Gloves Come Off in the Turf War

[XLFD]

I am seriously losing patience with local officials that will not do the minimal duties of their job and would otherwise sit by and watch other agencies do very unsafe, unethical, and/or unlawful actions.  Witness what happened with the deer cull, a vocal minority spurred the city council into an unpopular action, unwisely set to happen on the grounds of our new elementary school, you know the one with deer as one of their spirit wings.  The school board was even more eager to see it go through without even bothering to look at the plan, which allowed for high power rifles and hunting during school hours, they showcased it as an archetype for interagency cooperation between the city and school.

The illegality of the enterprise, stated in the legal process that the Ludington Torch filed thereafter, extended through local, state, and federal law and was overwhelming enough to make the school and city reconsider the project, with the city eventually reversing itself before any court hearing was needed.  As for interagency cooperation, the school decided to get their share of the quid pro quo they put into action by agreeing readily with the cull on school grounds by pushing their installation of 1.5 acres of artificial turf and the crumb rubber infill that goes underneath it at Oriole Field around the usual oversight policies of the city.

As noted at the last LPC meeting, Oriole Field is considered a city park under the city code and any excavations or replacements of natural grass with an impervious surface should be not only approved by the city manager but reviewed by the Recreation Board and the Planning Commission.  Since nobody in the school is doing any oversight of the Astroturf project or installation, this task has been shoved off to Grand Rapids architects and/or project managers (if we're lucky) who could really care less about our children, our grandchildren and our environment.  More likely, the only oversight done with this project will be the installers, Astroturf Inc., who spout the company's propaganda and are in severe denial that there is anything potentially bad with their project.  

The May 3rd meeting of the Ludington Planning Commission basically had no items of business other than discussing without action, how to potentially adapt the existing city and zoning codes to allow for Ray's Auto Marine to put in four more campsites to an acquired lot to extend their camping facilities they offer, and it looks like they may have something in place by June.  Co-owner Jessica Karboske offered some encouragement to the commissioners to accomplish that endeavor, but then I had a little help from a visual aid and three guys to get my point across.  I stepped to the Mike, and spoke in a Frank and Earnest manner.

XLFD:  (2:55 in)  I always thought Planning Commissions were at best cruel jokes imposed on the community for nothing else than to diminish private property rights, and last meeting I wasn't disappointed.  I saw a half dozen neighbors get up and voice support for adding more campsites adjacent to an existing campground and heard a comprehensive description of the plan from the property owner.  Nobody was against this improvement, this didn't add anything harmful to the neighborhood, and the owner had a proven track record of finishing campground projects like this.  It failed being approved, this board tabling a decision while claiming some existing city law prohibits backyard tent camping when there is no such law.  

I also saw a half dozen neighbors get up and air some very real concerns about a downtown factory and those concerns were summarily dismissed by this panel when they approved the addition of two ammonia storage tanks to their exterior-- for the community's safety, naturally (sigh).  Except this board accepted their 'improvement' at face value and like obedient sycophants accepted the euphemism of calling these tanks 'vessels' as if they were majestic sailing ships rather than unsightly storage tanks whose rupture could take out a lot of this city rather than being contained in the plant.  Commissioner Boggs wrapped up the discussion by saying it was all about safety, all about safety, not other issues and the vote was unanimous; I hope you all get free ice cream this summer, you earned it.  

Yet, safety was not on this board's mind when it came to the issue I brought before you.  Unlike the House of Favors, I politely asked this commission to do their minimal duties and look at the introduction to the community of a toxic dumping ground on the 1.3 acres or so that Oriole Field currently sits on and its compliance or lack thereof with the master plan.  Don't you hold public agencies to the same standards you create for the rest of us by reviewing site plans, or do you think it's OK for schools to poison generations by adding a wasteland of carcinogenic crumb rubber into our environment and threaten not only our kids into contracting cancer as young adults, but threaten our aquifers, our watersheds, and our pristine lake.  

Your non-response to this hazard to our kids and our community was a sign to me that your impotent position is non-defensible.  If politeness doesn't get your attention towards this serious issue, the gloves are coming off (I removed my gloves), and I'm figuratively hurling these gauntlets in your face (I tossed my gloves at my seat).  Our pathetic school board may want to hire Astroturf Inc. for $1.4 million to come here and screw everyone, while they laugh with glee like the cuckolds they are, but is your agency and other city officials going to do your job and protect us, or cackle and fondle yourself along with them? [END]

In truth, this is the same duo cuckoldry that had the school board walking sticky hand-in-sticky hand with the city for a poorly planned deer cull taking place with the roles reversed for this nihilistic kink against the safety and health of our children.  None of those officials would recognize or discuss any of the issues I brought forth, but how could they?  First off, they won't find a city law that bans backyard tent camping, just like Mayor Barnett couldn't find a rule passed by the city council that mandates a speaker to give his full home address. 

City officials often make the mistake of seeing that there is no law explicitly allowing someone to (for example) pitch a tent in their backyard and concludes that it's unlawful because of that.  Those are the officials you want recalled since the fact there is no law against it, means that it is totally lawful.  

But the bigger point is that the Ludington Planning Commission is shirking its duty, it needs to conduct a site plan review and should be stressing to the school the need to have this 'improvement' totally vetted by the school and the city that has those inherent duties by bylaw and code.  It isn't a stretch of their duties to say that they need to conduct oversight on this plan to go toally against their master plan and introduce a chemical garden on 1.5 acres of city property.  You can find throughout the nation a large amount of links dealing with city planning commissions dealing with a school or other group wanting to install artificial turf where natural grass was before, here are the first relevant pages I found with a simple Google search using the keywords "planning commission", "football" and "turf":  

Royal Oak, MI, 2019:  Special land use & site plan review for athletic field improvements.

