Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Playing Catch Up with the Power Line Issue

Last Thursday, Pamela Kline, who is heading up Farmers and Families for Livingston, was interviewed on WGXC by Ellen Thurston and Tom DePietro. In that interview, prior to the public meeting that took place the next day, Kline shared the information that she and her group have ferreted out about the proposals to route transmission lines through Columbia County. The interview has now been archived and can be heard here.

1 comment:

  1. Neighbors, here we have a prime example of why the City of Hudson desperately needs a Conservation Advisory Council (CAC).

    The role of a CAC is to find official answers to questions such as the ones raised in the WGXC interview.

    What we have instead is what we've always had: individuals groping in the dark and coming up against stonewalling.

    Yesterday I wasted a half-hour speaking with Didi Barrett's office, unable to determine whether the current project "scoping" and its deadline for public comments belongs to process known as a "SEQR review."

    That was the easy question, with a yes/no answer, and today it remains unanswered!

    The tougher question is whether the proposal was modified since its unveiling last month to now route the transmission lines through the City of Hudson. (In October, the transmission line route was limited to where the lines already are, in Greenport.)

    I've written to the NYS Public Service Commission. But if the news is bad then how soon do you think I can expect an answer? They may drag their feet until after the Thanksgiving holiday, and run out the clock on the uncomfortable questions of a single resident.

    THIS IS WHY HUDSON NEEDS A CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL!

    Shouldn't we be told if new transmission lines are to run across the city? Apparently not, or not until it's too late!

    Now ask why the Common Council has dragged its feet for a year on the question of appointing a Conservation Advisory Council (CAC)?

    [/Obvious Answer Alert:] Because residents are silent on the issue!

    So why aren't we all complaining to our aldermen about their failure to create a CAC? C'mon people, wake up! A better example of why Hudson needs a CAC couldn't be imagined.

    Or maybe we can just wait around and see how much more credulous we can be; two square miles of sheer passivity.

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