It seems like the BWL is having a hard time keeping their story straight. The story in City Pluse basically says that if they build in another spot it "could add" .81 cents to the average bill each month. That does not sound as dramatic and dire as they made it sound in the past. There may be someone who will be put over the edge by that amount, and God Bless those people, but I think most people could handle that. I saw a couple of weddings going on in the park no one uses.
Hello, I have not written in this Forum yet, and only recently discovered it. I found the discussion very interesting. It seems that most everyone we talk with is against demolition of the Scott Park for the BWL substation for many good reasons.. City Council will be having a Public Forum soon and the Pro Scott Park group will be given an opportunity to present our case beyond the 3-minute comments that we have previously been limited to. We are not professional politicians or lobbyists, but we are a group of dedicated induviduals who believe that it is time for the citizens of Lansing to take a stand. The City should not be allowed to just take a dedicated riverfront park from us at will. Turner Dodge Park, Fenner Park, Moore's Park Pool, the Women's Museum are all in immediate danger of having this same thing happen to them. Losing Scott Park this way would set a dangerous precedent. BWL's cost estimates for alternate sites are all over the place and right now they are not talking. We have discovered a viable new industrial new site beyond what BWL found in their "exhaustive search" and it is hopefully being considered. GM could step forward and solve this problem in a second if they were so inclined. It has recently been discovered that GM will need their own Substation in addition to the proposed Scott Park Substation. Please write your City Council people right now - especially Judy Brown Clarke, Jody Washington, Adam Hussain, Jessica Yorko, Carol Wood, Patricia Spitzley, and Kathy Dunbar. In that order of importance. Also, please encourage everyone you know to visit the Sunken Garden right now because the Mayor and BWL's team claim that if few people visit this beautiful park - that supposedly proves to them that no one cares about it. The Scott Park and all Parks need support right now. Thank you.
Thank you for your post, it is so great to know there a lot of people who really care about Scott Park and the sunken garden, which is beautiful right now. The whole idea is rather senseless and seems almost maniacal at times. The park belongs to the people of the city of Lansing, it is not for one mayor to decide, one department of the BWL. This is an important issue as you point out, that goes beyond the little garden. Our parks are not commodities to be traded or sold off.
@schraderenviro Welcome to the forum, I'm assuming you're part of a group that's against the substation plan? What's the alternative industrial site you presented to the BWL? Suppose the plan to build the substation in the park is defeated, do you think there will be a continued effort to improve access and make the much needed improvements to the park?
Thank you both for the kind words - and YES, we at Preservation Lansing would dedicate ourselves to the promotion and renovation of Scott Park should it be saved. Rest assured. We have hundreds of volunteers already committed. There is interest in the house for a riverfront restaurant, wedding and event reception center. Restoration of the house is key to getting that site cleaned up and into the forefront of Lansing citizen's minds. That being said - here is the latest...
Construction of the Central Substation will require the proposed destruction of the beautiful green space called Scott Sunken Garden Park. But this is a dedicated park and the City has no right to build a substation there without a vote of the public. The Mayor has just decided to do this and he needs to be shown that the citizens of Lansing do not tolerate losing another park, especially this one. This was a “back door deal” that was hatched by the Mayor and BWL. They intend to take this greenspace away despite the wishes of the people and contrary to the City Master Plan. There are other options for location of the substation. BWL recently admitted that an empty industrial lot off Baker Street on Diamond Reo way is available but was not presented as an option until Preservation Lansing pointed it out publicly. Now they use higher costs and rate hikes to dissuade that location as favorable choice. If we honor the Lansing City master plan, the substation cannot and should not be located at Scott Park. It should be located on an available industrial location.
This is a plea for you as a citizen of Lansing to write your City Council people once again immediately, and also for you to attend the Scott Park Support Rally on Sunday August 14 at 12:30 PM at the Sunken Garden. Furthermore, City Council has an important Public Hearing on August 22 at 7:00 PM. We are also asking that you attend this meeting in support of our Lansing Parks. It is expected that the BWL will introduce labor unions to add to the list of official voices inexplicably speaking out for the destruction of our park.
The City and BWL have not been transparent at all. The Mayor is trying to circumvent the City Charter to take away the vote of the people on this issue. BWL’s spokesman is constantly changing the cost estimates of substation alternate locations every time he speaks. We do not believe their numbers are accurate and we are asking for a 3rd party utility company to do a cost estimate review. The Mayor wants Scott Sunken Garden Park gone and we fear that the alternate site costs are skewed higher to make them less attractive.
