The Municipality of Capilla del Monte together with the Tourism Department are pleased to give JZ Knight a certification of thanks for visiting their city and also as an acknowledgment for her career.

JZ Knight is traveling to Argentina in mid-September to bring Ramtha for the first time ever to South America.

Ramtha: Return to the Campaign Workshop Argentina

Capilla del Monte is honoring her in a brief ceremony to transmit their love and affection that the people of the area have for her, open to the public (no charge) and will be held on September 11 at 1PM at the “Enrique Muiño” theatre (the local cinema), with a capacity of 450 seats. The mayor of Capilla del Monte, Mrs. Rosanna Olmos, will present the honorary certificate. Secretary of Culture and Education Horacio Ruiz and Fernando Diz, Coordinator of the the Press and Tourist Office will also be in attendance.

Simultaneous language translation will be provided.

The Olympian reported on Tuesday, August 18 in their front-page story titled “Yelm drops water rights proposal” that the city’s mitigated determination of non-significance (MDNS) has been withdrawn due to lack of additional water rights granted in 2009 by the Dept. of Ecology, a significant development.

“The city had proposed to boost its water supply five times above its current allotment by 2037, in part to supply a new 5,000 home development called Thurston Highlands” reported The Olympian.

Read the full Olympian article online

Read the city’s letter of the MDNS withdrawal.

In a landmark decision the City of Yelm has withdrawn their MDNS citing lack of new DOE approved water rights in 2009.

This is a major change in direction coming from the city and indicates that my efforts and actions by other citizens to stop the city from their intent to pump huge amounts of water from the area’s aquifer have been heard by the State.

After all, Ecology received 100 citizen comments AGAINST the city’s MDNS and not one letter in support of this plan.

The City of Yelm is at or near pumping their 2009 water allocation by Ecology, so any more expansion in the city without further water rights approvals is severely hampered.

My full-page ads in area newspapers went a long way to educate city, county & state officials about the facts of the city’s MDNS.

Read the city’s letter of the MDNS withdrawal.

Read JZ Knight’s comments to the City of Yelm about the Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) regarding the city’s Draft Water System Plan

Retail Trade Continues to Fall in Thurston County, except in Yelm where it rose 4.69% in the First Quarter of 2009

RSE Students inject $2,626,050 into the Local Economy in 2008 and more than $1.5 million in the First Half of 2009. Could this be the factor of Yelm’s unprecedented growth in the middle of a major recession?

SEE THE FULL PAGE ADD HERE

Mayor Ron Harding stated in his July 17, 2009 monthly column in the Nisqually Valley News (NVN) that the City of Yelm is attempting to secure additional water rights though what he says is “a difficult task, compounded by outside interests who would stymie our efforts and stop all progress.”

Harding did not state what outside interests he was referring, yet the inference was clear. I took out a full-page paid-advertisement in the NVN July 8, 2009 to set the record straight about the City’s misleading comments and disparaging remarks about citizens who speak out against improper and unlawful conduct printed in copious amounts of space in the NVN May 22 and May 29. Interesting to note the city’s and newspaper’s silence about my advertisement correcting their misinformation.

See that ad here.

What Mayor Harding needs reminding is that property owners inside city limits and owners peripheral to the city who are using the same aquifer as the city are all affected by the illegitimate use of local aquifer resources because the city has not been following procedures put in effect to preserve the use of those resources for private use, without impairment.

The City of Yelm has continued to maintain in their Draft Water System Plan, their MDNS & DNS that the huge increases in pumping water will have no environmental impact. The city has been relying on adding more water rights through the application to transfer the McMonigle water rights to the City of Yelm and has been using these requested but not approved additional water rights to justify they have enough water the last few years for increased city expansion. On July 20, 2009, Ecology REVERSES the decision of the Thurston County Conservancy Board and now says the City of Yelm is not approved to use the privately contracted water from the McMonigle water rights, leaving Yelm in a precarious position where their Draft Water System Plan may not be viable and the city could already be pumping more water than their allocated 796 acre feet per year.

The lack of regard for the environment by the City of Yelm has finally been noted in a landmark decision rendered by Ecology.

LOS ANGELES, CA.- Bonhams & Butterfields is pleased to announce the September 27, 2009 auction of The JZ Knight Collection. Amassed over a decade, the Collection will feature eclectic and unique examples of period furniture, decorative arts, carpets and paintings from the 17th through 20th centuries with a particular focus on European and American elegance.

Each item on offer during the 500-lot sale has been personally selected by Knight to reflect her passion for rare and unique items. Featured works from the Los Angeles-based auction include a discerning selection of 20th Century design as well as a diverse array of European furnishings, decorative arts, carpets and paintings.

“The JZ Knight Collection symbolizes the heart and soul of a true collector. Knight’s passion for beauty and quality are represented throughout the offering, in all facets of the auction,” said Andrew Jones, Los Angeles Director of European Furniture and Decorative Arts at Bonhams & Butterfields.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON www.artdaily.org

A Citizen Responds…

As you may recall:

Back in May, the City of Yelm issued a baffling MDNS (Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance) for an incomplete and unapproved draft Water Mitigation Plan -

in which the City of Yelm determined

- that a proposed five-fold increase in pumping City water “will not have a probable significant adverse environmental impact on the local aquifer”.

