Re: Proposed West Southwest Neighborhood Trash and Recycling Center - (We previously reported on this topic: "Redland Farmers are Pissed")
Dear Southwest Miami-Dade Resident:
Thank you for offering your thoughts and concerns regarding the potential development of a Neighborhood Recycling Center (TRC) at SW 202nd Avenue and 290th Street. I want to assure the community that a concerted effort was made by County’s Public Works and Waste Management Department (PWWM) to inform area residents about its plans for the TRC, but I understand that many of you feel the two (2) publicly noticed meetings held on December 12, 2012 and January 16, 2013 at Fruit and Spice Park were inadequate.
Having read your letters and email messages, and in consultation with your district Commissioner Lynda Bell, I have decided to have the PWWM re-evaluate the location chosen for the proposed TRC and determine if another more suitable site is available that better conforms to County policy. Therefore, the third and final public outreach meeting scheduled for March 20, 2013, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the South Dade Government Center, Room 203, 10710 SW 211th Street, has been cancelled. Your County Commissioner, Vice-Chair Lynda Bell, listened closely to the strong objections of the residents of the area, and has worked with my office to satisfy the requests of her constituents and the needs of the Department to find an equitable solution for everyone. The information gathered at the previous meetings will be kept on file.
Again, thank you for participating in the Government Facilities process and rest assured that any future plans for TRC development in the Southwest area will be fully shared with you at the earliest possible time.
Sincerely,
Carlos A. Gimenez, Mayor
22 comments:
It is not over by any means. This TRC is BS. He didn't write they would stop looking for other parcels in the area, which is still all farming. Please don't give Bell credit for doing anything but hiding on this. She probably didn't like all the people calling her office, which her number has been posted all over Facebook.
When the Mayor sends a letter to our community stating that "we are no longer looking at ANY properties in or around the farming community of Redland AND the eastern edge of Redland" - I will not consider this more than trying to get the community to back down and take the pressure off, which is not going to happen.
This is just another County Hall dog & pony show, literally. Once all the community backs down and thinks this has all gone away, Public Works & whoever is profiting from these "TRC's" will be back at it with "meetings" noticed in newspapers in North Dade with no notice to property owners like the first meeting they had around Christmas!
I don't consider this letter for anything other than a big NOTHING meaning NOTHING to the stakeholders & farmers in the area!
I totally agree with the first response on this blog. Well said and we must keep an eye on the future dump that might end up in the African American neighborhood. Lynda Bell and the others need to start addressing our infrastructure for example replacing underground waterlines and toilet problems.
Lynda Bell will continue to help Waste management look for a site. She will probably look in other commissioners district.
I agree, The Mayor's wording is quite disturbing. Someone wants this TRC badly - I suspect the folks that were promised the contract. Duh. County officials and developers look at Redland like a juicy steak to be devoured, rather than a unique farm community to be protected and enhanced agriculturally. I wonder if Napa Valley had to go through this!
The people we vote into office,
their egos swell and become
self-centered forgetting their
immediate community needs and how
important it is to live in harmony
with the surrounding elements.
As large as this county is, it would behove all 13 Commissioners
to spend time in each district and
visit with not only local political leaders, but with its citizens in subject areas of contention. Not every voter is
aware of county departments of
changes in zoning ordinances &
instances. County citizen meetings are also helpful, when all newspapers are alerted to publish up & coming county projects & also very important--when subject property is up for citizens to respond to, that large 4X4 info (wooden & secured in the ground)signs be posted on premises fronting the property. Small card-
board signs blow away if at all
posted. Visibility of signs are
necessary when local residents
don't subscribe to newspapers.
Riley I
My concern - the introduction of pathogens that could cause problems with crops grown in the ag district. Not sure if that is a viable concern, but would appreciate farmers or agronomists weighing in on that.
Bell should be recalled - not only for her total absence and response to this issue. It's her total lack of doing anything for the unincorporated areas other than being a cheerleader for Everglades destruction, pollution, anti clean water, focusing on the Beacon Council funding when there's 10's of millions being mis spent as a direct result of the County Commission which she continually approves with little or zero oversight! She is a huge part of the problem with County Hall.
