HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-09-20 Public Comment - P. Olliff - Objection to designating the Idaho Pole site as an Urban Renewal DistrictFrom:Peggy Olliff
To:Agenda
Subject:Objection to designating the Idaho Pole site as an Urban Renewal District
Date:Monday, November 9, 2020 7:51:28 PM
Dear City Commissioners,
I am gravely concerned about the proposal to create an Urban Renewal District at the
former Idaho Pole Site.
This reminds me of the development that went in years ago near the Bozeman
Convenience Site. Years later, when it was discovered that poisonous material was
leaking into the groundwater, and the developer had disappeared, we the taxpayers
were on the hook for paying off the successful lawsuit brought by the homeowners. It
seems suspicious that the developer went bankrupt right around the time toxic fumes
started rising out of the ground.
Neither the Idaho Pole Site nor the Convenience Site seems to be completely
dissimilar to the Hastings Superfund Site. In that case a dry cleaner was pouring toxic
chemicals down the drain and polluting the groundwater. Again, the taxpayers of
Montana and the nation (through intervention of the EPA) were on the hook for thecleanup.
I would like us to learn from these past mistakes. The Idaho Pole site seems likeanother in a long line of developers making money up front while the taxpayer bears
the costs when the toxic pollution is discovered years later.
Please do not approve Urban Renewal District status for the Idaho Pole site until or
unless the city and our taxpayers are indemnified when we discover that the site is
still toxic and the public’s health is at risk. Let’s learn from our past mistakes.
Tom and Peggy Olliff
4857 Victory Street
Bozeman, MT 59718