Pictures of the recommended AME Metea Site

[fence]

Well that certainly explains the price tag.

[Arch]

rj said:

One question for eagledad, did you ever consider the health risks related to the BB farm site? Over the years there have been thousands of tons of toxic fertilizers, pesticides including anhydrous ammonia dumped on the soil, many before EPA regulation. Not to mention all the exhaust particulates from the diesel powered farm equipment landing on the ground.

Sounds to me like that site would have some health risks involved also. Actually, I am sure one could find some kind of adverse supposed threat at any of the sites if we looked hard enough.

I am not eagledad and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express.

I personally brought up those concerns with BB at the time. I also did the same thing about the Macom land. My BIAS is about hazards only, not about wanting it closer to my neighborhood.

[EagleDad]

sam2 said:

Eagledad:

Yours is a much better post than mine. Thanks.

A few small points. The "power thingy" is teh peaker plant that is being removed. The "industrial manufacturing" is actually warehousing, a catering firm, comcast and possibly some very light manufacturing. This is the industrial park where i've worked for 26 years -- there is very, very little manufacturing in this park.

OK, thanks for clarifying, I guess I mislabelled the industrial park.

That one building has a whole lot of what appears to be Semi-trailers parked out front. I'm assuming that's not the Comcast office.

The industrial park probably doesn't matter because you have to cross the EJ&E tracks (maybe I need to better label them in the picture - they are where all the freight cars are parked - you probably can't even see the indistrial park through the freight cars) to get there. You know those EJ&E tracks - the ones of the future Metra line (trains travelling at 60-70MPH and a tripling of the number of 3-4 thousand foot freight trains at 40MPH.

[Arch]

gatormom said:

I have been doing some digging around about the Hamman farm site. Kind of interesting the stuff I am learning.

Did you know that there is an existing landfill on that property? It has been capped but there is an existing environmental concern with that. Who knows what has been dumped there and who would be paying for cleanup.

I also found out that in the annexation agreement from 2003, a water tower needs to be constructed on the land. The existing City's water supply system is not able to get water to the far southern part of the property without being detrimental to the water service for the residents just to the north. This is for safety as the water supply is not sufficient for fire protection.

ETA: I have reminded that I am off topic. I was only responding to the original post suggesting waiting a year and putting the school on Hamman. Sorry.

Nice digging. Should definitely count as strikes against the place. On top of a landfill? MMMmmm Methane, an explosive/flammable gas. No thanks. Pass on that site and AME.

[momto4]

I'm having a hard time understanding why the people who live near this site and are very familiar with what it looks like are overjoyed at the prospect of sending their kids there. Do you people think we are morons that don't care about the safety of our own children and others?

The people complaining the loudest about safety of AME seem to either be currently in NV boundaries and potentially moving to WV boundaries, or currently in WV and not wanting a long drive to MV if the boundaries turn out that way (except I know arch has said distance is not the issue for him).

Everyone I've talked to from any of the 4 furthest north schools is happy with AME.

[Arch]

momto4 said:

I'm having a hard time understanding why the people who live near this site and are very familiar with what it looks like are overjoyed at the prospect of sending their kids there. Do you people think we are morons that don't care about the safety of our own children and others?

The people complaining the loudest about safety of AME seem to either be currently in NV boundaries and potentially moving to WV boundaries, or currently in WV and not wanting a long drive to MV if the boundaries turn out that way (except I know arch has said distance is not the issue for him).

Everyone I've talked to from any of the 4 furthest north schools is happy with AME.

Per my snippet of an email I posted yest that was fanned out to some Watts families trying to solicit POSITIVE FEEDBACK to the SB, they had mentioned that MW may be assigned there (in case that changes anyone's opinions).

Unfortunately some of the positive is also tainted by people not wanting to go to WV and/or instead be assigned to the new school.


I can't state this enough. I do not care what school my kids go to. I will live with whatever driving time it is. I DO care about the hazards of the site; past, present and future. That should be the #1 priority over price, IMO. Otherwise, you are saying your wallet is more important than the safety of your child.

Call me a pr!ck for putting it that way, but that is what it comes down to in my mind.

[EagleDad]

momto4 said:

I'm having a hard time understanding why the people who live near this site and are very familiar with what it looks like are overjoyed at the prospect of sending their kids there. Do you people think we are morons that don't care about the safety of our own children and others?

The people complaining the loudest about safety of AME seem to either be currently in NV boundaries and potentially moving to WV boundaries, or currently in WV and not wanting a long drive to MV if the boundaries turn out that way (except I know arch has said distance is not the issue for him).

Everyone I've talked to from any of the 4 furthest north schools is happy with AME.

I'm actually more upset about the lack of candor and transparency from the school district and school board on the whole process, especially the budget increases, bond premiums, and apparent ramrodding of this through suddenly. I do believe that Hamman is a safer, less expensive geographically better site for the distict (I think BB tops them all - shame we're walking away for a couple of million).