Arden Hills, MN 2021:  a formal review and special land use hearing by the Planning Commission to approve conversion of grass football field to turf

Mountain Brook, AL 2022:  MB Planning Commission minutes with a public hearing on converting grass to turf field at local jr. high reviewing all aspects of the move.

Portola Valley, CA 2013:  "After more than two hours of testimony by residents for and against an artificial grass soccer field at the Woodside Priory School, a slim majority on the Town Council told Priory officials that they must use real grass...  The 3-2 vote overturns a March 20 decision by the Planning Commission to allow an artificial surface. The council chose to review the commission's decision in April after a public outcry by those who opposed a step they viewed as inconsistent with the town's environmentally conscious vision of itself."

Main line Philadelphia PA 2021: "The planning commission voted unanimously Monday night to recommend granting the school district a waiver of land development for installation of the turf and stormwater management facilities under the field, despite unease that they weren’t “seeing the whole picture.”"

Norwalk CN 2015:  Norwalk athletes plead case to Planning Commission: Spend $1.1 million improve BMHS field [from grass to turf]

Alcoa TN 2014:  "The new Alcoa High School football field house and turf area received site plan approval from Alcoa Planning Commission Thursday night.  The plan involves construction of a new 5,760-square-foot football field house and installation of artificial turf."

So why is our city manager, our planning department, and the commission, not to mention the Recreation Board, neglecting their duties to the public which is clear enough in the laws of the city and state?  If you started chipping a bunch of old tires and placed the remnants in a hole a couple of feet deep in 1.5 acres of your backyard, do you think these people would just sit by and do nothing when your neighbors start complaining or EGLE takes notice?

Should we expect the planning commission or recreation board to halt the conversion?  No, but if we don't have anyone from the school or city oversee the installation of this field, we should expect the cheapest and most carcinogenic infill and fake grass to be used and expect the drainage mechanisms to show no concern for our community or its water supplies.  

Perhaps the vast majority of us deserve this, since the people that populate our school board, recreation board, planning commission, and the oblivious majority have decided to let Astroturf Inc. take a lot of money to come here and drop off their imitation grass and real-enough toxins and do this every decade in the future.  But not even they deserve this, so we must fight for them as well.

[XLFD]

In all due modesty, I am completely right, and they know it.  

And I was completely over the top in the last paragraph, but if taking your gloves off is to have any meaning, you need to be a little over the top.  I see this Planning Commission, nine members all, as a bunch of trained seals, incapable of independent thought and action, fervid to defend other public agencies despite the rules, and dormant on acts within their purview unless it's been packaged and spoon-fed to them by city hall staff.  

I couldn't help but make the connection that they were sitting idly by in amusement while their beloved city is being screwed right in front of their eyes, hence the cuckold reference, and I can't help but figure they are like other school and city officials who look forward to this project being done, so they are looking on the screwing with a deep lust.  These people are respectable, good people, but they utterly disgust me in their official capacity.

[Freedom Seeker]

That's the trouble with the "appointed" Planning Commission and the other "city" committees.  Picked to perform what the "goodole" boys pickers want.   Ludington is one of the most deeply-entrenched  I've seen, pushing the cliche ideals.

[Freedom Seeker]

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750013.htm...)%20in%20all%20directions.

X, the more I think about the ammonia tanks at House of Favors, the more crazy it seems. Thanks for bringing this up. Do you know what kind of ammonia it is? Providing a link to storage of anhydrous ammonia and evacuation plans in 1 mile radius. I once had the ammonia lines in an RV refrigerator corrode. Had to evacuate for a few days and air the toxins and stench out. And they plan on storage outside in direct sunlight? Someone should call OSHA and find out some details.

[XLFD]

I was on the LFD when an 8 in. wide ammonia conduit ruptured inside the House of Favors back in 2006.  It was kind of a big deal, the operation lasted a couple of days, and we were a bit fortunate not to have any lasting health issues or deaths in the community or among the responders.  

One of the issues community members at the public hearing last month complained about was how the multimillion tank project being approved was making them safer, the notice they received didn't really explain that or much else.  If you read the minutes or go farther and watch the video, this is never made clear, only that it is an expensive proposition and building these 'vessels' is for safety.  

One can easily figure out that it would likely improve employee safety, for if a rupture happens in one of these ammonia tanks, those inside the plant will be safer than if it ruptured inside.  But it was never explained how the new construction would be safer for the community, because at face value it looks more hazardous.  

[Willy]

If these people would at least do their job and serve the voters, things would go much more smoothly. I don't think they were expecting you. Well done. Ammonia tanks. What could possibly go wrong?

[XLFD]

“It’s fire, it's ice cream and it's crashing! . . . This is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world! Oh, it’s crashing and melting. . . oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, and it’s a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. There’s smoke, there's soft-serve, and there’s flames, now, and the cone is crashing to the ground, not quite to the cone holder. Oh, the humanity, and all the tourists screaming around here for cold treats!

. . . I can’t talk, ladies and gentlemen. Honest, it’s just laying there, a mass of wafer and whey, and everybody can hardly breathe and talk . . . Honest, I can hardly breathe. I’m going to step inside where I cannot see it. . . .”

[Freedom Seeker]

Good one, Willy! I'll have Strawberry Explosion, please.