At least when citizens come and speak at public input, it isn’t costing us anything.
I wasn’t going to post about the below press conference until I had a flood of people asking me, WTH?
As I understand it, Lloyd had to remediate more dirt for the Cascade project than they thought they would so they have leftover. So instead of blowing money to dispose of it or transport it elsewhere they are going to dump it across the street for the Levitt Pavilion.
Seems like a common sense thing to do.
So why is this press conference worthy? I have no f’king clue. I feel just as embarrassed as the journalists in town that had to cover this by posting this.
It’s time to talk dirt. So, the environmental removal will be used for where masses gather for concerts. If my dog craps under the mayor’s window at city hall, it will save fertilizer cost. Can I call a news conference?
So, they’re moving contaminated soil from the west side of the street to the east side.
Is this why the rep from DENR (Department of Environment & Natural Resources) was at the news conference?
Not exactly, and this is something they haven’t explained to people very well.
When you remidiate the soil you essentially suck the contaminants out, and once you do that, you can re-use the soil and dispose of the contaminants.
I’m with you, I think they should haul it all away, but I guess that is NOT how they do it now.
But why is the extra soil thing an issue or problem? If they had to dig deeper than they initially thought, won’t they just return that additional soil to the same spot? Especially, since you were not initially planning to remove that soil or remediate it and probably need to now fill that greater void, right?
If you need to dig a basement, you know the square footage of dirt that needs to be removed. If because of remediation issues you are forced to dig deeper than the basement requirements to address that specific issue, then that additional dirt is not surplus because you need that dirt once remediated – don’t you – to fill to the level where you want your basement and footings to begin?
I might also add, that this press conference on the one hand makes Lloyd look good and I can understand why a corporate entity would want positive public relations. But this whole press conference is like answering a question, that hasn’t even been asked. And we all know why that happens sometimes, don’t we?…
It was done to deflect people’s attention away from the parking ramp issue, and if that didn’t work it was to show that DT developers are giving angels. That $100K in dirt is pittance compared to the tax rebate and land sale deal Lloyd got on that piece of property.
Additional thoughts:
I think we have all met this child, or were this child in our earlier years, where the child tells the grown-ups that he or she did not eat the candy…. Except, that the grown-ups never blamed the child from the start for eating the candy nor knew the candy jar was empty until the child brought the issue to the forefront….
I had a good laugh this morning listening to Belfrage, I guy called in and made a statement and hung up. Belfrage also laughed and said, “We get them all the time, drive by callers.”
The caller made a brief comment about pervert lawmakers than says (paraphrasing) “. . . than we have Mayor Huether who tells people they can’t speak at public input than turns around and gives us parenting advice . . . give me a break.”
Last week Belfrage opined that Roy Moore should indeed be seated by the US Senate if he wins the election Dec 12.