Frankly, the gall and hubris of City of Yelm officials and the NVN never ceases to amaze me!

Either the NVN is not only the city’s newspaper of record, yet also its mouthpiece following the city’s B. S.
OR
they are just not educated and so ignorant to the ways cities operate, regardless of their award-winning investigative journalism and having a direct pipeline to one of their former award-winning reporters in the City of Yelm Community and Government Relations Coordinator [who won her investigative journalism award in 2005 on how many toilet flushes I made at my house during my run for Mayor in 2005. Where is the NVN now on the city’s water issues?].

Today’s front-page story “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!

Quoting 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 will pay with Thurston Highlands 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. And, the city had no contract with the developer to get repaid for this water study. The city was expecting fees imposed through an EIS from future home hook-ups to cover those costs; fees not able to be collected if nothing is built. The developers are now gone and left the city with 2/3 of a million dollars the taxpayers will have to swallow, unless the developers somehow cure their default. Mrs. Badger & the Nisqually Valley News, developers are supposed to present all aspects of their project to the city beforehand, not the city to the developer. The city requires that of ANY other applicant, why not from Thurston Highlands, LLC.?
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.
ABOUT THE 30 YEAR ISSUE, WHICH IS THE 1,000 POUND GORILLA IN THE ROOM,
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 is supposed to take care of ALL public comment for 30 years.
And the city knows that!
– Unless the MDNS is appealed by 5pm today, no one will have any recourse for comment on it for 30 years.
And the city knows that!
– If you or your descendants 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.
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 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

CLICK HERE for more information on this from JZ Knight’s website.

AND, THURSTON COUNTY’S SILENCE ON THIS IS DEAFENING, SINCE MANY OF THE AFFECTED AREAS ARE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY OF YELM IN THURSTON COUNTY!