10/25 Township Meeting
Share/Spread the word.
If I had a few words to describe last night they would be.... family therapy. There was some yelling, and tears, and I think everyone left having a little more hope in each other... so now we just have to see it in action.
The township and council meetings are wildly different meetings, and if you can, I highly recommend you attend both.
Last night was no different, and village residents present were just as upset over the previous night's council meeting as they were before. And rightfully so, that council meeting was rough.
As a result, those that spoke were visibly emotional, as were the township residents. It was really hard to hear so many homeowners brought to tears over this, as it's effects will be devastating to them and the lives and homes they've spent decades building. It was a very sad thing to sit through and everyone appreciated their stories and concerns.
And that includes the two council members who did (and have routinely in the past) attend the township meeting.
I am trying not to be too candid here over respect for the legalities both the township and village face.
So in short, they both vehemently oppose this project. Yes they own the missteps. They own the misinformation. They own not acting as quickly as they should have, and they gave much needed insight as to where they are now, and were open about where they needed to be. It was such a form of respect to everyone who was scared and who had spoken and received silence the night before.
Also in attendance was a rail road expert, someone who not only has first hand knowledge of this exact project, but also of all surrounding projects. (And that is all I can say about him in this forum.)
He was honest, answered questions thoroughly, and was also VERY AGAINST this project. Here are some important take-aways from his talk.
1. Pollution will be wide spread, and the rail road will do nothing about it. From thousands of gallons to spilled fuel, to coal and other remnants. The environmental impact will be real and scary.
2. Homeless People. With this rail yard will come homeless people who rely on the rail road for travel. There will be an uptick of that in our town with this rail yard, and no security will be given from NS regarding that.
3. Our town will be filthy. Coal dust aside, rail yards generate a huge amount of litter, and that will be visibly present in our village.
4. RODENTS. The rodent infestation will explode with sitting freight, especially next to the fields and the cars that will be holding grain. He talked about rodents in North Baltimore the size of cats but then I plugged my ears.
5. This coal yard will not be all this is, as I mentioned in another post, THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. This is merely a foot in the door to expand this project rapidly and we would have no way of stopping it.
6. This DET contract is only a 3 year contract, and it's due to start January 1st, 2017.
7. This will change the very feel, look, and population of our town. It will diminish our property values AND our school. With both of those things cheaper, the landscape of who buys here will be different.
8. Many of the towns he visits feature rail yards that are surrounded by vacant/foreclosed homes.
9. It's not IF a derailment happens, it's WHEN, and he went into detail about what that would look like. He talked about how the priority would be to clear the tracks, and he told of one of his recent derailments that saw spilled coal being left for 6 months before anyone bothered to clean it up.
Oh, and the most important thing.
10. WE CAN AND SHOULD FIGHT THIS. We need to dig in our heels, work together, and fight fight fight fight.
Hearing the gentleman speak, while terrifying, was also JUST what so many needed, I think. They needed to hear the reality of this from someone who knew.
And when he was done and we all processed everything he said, we got up really driven to defeat this.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
First, I need you to REALLY make phone calls. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and we need you all EXTRA SQUEAKY.
It's an election year, and you need to remind your representatives that if they want your vote, then they need to help you get this out of our community.
1. Sen. Randy Gardener (614) 466-8060
2. Rep. Derek Merrin (614) 466-1731
Call them, have your relatives call them, and then call them again. This is your focus for the week.
Second, keep in contact with your elected officials. Information from them shouldn't just come at village or township meetings, we don't have time for that anymore. Call them regularly, make sure they are working FOR you and making this issue their priority. It's what you elected them to do, so be proactive in making sure they're doing it.
Village contacts: http://www.villageofswantonohio.us/villagecouncil.html
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