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!