Stories for Letters
Letter to the editor: Reasons given part 3
Posted by | Comments
DuPont Council Members,
This is the third in a series of e-mails that address the reasons given by City Council members for their vote to approve or disapprove the 2011 Settlement Agreement, as reported in the 1/27/2012 South Puget Sound News article.
Councilman Courts is quoted as saying: "that he was comfortable with the process that the agreement spells out."
The process that Councilman Courts is "...comfortable with..." was astutely crafted by CalPortland's lawyers, and agreed to by representatives of the Department of Ecology, the Environmental Caucus and the City of DuPont administration and staff (and now the City Council) under the duress of CalPortland's threat of protracted litigation, in a manner that assures that CalPortland will manage and control the outcome of the stated purpose of the 2011 Settlement Agreement which is that participating governmental agencies and environmental groups will "... support CalPortland’s mining in the ... South Parcel...[which includes 117 acres of the existing 360 acre gravel mine]." as well as control the process by which a $200,000 restoration plan for Edmond Marsh and Sequalitchew Creek is funded and developed.
Letter to the Editor: Reasons given
Posted by | CommentsDuPont Council Members,
This is the second in a series of e-mails that address the reasons given by City Council members for their vote to approve or disapprove the 2011 Settlement Agreement, as reported in the 1/27/2012 South Puget Sound News article.
Councilwoman Trotter is quoted as saying: "We could not get the [$200,000] restoration plan without the agreement,..."
The $200,000 restoration plan to which she refers does not achieve restoration of an already degraded Edmond Marsh and Sequalitchew Creek. The only actions that will restore degraded Edmond Marsh and Sequalitchew Creek are to (1) prevent their further degradation by not permitting any activity that will result in further lowering the Vashon aquifer groundwater table level since such activity will result in adverse environmental impacts on the groundwater connected and sustained surface water bodies in this watershed, (2) restore continuous flow from Sequalitchew Lake into and through Edmond Marsh and down Sequalitchew Creek, and (3) remove the physical impediments that currently interrupt and impede the continuous flow of water from Sequalitchew Lake through Edmond Marsh and down Sequalitchew Creek to Puget Sound. Permitting CalPortland to dewater the Vashon aquifer (and permanently alter its hydrological function) so as to facilitate mining Vashon aquifer saturated gravel located on 117 acres of its existing 360 acre mine and beneath 180 acres of the South Parcel is not only contradictory to achieving a restored Edmond Marsh and Sequalitchew Creek ecosystem, it is prohibited by provisions of the 1994 Agreement, DuPont's Comprehensive Plan and DuPont's critical and sensitive area ordinances.
Anderson rebuts Carrell
Posted by | CommentsLakewood Deputy Mayor Don Anderson rebuts State Senator Mike Carrell's claim that the City of Lakewood's sewer fee is really a tax.
Friends of Edmond Marsh and Sequalitchew Creek,
It is interesting to note that the City Council's approval of the CalPortland, DOE and Environmental Caucus drafted 2011 Settlement Agreement will obligate the City of DuPont Planning Manager and Hearing Examiner to support CalPortland's mining of the Vashon aquifer saturate gravel that is located beneath 117 acres of its present mine and 180 acres of the South Parcel. Apparently the only unresolved question at this time is the nature and extent of mitigation that it will take to rationalize circumventing application and enforcement of the no alteration of natural conditions provisions of DuPont's Comprehensive Plan and DMC 25.105 sensitive area municipal code. The Countywide Planning Policies for Pierce County, which the Council has approved, stipulates that the City of DuPont will "Maintain natural hydrological functions..." and the Puget Sound Partnership's legislative mandate that Puget Sound and the streams, wetlands, lakes and rivers in the Puget Sound Basin be preserved, protected and those degraded restored by 2020 to achieve the following six goals:
Letter: SCWC Responds to Settlement Agreement Approval
Posted by | CommentsLast night the DuPont City Council approved, by a vote of 5 to 1, the 2011 Settlement Agreement allowing CalPortland Co. to apply for gravel mining permits in areas adjacent to its existing mine, for what could become the largest in the nation.
While proponents of the agreement say that it describes a process that could restore flows to Sequalitchew Creek, the proposed mining expansion and draining of the underlying Vashon Aquifer within the South Parcel will further degrade Edmond Marsh, Sequalitchew Creek, and the near shore seeps along the Puget Sound shoreline. The proposed draining of the aquifer at the site will permanently change the hydrology of the watershed. A permanent and irreversible lowering of the ground water table appears counterproductive to any long-term restoration plan for the Sequalitchew Creek watershed.
Letter: 'Stop the train'
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
The signature drive to stop High Speed Rail (HSR) through Lakewood continues to March 2. Two 2'x4’ banners have been created for the signature gathering sites (Post Office, Library and Safeway). Volunteers will be coordinated via communitymattersweb@gmail.com.