Our group needs to show solidarity in numbers. This is very important. We only need 4 votes on City Council to kill this monstrosity and force the BWL to choose an alternate site. Enormous pressure is being exerted on these Council members by BWL and Mayor Bernero right now. We need to show that there are THOUSANDS of us who are against this proposal and we need to do it NOW! We need to show them that their council vote on this issue will have consequences to them when they are up for re-election.
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Just to be clear, while I completely oppose this location for the Central Substation, the reason it doesn't require a vote is because the city is not selling the land. It's a really disingenuous route they are taking, but it's unfortunately completely legal. Our best bet is to have this stopped at City Council. I've said it before, but now would be the perfect chance to use the animus between Bernero and the Council to the city's advantage for once. We need to identify the most likely votes, and let everyone know that there will be electoral consequences for anyone siding with BWL on this.
Yes we agree. That is our best strategy. BWL is now rolling out labor union power to testify. Ridiculous because they will have construction jobs no matter where they put the substation. Elected officials need to understand that Virg may be vulnerable with all these scandals and crazy stuff. And we will all be watching this vote - and there will be consequences. Next year is an election year for Virg.
I was completely taken aback by Serkaian's dealings with the City Pulse, where he comes across as completely unprofessional as it relates to this issue. It makes you wonder if this issue is the one where he breaks, exactly why they are pushing this so hard? It's really kind of amazing. There are alternative sites (why can't they put this one the even larger surface lot by GM immediately to the south of the gardens? BWL already has there pump house for the area there), and yet they seem bound and determined to destroy a rare piece of greenspace why?
You are totally right. Virg is the vulnerable one, here, and it's kind of crazy anyone is scared of him, let alone the city council.
This newly discovered site is the industrial lot available at Diamond Reo Way. The smokestacks on the upper right of the picture are BWL's new cogen facility. A really good golfer (not me) could hit the building. It's about 1000 feet. The BWL has said before that it would cost $4000 per foot to connect to the electrical "superhighway" of 138,000 volts. The lines run right through the BWL cogen plant. $4000 x 1000' = $4-million. That's the cost of the walls. We need to have them put it there and save the park. The 2 acre lot is for sale at $119,000. BWL admitted recently that they only need two acres. -not sure how to post a picture on this page-
I did a little research of my own on the land I'm talking about (Townsend and Elm NE). It's even closer to the conduits under Washington Avenue (they could be brought along the Elm Street bridge and connect in a single block at Washington), the site is even larger than the Scott Gardens site, and part of its owned by the city with the other part owned by GM only being valued at $134,000. I guess the point is that there are numerous other cheap sites, so there is no excuse for the current plan.
Comments
Construction of the Central Substation will require the proposed destruction of the beautiful green space called Scott Sunken Garden Park. But this is a dedicated park and the City has no right to build a substation there without a vote of the public. The Mayor has just decided to do this and he needs to be shown that the citizens of Lansing do not tolerate losing another park, especially this one. This was a “back door deal” that was hatched by the Mayor and BWL. They intend to take this greenspace away despite the wishes of the people and contrary to the City Master Plan. There are other options for location of the substation. BWL recently admitted that an empty industrial lot off Baker Street on Diamond Reo way is available but was not presented as an option until Preservation Lansing pointed it out publicly. Now they use higher costs and rate hikes to dissuade that location as favorable choice. If we honor the Lansing City master plan, the substation cannot and should not be located at Scott Park. It should be located on an available industrial location.
This is a plea for you as a citizen of Lansing to write your City Council people once again immediately, and also for you to attend the Scott Park Support Rally on Sunday August 14 at 12:30 PM at the Sunken Garden. Furthermore, City Council has an important Public Hearing on August 22 at 7:00 PM. We are also asking that you attend this meeting in support of our Lansing Parks. It is expected that the BWL will introduce labor unions to add to the list of official voices inexplicably speaking out for the destruction of our park.
The City and BWL have not been transparent at all. The Mayor is trying to circumvent the City Charter to take away the vote of the people on this issue. BWL’s spokesman is constantly changing the cost estimates of substation alternate locations every time he speaks. We do not believe their numbers are accurate and we are asking for a 3rd party utility company to do a cost estimate review. The Mayor wants Scott Sunken Garden Park gone and we fear that the alternate site costs are skewed higher to make them less attractive.
Our group needs to show solidarity in numbers. This is very important. We only need 4 votes on City Council to kill this monstrosity and force the BWL to choose an alternate site. Enormous pressure is being exerted on these Council members by BWL and Mayor Bernero right now. We need to show that there are THOUSANDS of us who are against this proposal and we need to do it NOW! We need to show them that their council vote on this issue will have consequences to them when they are up for re-election.
We need you to RSVP that you will attend the event
You are totally right. Virg is the vulnerable one, here, and it's kind of crazy anyone is scared of him, let alone the city council.