HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-23-24 Public Comment - M. Kaveney - attn_ City Comm. re_ Gallatin Valley Water and..Feasibility StudyFrom:Marcia Kaveney
To:Agenda; Douglas Fischer; Terry Cunningham; Jennifer Madgic; Joey Morrison; Christopher Coburn
Cc:Jeff Mihelich
Subject:[EXTERNAL]attn: City Comm. re: Gallatin Valley Water and..Feasibility Study
Date:Tuesday, January 23, 2024 11:58:20 AM
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Dear Mayor, Commissioners, and Staff-
Thank you for your service and for the hard work that went into this preliminary study. Afterreviewing the staff memo, and in light of the City Commissions renewed goals of transparency
and inclusion, I would venture to pose the following question to the City Commission andstaff.
Wouldn't it be better for the community to first pursue all the possibilities for controlling the
current rampant growth rate rather than simply accepting it as an obligatory responsibility?
This line of questioning seems absent from the public dialogue. I, for one, can't believe wewould pursue potentially developing a $1- $6 billion dollar water system estimated to cost
individual homeowners $15,000 without first trying to get a handle on our growth.
There seems to be a pervasive belief system in place that growth is what it is and we can onlysupport it, but I don't believe that is true or our only choice. We need to think outside the box.
The regular annexations are not required. The leaps in up-zoning are not required. Both areincreasing sprawl and stress on our community's limited natural resources as well as budgets.
Staff's time and residents' tax dollars would be better spent on efforts to reduce the growth rateand increase the focus on sustainability measures such as living within our resource means.
The staff and City Commission are kind of like the parental controls for our community. And
if the "pie of water" was a birthday cake instead, it is time for the parents to limit the questlist. Here in Montana, there seems to be no end to the number of guests that want to come, but
there is a limit to the birthday cake.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Marcia Kaveney