I really find it odd that Bell didn't put a press release out letting the community know she vehemently opposes this and would work with the community. She obviously is supporting this and considers our community a dumping ground!
She's a train wreck. How Gimenez would even mention she almost gives a darn shows he either didn't write the letter you posted or he doesn't give a crap about deep South Dade, as his history has shown, he really doesn't care until election time in a close race!
Bell is basically a small town, small minded hillbilly. She was a train wreck in Homestead, now she's a bigger one at the County level, messing with other Commission Districts and their issues instead of her own unincorporated areas, which she's 100% clueless about.
I love the fact that she involved herself on the Homestead Speedway concert stuff, which just cost them over a half a million dollars! The Speedway is in Dist. 9. She has a women in her district office who was suing a City in the District and the judge called her a perjurer - and our tax dollars are paying this person! Also in Dist. 9 is the bigger idiot/liar Alice Pena, and I'm not using liar lightly. Pena has been consistent on the public records making stuff up to justify all the illegal building in 8 1/2 sq mile, which Bell couldn't approve fast enough!
This County would be better served if Bell moved to her new "home" of Palmetto Bay and ran for Mayor there. She's already destroyed all that was good there with her interference in their local politics.
As to the "dump". If anyone believes this is just going to go away, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn, which probably needs repairs! I trust Gimenez about as far as I can throw him when it comes to this area. Our useless Ag Manager, Charles Lapradd, should retire which a nice golden parachute and be replaced by someone who actually give a darn about the farming district, which he's too busy playing politics and helping Bell destroy DERM and an accessory to the violations of the Federal Clean Water Act.
Unfortunately, Mayor Gimenez has had no real opposition who would be any better, and that is the saddest part of this who's a puppet of who story!
Gimenez has also approved development outside the UDB - going back to Krome Gold (the US Century Gang) as written in so many blog posts! His hands are not clean either nor is he our friend down here!
County Hall is just blind to one of the most precious, naturally rich areas of the County! Their total tunnel vision, too well lobbied for their own good, makes them that way!
It's just too bad incorporation won't be enough for Redland. It's almost to a point where we need Federal protection from County Hall because the State is even worse than our Commission right now!
As a resident of Cutler Bay, I use two local recycling centers quite often. I remember when there was talk of closing some of them down due to budget constraints. The characterization of these centers as "dumps" paints a different picture of what goes on at these trash transfer sites. They are certainly welcome in our city and get used by the local residents frequently. I would understand the residents near these stations not wanting one located near them if there was not enough density to warrant their construction and the increased expense of running the station was not necessary.
My experience is 10 acres is more than enough land to buffer the less desirable effects of the activities carried out by trucks exchanging trash containers and hauling off the appliances, tv's, tires, mattresses, etc. that end up on the side of the road far to often. The local residents should decide.
"The local residents should decide."
Thank you! This is where we have been excluded up to the point where it was almost a done deal with some Prelimary Approvals.
In any event, please remember the Redland Farming District & the Everglades. It cannot be compared to the areas east of US 1, or most of the areas there. There are serious concerns to our Agriculture & well systems, in addition to the fact that no one asked for something when we'd probably all vote 99% yes to use the funds to build and maintain these on the urban core needs of this community like water/sewer upgrades!
We didn't ask for it, it needs to go away.......
Miss Honey Boo Boo has a bright future!
Walmart "greeter", like a certain city council predecessor done did.
Front desk clerk, Redland Hotel.
So much to do, so little time!
YOLO, y'all!
URGENT QUESTIONS: about County's Search for "Another More Suitable Site" for a DUMP ...
... is there an "available (translation: county-owned) site" near YOU?!
At first I was relieved to receive the Valentine's Day Letter from Mayor Carlos Gimenez about his decision "to have PWWM re-evaluate the location chosen for the proposed TRC",
but the wording is so vague, it leaves us waiting for the next site they determine to be "suitable" to "the needs of the Department".
(you can request a copy of the letter by e-mailing: District8@miamidade.gov)
It certainly isn't our needs - I photographed the Moody Dump last Saturday - it is so obvious we don't need another county dump down this way.