Letter To Rate-Payers of Lakewood Water District
Posted by | CommentsLakewood Water District staff recommended, and the Board of Commissioners approved, the 2012 Budget at the December 15, 2011 Commissioner Meeting. There was extensive effort put into preparing the annual budget. This included a review of the District’s financial standing after its 2011 activities and the direction the District would take financially in 2012, with all this being analyzed and reviewed by the District management and Board of Commissioners. These decisions were made with great diligence and great care as they will directly impact the District’s rate payers for both the short and long term.
Letter: 'Vital Fitness is different'
Posted by | CommentsBy Irene Mazer, Lakewood
As you regret the excesses of the holidays, and make all sorts of resolutions to improve your health there is a great facility to help you, whatever your age or physical condition. In my group are several people, including me, who use canes, and we have and have had several people using walkers. The motto is: "Do what you can, but don't overdo and hurt yourself." When our leader introduces a new exercise, she always provides alternatives for those whose whose muscles won't cooperate. (For example: My right arm won't always cooperate in the exercises involving raising one's arms over one's head. There's an alternative for that.)
I just came back from the gym and I'm feeling great. I'm an old lady, trying to keep what little muscle and brain (or is that brain and brawn?) I have left. I've been working out at Vital Fitness, which is right next to the Goodwill, just off Bridgeport on Mt. Tacoma Dr. I've also been reading more and more articles about how aerobic and strength exercises can delay the progress of the debilitating conditions that affect us, including Alzheimer's and some of the digestive system disorders, and many other conditions, named and unnamed. Needless to say, I am not your typical "jock" (or is that "jockette?) and I feel very uncomfortable in most gyms.
Letter: Us vs. Them
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
Now that Tillicum’s Camp Murray Gate debacle has been voted overwhelmingly the top West Pierce news story (in The News Tribune) for 2011, it’s time to reflect on what this means.
ELECTIONS: How about a candidate waiting period?
Posted by | CommentsLetter: Santa's elves delivered presents to Steilacoom kids
Posted by | CommentsBy Cindy McKitrick, Steilacoom Chamber of Commerce,
This past holiday weekend, our Needy Child Gift Program resulted in more than 58 Steilacoom children receiving presents to their homes on Christmas Eve by Santa's Elves and Steilacoom's finest Public Safety Officers lead by Larry Whelan. It wouldn't have happened without your involvement and the hard work of Larry and his crew. So if you felt a tug on your heart on Saturday, it may have been because of a child's smile right here in town. Thank you.
Letter: Just Nights Before Christmas
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson
Just nights before Christmas, the tree, newly decorated, had not only presents beneath but also four little children, all wrapped in blankets, snuggled together for warmth as the fire in the hearth died to embers.
It was the fourth child, our son Matthew, who saved our lives.
Mike Carrell: Questioning Lakewood's new sewer 'fee'
Posted by | CommentsFollowing is reprinted, with permission, from State Senator Mike Carrell's Kitchen Cabinet e-newsletter.
Several weeks ago, I mentioned in a Kitchen Cabinet update that the City of Lakewood has imposed a new “tax” (which the city calls a “fee”) on its residents for the sewer lines running beneath the city that belong to Pierce County.
I’ve learned more information about the situation since then. The state of Washington paid for a significant portion of the cost for sewers to be installed in the Tillicum area of Lakewood (apparently the state felt it was in the best environmental interest of the Puget Sound to do so). All the sewers in Lakewood are legally owned and maintained by Pierce County.
Letter: Stop-the-Train Signature Drive Continues
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson
We’ve discovered we have more time to gather signatures in the effort to put an initiative on the ballot for a vote of the people on the most significant transportation issue the City of Lakewood is likely ever to face – as many as 12 high speed trains per day through a portion of the business district and along the neighborhoods of our city. Petitions and instructions are available here.
Letter: The Main Thing
Posted by | CommentsSteven R. Covey is the author of ‘the main thing’ quote and several others like it. Covey is recognized as one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans and has written tons of books, most well known perhaps the “Seven Habits of Successful _____ (leaders, business people, parents, even teens)” series. So he outta know the answer to discovering ‘the main thing.’
Letter: Homeless in Lakewood
Posted by | CommentsBy Judi Hunter
He was standing on the sidewalk, bowed against the cold...
His beard was dark, his hair unkempt and he wasn't very old.
He touched my heart this morning, I really don't know why,
I barely caught a glimpse of him as I was driving by...
His grocery cart was piled high but not with goods or food,
His life was stacked up in that cart, but he was in a pleasant mood.
I made a U turn in the street thinking that I should go back,
Knowing of my bounty, and his obvious show of lack.
I stopped and said... "I have a little extra, I think that you could use"
He smiled at me with a toothless grin at the coming of good news...
Thank you he said, and Merry Christmas!
Letter to Governor: Murray Gate, 'We Need Your Help
Posted by | CommentsBy Brian Dennery, Tillicum
Hello Governor,
Thank you for you’re many years of service! For all of the right or wrong decisions that you have made during your tenure, there are always some of us who feel that you have made good decisions and some, possibly, not so popular decisions. In the following case, I really do not know if you made a decision at all or that you are receiving all of your mail. The background to this letter is the following. I wrote to you, First Mike, Representative Kelly and other state representatives about the issue of relocating the Camp Murray Main Gate. Read More→
