On 9/9/2011 12:02 PM, Joel Wilcox wrote:
> Nice of you to think of it, Moose. The river is fine. People have been more
> of a problem. Our city has tried to take a
> heavy hand it reshaping lives and property in the name of flood mitigation.
> They actually proposed putting a levee
> under our road to protect our neighbors in condominium-ville across the road.
> This would effectively put us on the wet
> side of the levee and make it extremely difficult to get in and out of our
> homes. This proposal was granted in the
> 11th hour just before the election almost a year ago. The proposal actually
> hid the fact that our neighborhood exists!
> We could not actually get HUD or the state agency that granted the award to
> rescind the funds, but they have made the
> city hire a firm to do a thorough study of the effect of a levee on our
> neighborhood. I am cautiously optimistic
> because as time has passed more opposition to the levee has grown in the
> community.
Good luck with that.
> But my time off the list has been devoted significantly to fighting city
> hall.
I'm amazed how hard it is for people to see the real issues and what can be
done. Cell phone providers have been active
in trying to put the micro antennas in local neighborhoods. One was proposed by
T-Mobile on a utility pole right in
front of my house. Several neighbors got up in arms. But they were all worked
up about radiation dangers.* Nobody seemed
to believe that the Telecom Act of 1996 and subsequent federal court decisions
upholding it made that objection pointless.
Lots of emails, lots of hot air. finally a meeting with our Councilperson and
the city chief engineer. Had to let
everyone go on about radiation forever. Finally, I got attention to my
contention that the only way for the city to gain
control was on other grounds. A neighbor had gone into SF to take pics of an
installation there identical to what was
proposed here. Never mind the antenna 80 feet in the air, it's the 7-8 foot
high stack of big, ugly equipment boxes and
cables that I object to. And everyone who lives close to then complains about
the 60 cycle hum.
I pointed out that regulation based on esthetics and appropriate installation
for our neighborhood could be effective
entirely without any mention of radiation at all. I asked if anyone asking for
a permit for public art like that would
possibly get a permit. The city council soon passed an ordinance requiring that
such antenna installations be no larger
than a much smaller size - and emit no noise. Not a peep from T-Mobile since.
I'm pretty sure equipment that meets those requirements simply doesn't exist,
at least yet. And I bet the ordinance
would withstand legal challenge, because the requirements are eminently
reasonable for residential neighborhoods.
Leave principle aside, and assess what will work.
Practical Politics Moose
* I make no stand on this, on either side, so please don't argue with me.
--
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