I'm going to see about organizing a Town Meeting - maybe for May ? -maybe at the Ag Center ? - to provide a venue for those of us who want to protect the Ag and Redland Fringes from further Non-Ag intrusions. The Mayor's letter raises a lot of questions:
1. Why is our Public Works and Waste Management Dept so eager to spend our tax dollars on a huge County Dump we don't need, with an "Administrative office, Guardhouse for attendants, Disposal bays, Drop-off area for white goods, tires, and electronics, Furniture, Yard waste." That's not a "TRC" - that's an Industrial Complex!
During this time of drastic budget cuts ? It doesn't make any sense.
2. If the money budgeted for that Dept must be spent (for whatever reason) why not spend it on the crippled Water & Sewer infrastructure in the urban and suburban communities
(see Water & Sewer repair e-mail notice,Feb 12,from District 8).
Those communities have one costly emergency after another. There is no emergency out here in Redland, other than staving off one assault after another by developers who pressure our county officials into moving the UDB, so they can built whatever they want, wherever they want. (see Lennar's Kendal Plaza on Kendall, just west of 167th)
3. What is this "County policy" that "another more suitable site" needs to "conform to" ?
"The Master Plan Can Be Changed" was practically chanted (at Jan 16 meeting, Fruit & Spice Park) by angry residents responding to PWWM Dept official Lee Casey's explanation of a mandate.
4. What are "the needs of the Department" ? And why do they supersede our needs?
5. We don't need an "equitable solution" to a problem that does not exist !
The Moody Dump has proven to be more than adequate.
Please continue to ask the important questions of our county officials, elected to represent us.
To Miamun: Those of us directly surrounding the 10 acre site would lose our our lives - our minimalist existence affords us a peace that is found no where else in this county. Our streets are not slathered with sidewalks, we don't need drains for rain runoff (we have acres of limestone bedrock). There are no street lights fogging our star-scapes at night. Sound carries a long way out here. The roar of trucks coming and going, appliances falling onto cement, pollution from spills poisoning our water in 10 or 20 years? We have families on bicycles, This is HORSE COUNTRY! There is no where else for horses and riders to go in SW Dade! The rest is all gone ... zero lot line and paved yards obliterated it. Please understand we are fighting for our way of life out here. I'm not being dramatic when I tell you Redland is at risk of annihilation.
To Riley 1
I agree.
I live so very close to that 10 acre site. My carbon footprint is pretty small - no Air Conditioning , no spot-lights on our land, no asphalt driveways. We drink from our private fresh water wells. The only county services we ask for are police, fire ... and garbage pick-up (by the way, garbage is NOT allowed at a "TRC"). I don't believe "Miamun" is familiar with my Rural Experience.
Link to MY photos of THE Moody Drive "TRC" - A typical day at this county dump: no lines, no waiting!
https://picasaweb.google.com/105226502570482483023/MoodyDriveCountyDump?authuser=0&feat=directlink
We DO NOT NEED a county dump ANYWHERE on agricultural lands.
"...determine if another more suitable site is available that better conforms to County policy."
County policy?
What enlightened policy suggested the use of this site?
We tried. Got too much heat. Backed-off. Quick, find another site.
Follow the money. 2012 election payback.
I don't think that Lynda Bell's motivation is satisfying the requests of her constituents.
What can we expect from a politician who believes that beef jerky, RC Cola, and Moon Pies are three of the major food groups.
"What can we expect from a politician who believes that beef jerky, RC Cola, and Moon Pies are three of the major food groups."
Oh, there's so much more to run with on that statement, which is probably true! Someone should remind Bell why Evelyn Greer was a one term School Board member down here. She messed with Redland on a whole bunch of levels. Her opposition candidate didn't even live in the District and had to rent a studio apartment in order to run, oh, and Bell should remember this one because Larry Feldman is still on the School Board? Did he ever sell his house & move in to the District? I'm assuming yes since he was re elected. The other side is Mr. Feldman actually had done a lot of good in the community and didn't carry a lot of baggage like Bell did before he took the seat from Greer!
Redland may not have a lot of voters. The ones we do have reach deep in to the District. Not to mention that messing with the UDB (per the County voters) & the Clean Water Act (per the Feds) & the Everglades (per a Federal Judge) is never a good idea and tends to really irritate people in Kendall as well too, not to mention the new MDX toll issue.
