hannon. Meeting came to order at approximately 7:10 p.m. Next Meeting Date: JUNE 13, 2002, 7:00 p.m., Wyoming Central School Library. The entrance near the elevator will be open to better enable handicap access. Study Advisory Committee
Report: Chuck reported on his attendance at a SAC meeting Wed., May 15. He said we are 'fulfilling our role' by fostering two-way communications between the SAC and the public, relative to our May 17th meeting. He said the SAC briefly discussed removing tolls on a section of I-90 as an option, but that he felt the SAC would not recommend this for further study. Chuck also reported that there was some discussion as to what constituted consensus on the SAC. Chuck said the matter appeared to be unresolved, even as it was announced by Sear-Brown that no further discussion on tolls is necessary based on the verbal agreement of only one member. Chuck asked that the issue of tolls remain on the table as something to investigate further, but did not receive any indication that it would be. Chuck also reported Chuck Huffine of Sear-Brown announced that the definition of ‘pass-through’ traffic will change to mean truck traffic originating outside the Western New York region and ending outside the region. Previously, Sear-Brown defined “pass-through” truck traffic as trucks originating outside the Rte. 63 Corridor study area and ending outside the Rte. 63 Corridor study area. This is cause for concern because it could greatly reduce the number of trucks referred to as “pass-through” and could cause some confusion among the public. The next SAC meeting takes place in July, and is not open to the public. Old Business: May 17th Public Meeting at the Pavilion Fire Hall. New Business: Dianne Burnham stated she had phoned the WC Chamber of Commerce and was told there would likely be a highway. It was decided our next public meeting should cover the towns of Attica, Alexander and Bennington. Art is seeking a date/location in June. Karen is seeking a copy of a 'Country Folks' newspaper. Meeting was adjourned at
9:20 p.m. Thursday June 13, 2002 Present: C. Davenport, G. Mortimer, K. McCulley, B. Kelley; A. Klein, D. Hagen, D. Burnham, L. Ficarella, S. Borger. Meeting came to order at approximately 7:10 p.m. Next Working Meeting Date: JULY 11, 2002 7:00 p.m., Location TBA. Outreach Report: RPL made presentations to the Maple Growers Association of NYS; Darien Town Board and Alexander Comprehensive Planning Committee. Gail Mortimer and her 'foot soldiers' have canvassed Alexander, Darien, Corfu, etc. in advance of our meeting on the 14th. We had a booth at the Wyoming County Dairy Fest in Perry, which was very effective event. Double Speak Report: Karen McCulley reported that Jim Pierce, Executive Director of the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce said at the Economic Development Focus Group meeting held March 27th, 2002, that the county faces difficulty in attracting new business/industry because without interstate access, goods don't move in and out as they should. However, in the Annual Report distributed at the Chamber's annual meeting in June 2002, a list of the year's "Development Projects: Lost" includes eight businesses that were considering a move to or an expansion or start-up in Wyoming County. In the "Notes" section, none of these eight cases lists the lack of adequate transportation infrastructure as a reason for the failure of the project. Study Advisory Committee Report: Chuck Davenport reported that the draft minutes of the Study Advisory Committee meeting he attended on Wed., May 15 had arrived and that he is concerned about three issues. They are as follows: The SAC wants to end all discussion on the elimination or reduction of tolls on the Thruway as part of this study. They intend to issue a 'position statement’ on this issue which would become part of the permanent record. Chuck said he asked at the meeting that tolls not be removed as possible alternative solution and he wants the meetings to reflect that. Secondly, the traffic count numbers are about to be manipulated. The SAC is intending to add a new category of traffic to the study, called regional pass-through traffic. Up until now, the numbers have shown that approximately 43% of the traffic in the study area is non-local pass-through. By adding this new category, which Study Team says 'does benefit our corridor and is necessary to the local economic climate', only 11% of the traffic could be counted as "non-local pass 'through." This splitting of hairs will make it more difficult for the public to understand the scope and purpose of the study, as well as the data. The third issue is the SAC Partnering Agreement, which had stated that the SAC would make its decisions based on a consensus of the members. The issue was not resolved during the May 15 meeting. However, included in the minutes is a statement from DOT that eliminates consensus decision-making, saying that no consensus is necessary. This means, in effect, that the SAC, as a group, no longer has any decision making power. New Business: Dianne Burnham, Lisa Ficarella and Sondra Borger are circulating petitions against the communications tower in Middlebury. They reported that, when they visit a home, the residents almost always ask about the petition against the expressway. Art Klein will take on the task of scheduling RPL to present at town meetings in Wy. Co. Outreach Coordinator Gail Mortimer is scheduling an RPL booth at Sea Serpent Festival in Perry (July 28-30.) She needs people to pass out information and get signatures in short shifts. She will also be setting up booths at the county fairs in all three affected counties. Dates are Genesee (July 16-21), Livingston (July 30 - Aug 3), Wyoming (Aug 10-17). Meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. |