I just posted the pictures for a friend who isn't so good with the internet.

[forthekids]

archwinsome said:

rj said:

One question for eagledad, did you ever consider the health risks related to the BB farm site? Over the years there have been thousands of tons of toxic fertilizers, pesticides including anhydrous ammonia dumped on the soil, many before EPA regulation. Not to mention all the exhaust particulates from the diesel powered farm equipment landing on the ground.

Sounds to me like that site would have some health risks involved also. Actually, I am sure one could find some kind of adverse supposed threat at any of the sites if we looked hard enough.

I am not eagledad and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express.

I personally brought up those concerns with BB at the time. I also did the same thing about the Macom land. My BIAS is about hazards only, not about wanting it closer to my neighborhood.

Almost all of us in this area live on land that was farm land. So according to you, we should all have questions about the land our homes are on.

[Arch]

forthekids said:

archwinsome said:

I am not eagledad and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express.

I personally brought up those concerns with BB at the time. I also did the same thing about the Macom land. My BIAS is about hazards only, not about wanting it closer to my neighborhood.

Almost all of us in this area live on land that was farm land. So according to you, we should all have questions about the land our homes are on.

You should always question the land. Yes. Everyone has a different comfort level of what is acceptable and what it not acceptable. Some people care about living on a place that had hazardous chemicals spilled in the past. Some love the price and overlook it.

[sam2]

momto4 said:

I'm having a hard time understanding why the people who live near this site and are very familiar with what it looks like are overjoyed at the prospect of sending their kids there. Do you people think we are morons that don't care about the safety of our own children and others?

The people complaining the loudest about safety of AME seem to either be currently in NV boundaries and potentially moving to WV boundaries, or currently in WV and not wanting a long drive to MV if the boundaries turn out that way (except I know arch has said distance is not the issue for him).

Everyone I've talked to from any of the 4 furthest north schools is happy with AME.

As one who has posted some clarifications about the site, let me make it perfectly clear that I am not endorsing the site. Our youngest is a sophomore and won't be affected by the school no matter what happens. Of course, I am concerned with the safety of everyone's children.

What I am equally concerned with, and have been for many years, is the apalling lack of honesty and transparency from our school board. After the BB fiasco, many more people seem to share my frustration.

That said, when people on this board resort to hyperbole and misleading or incorrect info to support their positions, it lowers the quality of debate and lessens the credibility of this board. . A lot of info on this board is accepted as gospel and repeated within the larger community. All I'm saying is that when our info is incorrect, we are all subject to being called on the inaccuracies and our credibility suffers.

Many are justifiably critical of the SB for pushing an agenda and twisting the facts to suit the desired outcome. I would hope that we would do better than that, that's all.

I hope I haven't offended anyone. I recognize that others do not always ( or ever) share my opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion -- I'd just like to see the info on this board remain as accurate as possible -- Credibility is important -- I think most would agree that the SB has squandered theirs -- let's keep ours.

[gatordog]

sam2 said:

....
That said, when people on this board resort to hyperbole and misleading or incorrect info to support their positions, it lowers the quality of debate and lessens the credibility of this board. . A lot of info on this board is accepted as gospel and repeated within the larger community. All I'm saying is that when our info is incorrect, we are all subject to being called on the inaccuracies and our credibility suffers.

Many are justifiably critical of the SB for pushing an agenda and twisting the facts to suit the desired outcome. I would hope that we would do better than that, that's all.

I hope I haven't offended anyone. I recognize that others do not always ( or ever) share my opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion -- I'd just like to see the info on this board remain as accurate as possible -- Credibility is important -- I think most would agree that the SB has squandered theirs -- let's keep ours.

very good post, sam. I fully agree about importance of credibility.

I think ED, perhaps not being so familar with the area, got a little lost and started taking photos off Diehl rd . . The site report proposes that school goes at Eola and Molitor. I think the last two photos might be a half mile from the school.

[EagleDad]

Just to be clear - I did not take the photos, there were send to me by someone as well as descriptions of where they were taken from.

[jwh]

Thanks for the clarification(s) Sam2. There's a lot of spinning going on. Fast and furious spinning by those furious about possibly going to another school.

[Arch]

jwh said:

Thanks for the clarification(s) Sam2. There's a lot of spinning going on. Fast and furious spinning by those furious about possibly going to another school.

Lots of spinning by those wanting to go to a newer or closer school too, to be fair.

[fence]

jwh said:

Thanks for the clarification(s) Sam2. There's a lot of spinning going on. Fast and furious spinning by those furious about possibly going to another school.

Again, not sure how we can expect those that had something taken away from them to not be upset, and alternately, expect those given a bluebird not to be pleased.

The irony of this particular situation is undeniable, and I'm actually surprised at the overwhelming negativity and general lack of empathy for our own community. Apparently, we're not really a community after all. We're just a bunch of people who commonly appreciate a really nice riverwalk.