May Bell's one term ride be short enough for a candidate who knows the community (in it's entirety, not just Palmetto Bay) succeed in defeating this hillbilly puppet in 2014!
Potential pollution of western well-fields and
introduction of pathogens into the agricultural district --
These are not NIMBY issues, they are economic issues. Its in everyone's best interest inside and out of this district to make the right decisions with this.
BEWARE: carpet-baggers from Boca, Altman Companies, are pushing fancy ads for Lennar's Kendal Plaza, under construction now, on FARMLAND! I suspect some dirty dealing went down to get our COUNTY OFFICIALS to push the UDB (Urban Development Boundary) yet again, to accommodate SPECIAL INTERESTS GROUPS over the protests of Residents from Redland and West Kendall ---- USE THIS LINK ----> http://www.communitynewspapers.com/kendall-gazette/the-altman-companies-to-build-321-unit-rental-development/#.USJ4oH19fYQ.facebook <---- or SEE IT for yourself (on Kendall , just west of 167th Ave) Doesn't anyone remember Lennar's Country Walk “house-of-cards” - blew down during Andrew and they weren't even in the eye! HOLD THE LINE - NO MORE WESTWARD EXPANSION! Contact Mayor Gimenez & all the County Commissioners - KEEP IT AGRICULTURAL for FUTURE FARMERS of AMERICA. Redland is Dade's Napa Valley! How come they don't see that?! WE NEED TO PUSH BACK!- Pat Milone, Redland Resident
I completely agree with your re-evaluation of the missive from the county. It seemed very "political" in it's wording i.e. there was a sense of layered meanings and obfuscation . I am relieved though, that the plans for this site were objected to and that there was a reaction to "the will of the people". I have long been concerned with the speed of the disappearance of the agricultural areas of south Florida. As the costs of getting food to this part of the world increases, this gets more impotent to all of us. There are also the undervalued quality of life issues connected with living in a rural setting.
Congratulations to all on the interruption of the steamrolling county forces.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME ... Well, infamous Lennar is Building "it", and Altman Companies (in Boca Raton) will make sure "they" come: (see link below to their carpatbagger ads)
http://www.communitynewspapers.com/kendall-gazette/the-altman-companies-to-build-321-unit-rental-development/#.USJ4oH19fYQ.facebook
The population that swarms into these disgusting monoliths will want services - including COUNTY DUMPS. And WHERE do you think our county officials will want to BUILD them? SAY "NO" NOW - DON'T WAIT UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE. HOLD THE LINE (UDB)! We need to PUSH BACK NOW. Don't allow another KENDAL PLAZA. Don't allow PARKLAND, or any other plan developers have lying in wait for us.
When there is no more land to build on, and the roads are choked to a standstill with traffic, and water shotages are the norm, and all our produce must be imported, and when the county can no longer afford the services for its teeming population -Where will developers go THEN? Maybe they should go there NOW.
Please scroll down, and take the time to copy & paste the link to 10 photos I took this afternoon.
I think you'll see why I'm so concerned about the Image Problem for Redland. This is what the county is allowing ... the obliteration of Redland Farm Area.
"Kendall Plaza" another suburban debauchery by Lennar Development (Kendall Drive, near Krome) "located within a Community Development District (CDD)" on 160 acres of farm land, previously zoned for agriculture. The brochure names the "estate" models "Avignon", "Cadiz", "Las Palmas", and "Zaragoza" - a far cry from Redland Farming Area! - I'm sure the farmers who sold the land would be surprised at how many units Lennar plans to sardine onto that land, at caviar prices. Somebody got the better end of that deal, thanks to our county government caving in to special interest groups, yet again, despite public opposition, yet again, to moving the Urban Development Boundary to accommodate Lennar's desires. STRAWBERRY FIELDS are NOT FOREVER if our county representatives continue to ignore their rural constituency.
CPOY AND PASTE the LINK into your browser:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=105226502570482483023&target=ALBUM&id=5847168772506947249&authkey=Gv1sRgCNvIpLbqyf2H5AE&feat=email
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