I'll bet your mama taught you to be careful with what you said and what you did. I'll bet she tried to raise you to understand that your words and actions have consequences - either good, or bad. There is no "neutral zone", and I'll just bet she tried her darndest to teach you, and repeated it when you were growing up each time you made a poor choice of words or actions, and had to pay the price. I'm sure she was sad to see you have to go through a rough time - or maybe she said, "well - you only have yourself to blame". It's a life lesson that most of us have a tough time learning.
Some folks lately have been upset with what they perceive as a "nasty tone" against the property owners who gave options to buy their land to Norfolk Southern. And on the Facebook page, some pretty strong words have been said.
Let's remember: we live in America, where property owners are able to do whatever they want with their land (within zoning parameters, if any exist). That is their right. WHAT they decide to do will have consequences. If those actions are good or pleasant, their neighbors will be happy - good consequences. If those actions are unpleasant, their neighbors will be UNhappy - bad consequences. That's pretty basic, right? No rocket science here.
We're all adults here (I hope. . . . ). Shall we speak frankly? Most of the property owners in question have minimal contact with their surrounding community. Their land, if ultimately used by NS, will affect few of their neighbors, mostly because they are in a much more rural area where people are fewer and farther between.
The largest property owner in this scenario is different. Their land is right on the edge of the village. The family has been a contributing part of the Swanton community for generations. You couldn't talk about Swanton without mentioning this family. They created jobs, they paid their taxes and were engaged in many civic activities. They have been faithful supporters of the community in which they live and run their business.
My personal opinion is this is the reason people are so extremely upset with them. The community was blind-sided by their decision to give options on their land to the railroad. For long-standing, stalwart supporters of the Swanton community to do something that has no hope of bringing anything positive to that same community has been a shock.
The community feels betrayed. That has been the consequence of their actions.
It is certainly not pleasant. Friendships have been strained - some broken. Is the family surprised at the reaction they have received? Did they expect something different?
This past Monday evening, Village Council voted to stop the sale of the quarter acre of land they had advertised, and received resounding applause from those in attendance. The next night, several Council members attended the Swanton Township trustee meeting. They voiced their support for stopping the rail yard from being built in a residential area, and pledged to put the past behind us and work together with the township to unite the entire community. Everyone was pleased, and eager to move forward.
Then - just a couple of days later - Council held a meeting with Norfolk Southern and a "real estate lawyer". According to the Village Administrator, the meeting had been scheduled awhile ago and Council decided to keep the meeting to see "what they had to say". Please note that this planned meeting was not mentioned at either public meeting early in the week.
The residents of Swanton were NOT happy once they found out - and just how do you think it looked to Swanton Township??
This action by Council was not received well by anyone who is interested in fighting to keep the rail yard from being built. The trust level was drastically undermined.
Consequences. Consequences. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment