HomeMy WebLinkAboutSoil Gas Public Comment from Steven Enoch 3-14From:Chris Mehl
To:Agenda
Subject:FW: Last Night"s Meeting
Date:Wednesday, March 05, 2014 4:28:38 PM
Chris MehlBozeman City Commissioncmehl@bozeman.net406.581.4992________________________________________From: Steven Enoch [senoch49@gmail.com]Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 4:20 PMTo: Jeff KraussCc: I-Ho Pomeroy; Carson Taylor; Chris Mehl; Cyndy Andrus; Chris KukulskiSubject: Last Night's Meeting
Dear Mr. Mayor,
Thank you for last night's meeting regarding the landfill issue. I found the meeting to be quiteinteresting and like most in attendance, except for "the screamer", I found it to be more organized andinformative than the other meetings.
With that said, as I thought about it this morning I began to realize why I was bothered by the meeting.First, nothing was resolved about Augusta Drive. Despite all the prompting by several residents, the cityis clearly not ready to declare our street (or "Phase II) totally out of the woods. While disappointing Ihave to admit that I understand why as you are cautious about going out on that limb, and indeed, wedo want a definitive answer---although I know it is hard on those wanting to sell their homes. I dowish you had done the "winter testing" earlier, which would had been very helpful knowing we had thismeeting coming up in March. You have also now added the new water testing which doesn't reallyimpact us except that the new wells are in Phase 2. (I believe that regardless of the results we get ourdrinking water the same place as everyone else in Bozeman?)
What also bothered me however, was the tone of the message we are being given. It took me a whileto articulate this in my own mind, but it seems that we are being told that (in so many words) "youshould be thankful for what we are doing and look at how much money we are spending!". That is amuch different message from "We are really very sorry this has happened; we understand howdevastating this is for so many of you, and we are going to do the right thing to resolve the issue andto make you whole." The fact is that the city approved these developments (both Phase 3 and Phase 2)after considerable information was known about soil migration of VOC's from unlined landfill cells andthat alone should generate more humility about what has happened to our neighborhoods!
I must tell you that I personally thought that you were particularly guilty of this. I felt no empathy fromyou and in fact you seemingly approached the meeting very casually and even came across as quitehostile at times. Even the last speaker, as emotional as he was, deserved more respect and empathy ashe is hurting because of his wife's cancer and the loss of their home value, which I happen to knowwas his nest egg for his retirement. Mocking him for addressing the one speaker as "Mr." instead of"Dr." was uncalled for, and really disrespectful, as I believe it was an honest mistake.
Please know that I understand from personal experience how difficult it can be to address a potentiallyhostile audience on a difficult subject. As superintendent of schools I had to close several urban schoolsfor financial reasons and faced much larger audiences than what occurred last night. While I could neverplease everyone I fully acknowledged how disruptive this decision was and how upsetting it was tofamilies and children. This was not phony, as I did feel the anguish and I acknowledged it, whichactually allowed the process to go forward with respect and understanding, even while it disappointedmany families. I would like to hear the city honestly acknowledge the pain and loss that this issue iscausing, addressing the "heart" of the matter, not just the scientific and financial aspects.
These are just my personal thoughts on the meeting last night. I thought I would share them with you.
Thank you for your consideration,
Steve Enoch