Fwd: RE: Palouse Mall concerns

[sean <o2design@wsu.edu>]

I'll take the liberty of answering for Madeline as she is less 
familiar with the files type issues and changes we are working on 
currently.

Shahab makes a logical request for this important drawing view, and 
we look forward to providing it as able.  The issues preventing this 
currently are 1) efforts to incorporate suggestions from the UofI in 
time for this evening's meeting mean we will not be able to work on 
getting it into the correct file time and then uploading, and 2) the 
CAD files are not exportable in a universally accessible file type 
(eg, jpg) and thus we still have to go through some form of 
digitizing them (eg, scanning segment by segment an 8' long sheet, 
going to Spokane to scan it, or photographing it digitally).

Even if we had time to do this it is quite cumbersome and can only be 
viewed in snippets on a screen (we've been doing so for months so we 
can say with experience it is not a good means to do so).  See the 
large sheet is FAR better, whether one views it at the mtg this eve 
or at another location (eg, the Mall entries).

I hope this helps.  We have made every effort to make this 
information universally accessible.  All methods save the mtg this 
eve have been of our own accord and desire to make the solutions open 
and accessible.  Timing and technology, however, sometimes hinder 
even the best intentions.

Thanks, and again I hope to have the chance to meet each of you in 
person and discuss the plans.  If this is not possible, please try to 
watch/record the Council mtg and/or view drawings later in person.

s

>
>
>Dear Madeline,
>
>We are not asking for a digital picture of the proposed plan... we are
>asking for a drawing picture like the ones on the web but from the view of
>the road. The top view is good for showing where the trees and the path are
>but does little to show what the finished product looks from the road (the
>view that most of us are concerned with). It does not have to be fancy, just
>accurate! We want to see what it will look like when it is done. We can see
>what it looks like now. Based on that information we can derive an educated
>opinion. Until then we are all talking about theoretical stuff!
>
>Please respond through V2020 so the rest of the friends can stay abreast of
>the discussion.
>
>Truly,
>
>Shahab...
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Gordon and Madeline Edgren [mailto:edgren@iea.com]
>Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2001 11:07 AM
>To: meteor2@moscow.com
>Subject: Palouse Mall concerns
>
>Dear Bill and Shahab,
>
>Thank you for your continuing concern about the Palouse Mall Landscape
>Proposal. I would like to make
>another try at clarifying some points since it appears that there are
>still some areas of real mis-
>communication between us. Since you appear to have overlapping
>concerns, I have taken the liberty of
>addressing this to both of you.
>
>First, I would like to reiterate that it was the landscape design that
>I described as "worn out" - not the plants
>and trees themselves. However, in trying to answer your inquiry as to
>why the plan called for removal of
>some plants and trees, both Sean Michael and I pointed out that there
>are trees and shrubs in the frontage
>that are diseased, aging,  crowding other plants, or positioned in
>unsafe locations.  This is not something that
>Palouse Mall is making up for our convenience. This has been verified
>by professionals. If you will reread
>my prior letter, however, you will notice that I said that we would be
>leaving most of the trees, even though
>some of them have problems. We will deal with replacing these only
>when and if we have to.  And as Sean
>Michael said, the number of diseased and aging plants is limited, and
>no plants are being removed wantonly.
>Each and every one has been cataloged and analyzed individually, and
>those which need to be removed
>have been identified individually and are listed on the plans Sean
>will present on Monday. In addition, the
>plants we will be putting back will not be the smallest we can buy.
>They will be the size that is recommended
>to us by the professionals to be the optimum size for survival and for
>the site.
>
>Second, respectfully, I believe that Shahab misunderstood my comments
>about the perspective (elevation)
>view of the landscape. It is producing the photos to best portray this
>view, not putting them on the Web, that
>would take the time and money. Each digital picture of the existing
>terrain would need to be digitally
>enhanced with the proposed shrubs and trees, a process that takes, if
>my memory serves me, more than six
>hours per picture. This can be a cost of hundreds of dollars per
>picture. If I may express my opinion here,
>that money is much better spent buying trees and shrubs and putting in
>the recreational path. With the
>exception of  two or three representative photos, we elected early in
>the process not to produce these
>pictures.
>
>To review Sean's explanation of our Web presentation, the file type
>that Sean works with for his drawings
>does not convert to a file type that can be posted on the Web. To
>produce a file that can be posted, he needs
>to print the 8 ' drawings, which then must be scanned at a specialty
>company in Spokane, and converted to
>a file type that can be posted. This, too, is an expensive operation,
>so we chose to produce, from the views
>available to us, the one that we thought would be the most readable
>and give the broadest base of information
>to the greatest number of people. We fully realized that, no matter
>which view we chose, there would be
>people who would disagree with our choice. However, our thinking was
>that since we could produce on paper
>the other views for the council meeting, people would still be able to
>see them. I do not believe that Sean
>will be using PowerPoint in his presentation on Monday, as he has
>described other media for his
>demonstrations. However, his presentation will be comprehensive and
>will not attempt to hide anything from
>the public.
>
>Finally, my sending carbon copies of my e-mails to others was an
>attempt to update several people who
>have worked very hard on this project on the content of the
>conversations I was having. I wanted to make
>sure that every e-mail got answered, but that we didn't have
>needlessly overlapping answers, since all of
>these people were standing by to contribute if their expertise was
>needed.
>
>The agreement between Palouse Mall and the City of Moscow specifically
>calls for us to "refurbish and
>improve" the site. I believe Sean Michael,  Wil Sinclair and Andrew
>Tull have done an outstanding job of
>designing well beyond that criteria. They have produced a plan  that
>should make Moscow proud for decades
>to come. I hope you will give us a chance, but if that is not
>possible, I want to say again that we have
>appreciated your input.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Madeline Edgren
>Palouse Mall Associates, LLC

-- 
Thanks,
s


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         Sean Michael