Personally I don't care. It'll be easier to check their status and ship 'em the hell outta the country.
'Pod--you da man!!
Posted on 05/07/2002 9:04:57 PM PDT by sauropod
G'day,
Today was the meeting at Summers County High School that was billed as a "workshop" meeting regarding the SDEIS for the proposed New River Scenic Parkway project.
Attendees included FReepers countrydummy, NewRiverSister, Sauropod, and a host of Federal and State agencies.
These agencies included the West Virginia Department of Highways, the Federal Highways Administration, the EPA, the USF&WS, the New River Parkway Authority, the Mayor of Hinton, W. Va, various contractors and consulting agencies concerned with this project, local Channel 4 news, and local citizenry both pro- and anti-parkway.
There were 2 squad cars (county and city) parked in front of the Summers County High School. One of them was a K-9 unit. I have film footage of this and of a good portion of the meeting today. It appears that there was a very similar meeting at Fairmont, W. Va, where one person was so upset at a board member that he stabbed them at the meeting. The squad cars were there in case something like this happened at our meeting.
The meeting began promptly at 4 pm. A Mr. Tom Smith of the Federal Dept. of Transportation kicked off the meeting. After about 10 minutes or so of introduction, Ann Roach and Sheila Davis (NewRiverSister and countrydummy respectively) objected to the format of the meeting. The meeting was in a "managed" format with each resource agency seated at a table to answer individual questions. Mr. Smith kept referring to the meeting as a "hearing" in workshop format. Basically, it was a waste of time for all involved.
Sheila and Ann asked that there be a true meeting with representatives there that could actually answer questions about the various options, the implications of words such as "parkway and "upgrade" etc. Mr. Smith insisted on sticking with the pre-arranged format.
Several other people also objected, but Mr. Smith prevailed on the pretense that everybody's questions would be answered more fully if the entire conversation was not monopolized by a few.
A State biologist got up and spoke for a few minutes and then, the group broke up and gravitated towards the various tables.
I discussed several aspects of the alternatives listed in the SDEIS with these folks, and the answers ranged from: that is in the purview of the Park Service; to quarreling over statistics, to insults hurled from one party to another.
Mr. Smith of the US DOT was one of the smoothest schmoozers i have ever run across.
I talked with a number of engineers and planning types over the proposed alternatives, including the "preferred alternative" and asked to be included on mailing lists, etc. There was a court reporter present to record spoken statements from folks in the audience.
I collected a number of documents, but sensed a growing futility to the purpose of the meeting.
Fact 1: A number of people at the meeting simply would not listen to us because a number of us were "outsiders," including one lady that was in the area more than 20 years. She was still an outsider.
Fact 2: There was no Park Service Representative present!! I asked the question specifically of the DOT guy, "what happens after you design and build the road and turn it over to the Park Service for administration and maintenance?" I asked him if the promises made to the folks located along the New River would be honored once the project was turned over to the Park Service. He wouldn't answer the question and proceeded to tap dance his way out of the conversation with me.
I asked the EPA lady why she was there. She told me that under the Clean Air Act, she was required to review all DEIS's for compliance. I asked if she thought that the New River would be subject to Total Minimum Daily Load (TMDL) restrictions with respect to pollution and sediments, and her opinion was that it probably was going to happen. She also said that under the Clean Water Act, that the proposed road construction should have "no degradation" on water quality than currently exists now.
I was also insulted personally by the Mayor of Hinton, Ms. Cleo Mathews today. She asked why i was there, whether or not i paid taxes (i do, federal, all these federal agencies were there and i did not appreciate the way my tax dollars were being wasted), did i live in Hinton, W. Va, and further insulted my purpose for being there. I responded that for a mayor of a town that was supposedly trying to bring in tourism to insult out-of-staters such as myself was not too swift, given all the circumstances. A snort and a tossing of the head was all i received in reply.
It was in today's Hinton News that Ms. Mathews was quoted as saying that there were people on "this side of the river that were spreading rumors and false accusations" about the New River Parkway project (In essence, calling countrydummy and NewRiverSister liars).
You can call Ms. Mathews and/or contact her through mail at the following address:
Mayor of Hinton, W. Va Cleo Mathews 216 8th Avenue 25951, Phone: (304) 466-1515
Be sure to call Ms. Mathews and express your displeasure over a representative of FreeRepublic being treated so shabbily.
What a scuntbag! You should have asked her, "Who does your hair?"
In other words, none of her damn business.
When Clinton permitted, and sometimes instigated, these activities, it seemed like the whole nation rose up in protest. Now, all I seem to hear is a collective snore, as the masses of sheeple go back to sleep, because Bush will take care of them.
What will they do, and we're closer than ever to the day, when they find themselves uprooted from their comfortable bliss and herded into biodiversity zones where human activity is permitted? How will they react when they learn that this is how they are being taken care of? Conversly, what will they do when they are disarmed, removed from their homes and quarantined in a sports stadium or an old aircraft hanger, after the next terrorist attack, (which the fedgov has said is going to happen and there's nothing we can do to stop it)?
I don't believe that they will be able to find the time to think back and wish they had listened to the "nuts and kookberrys" who kept warning them that there was more in the forest than just some trees.
Personally I don't care. It'll be easier to check their status and ship 'em the hell outta the country.
'Pod--you da man!!
Whenever you meet a person like the Mayor, B$tch, you told us about, you should try to find out who is buying her.
Most Rats in politics are in it for the money. They could care less about the enviroment. Like Je$$e it's all about the $$$$$'s!
Keep us posted and continue to let your East Coast Freepers know what is happening back there. A lot of East Coast and MidWest conservatives just laugh when the enviral Nazis rape and pillage out west. The reality is that the Enviral Nazis practice Rural Cleansing in all 50 states in the name of the environment.
If each Freeper wakes up 2-3 other conservatives each week to the reality of the enviros, we are on the right road.
Good Luck and keep us posted. We have had a good win in the Klamath Basin crisis this year. Thanks for you and your fellow Freepers help last summer. I feel that everytime you guys/gals hit the streets, the message gets across. Thank you for being there for us and America.
Meaning that your water's back on, or that the governmaroons in charge would only compromise so far as to play Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song" over a PA system?
I think that the feds also will be forced to play Willie Nelson CD's during the growing season.
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