UPDATE: Habitat for Humanity has backed out of the Mayor's deal to move the house. Pro-Scott Sunken Garden people will have a chance to present our case to City Council ion August 22 and THE vote could take place on the 29th - or the next week.
We have organized a protest to take place at the Sunken Garden on Sunday August 14 at 12:30 PM. Please come if you can. Speakers, brochures, Q&A for aboput an hour. At the Garden
It was so nice to see so many people show up to save the garden. At least it seemed like a lot of people filling a space I usually have all to myself. The speakers were all interesting and hopeful. The BWL response in LSJ was more of the same, how wonderful having a substation in the park will be and how so many more people will us it. This point of view is not based on anything but wishful thinking and why don't they use the money the are going to use to remodel what's left of the green space and build it somewhere else.
Yes. There will be an important City Council meeting on August 22 at 7 PM. Preservation Lansing will be presenting our case to City Council. At the end of the meeting there will be Public Comment. If you want to speak for 3 minutes at Public comment get there about 645 and sign up. We need you to be there to show your support. City Council members have been saying they haven't heard from many of our supporters - which to me is surprising. The actual vote may take place a week later
The city council meeting is tonight for those planning on attending. Unfortunately it's looking like I won't be able to attend tonight, but I wanted to post a reminder for those that can.
The BWL is still trying scare people into supporting the project. This time with depictions of huge power poles going up S. Washington. Numbers are still changing every time they speak and still no proof of any talks with GM. They just keep talking about Eckhart and how difficult it would be to do anything except build on the garden, which would be so easy and inexpensive. One way or another they will have to do something about that old plant. I know that they will increase rates no matter where they build the substation, but will the garden be gone for ever if they build it there. Why are they so defensive about this? People want to keep a park, is that so crazy? The Pulse covers this very well this week.
So, this project is finally hitting roadblocks, thank god. Right now, it's at the commitee stage before it reaches the full council. A decision to grant a special land use permit for the project has been shelved by the Committee on Development and Planning. Something that should make folk's jaw drop and show how little respect is being shown the opposition of this is this little nugget from the City Pulse article:
Washington also raised questions about the substation’s construction timeline. And she questioned whether BWL officials had presented incomplete information to the Council regarding underground electrical transmission infrastructure that already runs up South Washington.
She held up two maps, One presented to the Planning Board in May identified underground transmission infrastructure running up South Washington; the other showed no infrastructure on South Washington.
“What is that? Why are they gone?” She asked BWL General Manager Richard Peffley.
Peffley, seated on the opposite end of the long conference table in City Council’s conference room shook his head, and mouthed, “I don’t know.”
Are you serious? This is completely disqualifying of this project. Anyway, the other issue mentioned is how hard BWL pushed GM for use for their land. The good news is that the council does not seem impressed by BWL's case, and them seemingly blatantly lying about key aspects of this project is not going to help them.
I am really happy to see these issues finally being brought up. From the first day I have thought the whole idea was odd and wrong. I have never understood how the idea even got out there, who or what was going to be benefited, was there some sort of financial benefit for the employee came up with the "least expensive" option for a downtown substation? It really is all so strange, the mayor and BWL feel like they have to lie to and scare people into supporting this thing. I think they really believed that no one would care about the garden, and be so impressed by the Gateway To REOTown. Now that they have found they were wrong about that they are trying to diminish they voices of those apposed. Why? Yesterday for the first time I had someone pull up to me while walking on Hazel Street and ask me where "The Lansing Sunken Garden" is? I was so happy to give them directions and I really liked that name, The Lansing Sunken Garden!
I'm pleasantly surprised that the effort to stop this project has at least found this temporary victory, the prospects of saving Scott Park are looking decent now.
I'm also still very curious as to why this was proposed in the first place and why the Mayor and BWL were such ardent supporters of this out of the gate, how they could truly believe it was a good idea is beyond me.
Comments
We have organized a protest to take place at the Sunken Garden on Sunday August 14 at 12:30 PM. Please come if you can. Speakers, brochures, Q&A for aboput an hour. At the Garden
Are you serious? This is completely disqualifying of this project. Anyway, the other issue mentioned is how hard BWL pushed GM for use for their land. The good news is that the council does not seem impressed by BWL's case, and them seemingly blatantly lying about key aspects of this project is not going to help them.
I'm also still very curious as to why this was proposed in the first place and why the Mayor and BWL were such ardent supporters of this out of the gate, how they could truly believe it was a good idea is beyond me.