special meeting oct 6th 2015

[stump]

Anyone heard of a special land use meeting tonight about the old Lyons property on south James st.? Seems it's a little late to conceder if a property could be used for a certain business after the property was purchased and the buildings were leveled. A lot of money spent on a hunch that the council would accept it.

[XLFD]

I look forward to seeing someone come forward at the upcoming city council meeting on Monday to let the councilors know that the tile presented by Nancy Mustaikis at the August 10 LCC meeting was not only alleged to be asbestos, but was.  It's time to take a closer look at what shortcuts Ted Gedra received and took in getting this business venture to this point.   

[Inquiring Mind]

Well it looks like we'll have another House of Flavors noise problem on S. James St. I watched the video and if they are not concerned with the people who live in that area wait until the Marina and condo people have to listen to the noise from the production of the beer.
Do you think that tourists are going to rent those vacation rental condos with all the noise across the street?
Just like the 6,000+ sq. feet of Asbestos tile they crushed and removed (tested by a testing lab in Richmond Virginia as positive) with no precautions for their workers or the citizens of Ludington, even when the city was asked to make them at least water it down The City ignored the requests. The EPA came in and found the violations, but have you seen anything in the paper about it? This is no loner an industrial area and should not be treated as one.

[MED]

LOL! At 23:49 the Badger horn sounds, at 24:15 "what is that?" Oh, that's my phone ringtone.....

[stump]

It seems that the AFFEW missed A FEW things on this project.

[AQUAMAN]

Mr. Chairman, are you impersonating Foster Brooks? Sure looks like him. Then Kathy W. the newbie clowncil member, do you ever do your own homework on city procedures and legislative matters? You are supposed to be a teacher afterall, so what's the deal? Methinks you get waaaay too much publicity, and should study-up like a pupil should. Then there's the "bobble-head" effect. See it in the audience with the man and woman mostly in front, guiding Gedra thru the hard parts, and btw, how come if he's the spokesman for the project, he's so uninformed on almost every aspect of questions presented to him? I thought he was part-and-parcel of the leaders of this project. Therefore, why so inept and lacking in certainty for answers from both commission members and the public? Oh, Shyster Shay, on the outskirts giggling, holding hand up to face too often, not concentrating on the matters, but his vanity, and arrogance towards others. Mr. Green, thanks for your cogent comments, both interesting, and informative. You only had about 7-8 minutes to present your case, looks like the commission members don't want to put much into your first-hand observations being that you live right there behind this proposed project. Good for you anyhow. I esp. liked the reactions of the man and woman up front when the project was voted on, all smiles and satisfaction, even though this was still a proposal, not a final permit. No "fixed deal" here, right? What's the size of that siloh again? 40'? How about that decibel limit? Like HOF, 85/75 or 65/55? Good question again! We simply haven't been apprised of ALL the FACTS and the offsets to the neighborhood, but hey, we're good ole boys, and know enough to get this project going. YUP! 

[XLFD]

The meeting has been posted on Ludington TV, take a look beginning at the 5:30 mark for information on this new business.  Very interesting is that no member of the public or the commission ever brought up anything regarding the demolition problems, especially when City Councilor Kathy Winczewski is on AFFEW's Board and the husband of AFFEW's Secretary (Joe Moloney) were both sitting on the Planning Commission. 

AFFEW prides itself for:

• Hosting public meetings to promote better understanding between local environmentalists and industry.
• Trying to find answers and solutions to environmental questions and problems.
• Researching rumors of environmental hazards, and trying to bring unbiased reports of our findings to the public’s attention.

Methinks AFFEW is missing an issue here-- note also that COLDNews Managing Editor's wife is AFFEW's Veep, so this golden opportunity to educate the public about environmental issues is being missed on several angles, simply because these guys are hypocrites and capable of looking the other way while our local environment is compromised.

[AQUAMAN]

I have been by many breweries and also distillers thru the years. There is almost always a pungent odor in that area. Of course the ones I'm talking about are very large major operations like Miller, Budweiser, Jack Daniels, etc.. So, whether a micro-brewery would make the air smelly is subjective right now. I don't smell any odors by James Street Brewery, buy they are underground too. That 300' notice to neighbors may also be connected to commercial operations, not residential or retail.

[XLFD]

Of interest is from the Ludington Zoning Code Section 1200:6:1 etc. which says that (via state law) all properties within 300 feet (approximately one city block) shall be specifically notified thru the mail or hand-delivery.  Oddly enough, I live three blocks away, over 500 ft. as the crow flies, and received one of these notices.  Mayhaps because of the nature of the business coming in they had to.

Interestingly, Ted Gedra in yesterday's COLDNews is quoted: "It's the first step in what's a long process."

According to stump's resources, this wasn't the first step; Mr. Gedra was duly involved with the demolition of the old buildings.  How disappointing that Gedra, his hirelings, and his city hall partners didn't take the precautions to make sure the demolition did not adversely affect the community, as asbestos seems to have been in some of the building materials of those structures demolished (currently being verified by testing).  Is this a precursor as to how he will run his business?

Gedra assures us via the COLDNews that 'the odors would occur during brewing and not be continuous, and said it would be similar to baking bread and not unpleasant.'  Just a bigger McDonald's Bakery, I guess, but we'll see.

[AQUAMAN]

All perspective land purchasers, whether they be for commercial or residential, usually have an idea of what they want to do with the land and/or bldg.. If it's a special land use permit requirement, they will follow-up with the local planning commission or township to request that special permit in hopes that it will be granted. This all happens in advance of buying the land, and/or demolishing any current structures thereon. Common procedure and sense. No one would buy a property, demolish a bldg., then lastly go ask for that permit, wouldn't be worth the risk of getting turned down. So, if the "fix" wasn't in for some months now in advance, then what else is the answer? Also, the planning comm. usually sends letters requesting comments to the adjoining neighbors on either side of the proposed project, not neighbors blocks away, or across the street, that's not adjoining property owners. 

[stump]

Doing a little research and find on the the owner listed on the demolition permit is Ted Gedra from Rockford , MI., Dixon Architecture also listed is from Ada, MI. Might be multiple people/owners involved. And of coarse , Our own Ludingtons Schultz Excavating, who contaminated the whole neighborhood by not following EPA regulations.