Edgemoor Neighborhood Association
Annual Meeting
May 5, 2011
Minutes
The
ENA annual meeting was held at Lairmont Manor and was called to order at 7:00
pm on Thursday, May 5th by President Brad Rose.
Lylene Johnson recorded the minutes.
President
Brad thanked Joel Douglas for providing Lairmont Manor for the meeting and
introduced the concept of the Fairhaven Club.
Additional information is on a table in the entrance.
April Minutes
were approved as amended.
Brad
explained that all property owners within the boundaries of the Edgemoor
Neighborhood are voting members of the ENA.
No dues are collected. Anyone not
currently receiving email updates can sign up on the website or on the signup
sheet here tonight.
Reports of Officers
President's Report (Brad
Rose):
Fairhaven Neighborhood Plan public process is beginning with a
meeting May 11 from 6:30 – 8:30 at
Post
Point Water Treatment Plant expansion application has been filed. Information
is available on the city of
Neighborhood
Plan Amendment Process will be discussed at a hearing to be held May 12th.
Housing
Panel will meet May 12th at 6:00 p.m.
Sign
Ordinance amendment comments will be taken until May 31st.
Treasurer’s Report (Diane MacLean):
Balance to date is $3815.96. IRS 99N has been filed. Post office box renewal has been paid.
Vice-President’s Report
(John Erickson):
MNAC: Graffiti is a big issue. The police want to know when it occurs so
they can track gangs. Gang colors are
blue and red – anything else is probably not gang related. It is the property owner’s responsibility to
clean up graffiti within 24 hours.
Citi IQ, the planning
department’s overlays of utilities and property ownership, was explained.
The city attorney
reported that the franchise agreement with Cascade Natural Gas which allows
them to use city right of ways for piping is being negotiated for a period of
10 years. The last agreement was for 25
years.
The Transportation
Benefit District will be meeting May 11 (5:30) at the downtown library. The allocation of funds for sidewalks,
crosswalks and Sunday bus service will be explained.
Bob
Gibb reported that the receiver in charge of the Chuckanut Ridge property
has been contacted with the suggestion that ownership should be shared by the
city of
Elections
Nominations and elections were held
for President, Secretary and MNAC alternate.
Results were as follows:
No nominations or volunteers for
President. It was tabled until the next
meeting; the Vice President will serve in the absence of a President.
Lauri Grove & Lylene Johnson
were re-elected as co-secretaries.
Diane MacLean was elected as MNAC
alternate.
Neighborhood Plan:
Brad explained the process to date and encouraged everyone to read the
plan, which is posted on the website.
There are also some copies here tonight.
The June ENA meeting will be devoted to discussion, modification and,
hopefully, adoption of a plan for submission to the city.
Short
Break for Conversation and Refreshments
Brad
introduced the speaker, Bob Ferris of
ReSources, for a presentation on the proposed Pacific Gateway Terminal Project.
He discussed the following points:
General Impacts of
Project:
v
48
million metric tons of coal transshipped annually through
v
26
to 30 miles of new trains daily
v
200+
Cape size ship (200+ tons) annually
v
Coal
dust & diesel fumes
Health Impacts of
Project:
v
Coal
Dust & Diesel particulates cause heart problems and cancers
v
Noise
causes sleep deprivation
v
Coal
burning raises mercury levels in water (1 in 6 pregnant women have mercury
levels high enough to cause birth defects
Economic Impacts of
Project
v
Lower
property values
v
Business
isolation and access issues
v
Time
– delays
v
Compromises
the waterfront
Coal Dust is a Big Deal
v
Addressed
in the Seward Clean Water Act
v
Ground
within ˝ km of Lambert’s Pt Coal Terminal in Virginia is 20% coal dust…and they
dump directly from trains into ships, without open pile storage
v
Coal
dust causes black holes and dead zones in marine areas
Low Sulfer vs High
Sulfer Coal Argument
v
Argument: The coal being shipped is low sulfur, which
would result in fewer emissions from Chinese power plants than Chinese coal
v
Response: Large container ships burn bunker fuel, which
is the dirtiest product of the oil refining process. 16 large container ships emit more sulfur
than all the cars in the world.
v
Roberts
Bank – Vancouver – current depot – at capacity
v
Prince
Rupert – different delivery route
Project: Bait & Switch?
v
Trying
to use permit from 1992 – claim “vesting”
v
Differences: 1992 2011
8MMT 54MMT
5.8
acres wetlands 162 acres
wetlands
Potash
& wheat 88%
coal
Expectations: Expectations:
2002 6.03MMT 2015 34MMT
2012 9.84 MMT 2020 63.84 MMT
Jobs: Too Few, Too Late, Not Us
v
280
full time vs 2000-8000 Bellingham Waterfront Redevlopment
v
Only
33 longshoremen in Whatcom County
Can We Trust the
Players?
v
Only
4% of the mitigation promised has been done by PRB
v
Job
estimates were 2 times reality
v
SSA
has not done the research promised in 1992
Cherry Point Ecology
v
Wetland
loss: coal dust robs nearshore habitat
of oxygen
v
More
than 400,000 gallons of additional diesel burned by ships in port (2 tons per
day)
v
Increased
potential for ship collision and a major oil spill
Global Impacts
v
100MMT
of carbon dioxide emitted (green house gases)
v
48
MMT of coal to China = 205,000 new Chinese manufacturing jobs
v
Ocean
acidification
The Process is Just
Beginning – What Can Be Done?
v
Get
informed – www.re-sources.org or www.no-coal.net
v
Talk
to people
v
Get
involved
v
Sign
petition
v
Make
scoping comments: SSA wants only Cherry Pt considered re: environment impacts
v
Make
noise
Answers to Questions:
v
In
1992 SSA filed for permits for a commodity terminal. Suit was filed. Judge told SSA & stakeholders to work out
agreement. SSA was to do studies of
long-term impacts…never done.
v
Trains
are usually 125 cars with 2 engines at each end. They are too heavy to handle grades, so won’t
go over passes.
v
Whatcom
County is the lead agency. DNR, Army
Corps of Engineers and DOE also involved.
v
Scoping
questions need to be defined. SSA wants
to look only at Cherry Point. Need to
look at the entire length of the delivery route. Law says if an issue is raised in scoping
process, regulators must address it.
v
There
is disagreement over whether the original permit is still valid.
v
The
draft EIS is based on scoping questions.
Answers come to agencies for review, then final EIS is done.
v
Columbia
Law School and others are willing to aid with suit.
v
Portland,
Longview & Tacoma have all said No to this project. We have become the beachhead for climate
change.
v
The
City Club discussion can be viewed online
v
The
project will require substantial public investment
v
There
is the potential for increased slides along Eldridge and Edgemoor
v
Burlington
Northern is currently suing coal companies for fouling ballast under their
tracks, which contributes to derailments
v
Questions
for the scoping process need to be clear and respectful
Notes are based upon
information and discussion at the meeting, have not been checked for accuracy
of information and are not guaranteed to be without error.
The meeting
was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Lylene
Johnson, Secretary
Minutes are subject to approval