JZ Knight bought space for full page ads in the Nisqually Valley News (NVN) & The Olympian to alert citizens to the City’s failure to protect the local aquifer and to provide a reasonable opportunity for citizen input. [see that ad here]

JZ Knight, the Squaxin Island Indian Tribe, and the Yelm Aquifer Preservation Society have appealed the MDNS. Over 100 comment letters were written by citizens – all opposing the City’s improper MDNS. [see all of the comments here]

The NVN used copious amounts of space in its May 22nd and May 29th editions to publish the City’s misleading comments and disparaging remarks about citizens who speak out against improper and unlawful City conduct;

and now

JZ Knight buys space in the NVN and NVN Shopper the week of July 8th, yet again, to set the record straight:
See Full Copy of Ad Here

Several days before the May 15 Public Comment deadline of the Yelm Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS), full page ads were taken out in the The Olympian, the NVN & NVN Shopper to inform the residents of Yelm of the consequences of the proposed plan.

Poll from the NVN

See the full-page informational ad by JZ Knight in The Olympian, the NVN & NVN Shopper.

Public response resulted in 98 letters being written to the City of Yelm, Washington State Department of Health and Department Ecology. In addition there were three formal appeals filed, including one from the Squaxin Island Tribe. CLICK HERE to see the public comments and appeals.

Also, the following Poll from the NVN website and this wonderful letter were printed in the NVN on May 22nd from a concerned Thurston County citizen.

Clip from NVN

Taken from CITY & NVN CONTINUE TO HOODWINK PUBLIC – WHY?

Today’s front-page headline story in the Nisqually Valley News (NVN) states:
“City: Knight water ad is a ’scare tactic’” is just another example of the city’s & newspaper’s intent to keep the public in the dark!

Continuing to quote the story in the NVN,
“Yelm City Administrator Shelly Badger said the city conducted the study to determine if the southwest section of Yelm was an appropriate place to pull water from in a long-term scenario…
Badger said the study needed to be conducted regardless of Thurston Highlands, but that the Highlands can’t be left out because it is inside the city limits.”

THE FACT THAT MRS. BADGER AND THE NVN CONTINUE TO NOT ADDRESS THIS ISSUE IS VERY TELLING!

The Golder Water Study (on Thurston Highlands land) had only one purpose and that was to find water for a private developer to locate water on their private (not city owned/controlled) land and bring to the city with their 3 applications. As a matter of public policy, developers are supposed to pay for their impacts up front, just like schools, roads, traffic and water. However, the public has paid because the city funded the water study up front and has maintained they will be reimbursed by impact fees from building permits in the development. The developers defaulted and are now gone, which left the city with over 2/3 of a million dollars in debt the taxpayers will have to swallow, unless the developers somehow cure their default by May 25th. To Mrs. Badger & the Nisqually Valley News, developers are supposed to present all aspects of their project to the city, not the city to the developer.

WHY DO YOU BOTH KEEP OMITTING THIS FACT!
“The drop (in wells levels by 23 feet) is 30 years from now, city officials said,” quoting the NVN.

THE CITY & NVN WILL NOT TELL YOU THIS:

• There is NO mitigation on the effects this Plan is going to have.

And the city knows that!

• The city has not even studied the effects their plan will have on surrounding wells.

And the city knows that!

• All of the information on the city’s MDNS is the city’s opinion.

And the city knows that!

• This comment period and appeal ending today (May 22nd) is supposed to take care of ALL public comment for 30 years.

And the city knows that!

• Unless MDNS is appealed by 5pm today (May 22), no one will have any recourse for comment on the MDNS for 30 years.

And the city knows that!

• If you or future property owners wish to comment on the city’s water plan in 10, 20 or 30 years, the city can say no one said anything in 2009, the plan says so – tough!

And the city knows that!

• This is a land-use issue under SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act).

Making comments and bringing all of this in the open is about preserving YOUR RIGHTS to talk about this issue in the future.

And the city knows that!

• The city’s Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS) says the proposed water withdrawal increase by five-fold is non-significant. How can that amount of water withdrawal produce anything except a SIGNIFICANT DROP in the local aquifer? That should require, indeed demand, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

And the city knows that!

HOW CAN THIS KIND OF ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT NOT BE AN OUTRAGE TO AREA CITIZENS?

THE CITY AND NVN OBVIOUSLY WISH TO KEEP YOU, THE PUBLIC, IN THE DARK ON THIS AND MAKE THEMSELVES THE VICTIM WHEN THE TRUTH IS BROUGHT OUT.

Please educate yourself:

SEE the full-page informational ad by JZ Knight in The Olympian, the NVN & NVN Shopper this week.

ALL OF THE INFORMATION IS FROM THE CITY’S OWN MDNS!
CLICK HERE

VIEW JZ KNIGHT’S ATTORNEY’S FULL LETTER TO THE CITY OF YELM

THURSTON COUNTY’S SILENCE ON THIS IS DEAFENING, SINCE MANY OF THE AFFECTED AREAS ARE OUTSIDE OFT HE CITY OF YELM IN THURSTON COUNTY!

Area affected by proposed water drawdown

The City of Yelm is trying to substitute a Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS) for an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) regarding their proposed five-fold increase in water withdrawal quantities. By doing this, City officials are sidestepping their obligation to get the opinions of the public and independent professionals about the environmental impacts of such an action.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PDF CONCERNING THIS HERE

Your well water level could drop 23 feet and leave you dry

When this happens, when you least expect it, who’s going to pay you the $15,000 it takes to drill you a new well and replace your pumping equipment? Are you going to enjoy the surprise of having no water?

You have until this Friday, May 22nd to send your comments into officials for an appeal.

Jay Manning Director
Department of Ecology
PO Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
jaym461@ecy.wa.gov

Mary C. Selecky, Secretary of Department of Health
PO BOX 47890
Olympia, Washington 98504-7890
Secretary@DOH.WA.GOV

Grant Beck
City of Yelm
Director, Community Dev. Dept.
P.O. Box 479
Yelm, WA 98597
grantb@ci.yelm.wa.us