vision2020
Re: Highway 95
Dear Mike and Visionaries:
The City Council is intensely interested in the
location of the route. We have, as individuals and as city officials,
participated in the informational work for this project to date.
The final determination for the route is made by
the Idaho Transportation Board, people appointed by the Governor who oversee the
activities of the Transportation Department. The opinions of staff and the
public figure into their deliberations (sometimes more, sometimes less,
depending upon the issue). It is essential that we stay involved and active on
this important issue. There is certainly more to be done before a recommendation
is made to the Board.
Keep a lookout! Mike's observations are very
important.
All the best,
Linda Pall
Moscow City Council Member
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 4:06
PM
Subject: Re: Highway 95
Bill:
I also attended the meeting to which Jerry Schutz
referred in his reply. ITD actually said that it does NOT make the decision.
It is ultimately made by a group of commissioners. If there is consensus among
ITD and local entities I understood the commissioners would most always defer
to the recommendations. If there is a dispute--no clear #1 choice, then the
commissioners would receive the input and make the decision. Of the two routes
(current route, known as #6 and Paradise Ridge, known as #10--their original
numbers from last year's public hearing/display at U. Inn), ITD officials who
attended the meeting said it was a coin toss as to which would be the "better"
route. there are some advantages to each, some disadvantages to each and the
cost appears to be about the same--based on the information available to date
(there is more to come in the way of environmental and wetland studies). As
Jerry said, the Transportation Commission was told that a public hearing would
be held before a final decision. Further, there was an indication that if the
City Council and County Commissioners stated a preference for one of the
routes (such as the preservation of the possibility of a 95 by-pass
west of town), that preference would carry substantial weight in the
decision-making process. It was stated uple of times--and there was no reason
to doubt the sincerity of the ITD members who spoke--that ITD has no vested
interest in the routing and has no reason to do something contrary to
community interest and choice if other factors are relatively equal
(obviously, if cost prohibits a route, it may not matter how much a community
wants it).
Since Tom Trail's note referred to the entire route, it is
certainly likely that land is being purchased along portions of the route
between Genesee and Lewiston, and even from Genesee north to the point at
which the choice needs to be made between rt. 6 and rt. 10.
Mike
Curley
On 29 Jan 01, at 11:08, Bill London wrote:
Date
forwarded: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 11:17:58 -0800
(PST)
Date sent: Mon, 29 Jan 2001
11:08:55 -0800
From: Bill London
<london@moscow.com>
To:
RepTrail <RepTrail@infotrail.com>,
"Vision2020
(E-mail)" <vision2020@moscow.com>
Subject: Highway 95
Forwarded by: vision2020@moscow.com
According
to my reading of the legislative report filed by Rep. Trail to this
list
(below), the decision about the future of Highway 95 between Moscow
and
Lewiston has been made. The Transportation Department is now buying
land for
the new route. I thought that a public meeting would be held this
spring to
decide between a new route over the shoulder of Paradise Ridge
and a
straightening of the existing road. Will that hearing take place?
Will it be a
sham? BL
RepTrail wrote:
> Dear
Visionaries,
>
> Last week I reported about the family in Potlatch
being held hostage by a
> moose. Monday six of Fish and Games finest
rolled into the rescue. However,
> their sharpshooter missed the
tranquilizer shot from 20 feet, and the moose
> took off for the
Potlatch River. The Moose Team immediately took off is
> pursuit, but
lost track of the moose along the river. On the way back to
> Highway 95
the team was startled when an ostrich ran across the road in front
> of
them (probably an escaped ostrich from a game farm). The Moose Team
>
(instead of the A Team) then received a call that a wolf had been spotted
near
> Viola. One can't complain about wildlife diversity in Latah
County.
>
> 1. Highway 95 -- I've received a report from the
Department of
> Transportation indicating that about $346 million will
be spent on Highway 95
> through 2004. I will have the report and maps
of the projects to hand out next
> Saturday when Sen. Schroeder, Rep.
Young, and I hold town meetings in Potlatch
> (10:00 am) and Troy (1:00
pm - at the Elementary School). DOT reports they
> are buying right of
way land for a 4-lane highway from Moscow to Lewiston.
>
> 2.
Taxes -- There are a number of excellent components and tax features in
the
> Governor's package; however, a number of rural legislators and
citizens who
> feel that more property tax reduction should be included
are developing some
> initiatives. I support completing the property tax
reduction initiative
> started by Gov. Batt, and also the new proposal
to eliminate personal property
> tax on farm, timber, mining, and
construction equipment. This would have
> fiscal impact of about $16.5
million per year and would help our depressed
> farming and timber
industries. I'm also supporting reducing the sales tax on
>
groceries.
>
> 3. Minimum Wage for Farm Workers -- The hearing on
the Governor's bill is
> set for Tuesday. I suspect we will have over
200 people to testify. We
> currently have 600,000 Idaho workers covered
by the minimum wage. Farm Bureau
> studies indicate fewer than 1% of
farm workers are paid below minimum wage and
> that it is no longer an
economic problem for them -- so why not include farm
> workers? Studies
indicate that most farm workers are below the poverty level
> and if the
Governor wants to help stimulate our rural economies then let's do
> the
right thing.
>
> 4. Industrial Hemp -- I'll be introducing my
industrial hemp legislation
> next Friday. The basic bill is a
concurrent resolution to send to the
> Secretary of Ag and our
Congressional delegation indicating that the
> Legislature supports
legislative initiatives to legalize the crop. Industrial
> hemp is an
excellent alternative crop for farmers and environmental sound as
>
well.
>
> 5. Education -- we heard SPI (Superintendent of Public
Instruction)
> Marilyn Howard present the Department's school budget
this week and Monday we
> will hear from the Governor's representatives
about his education budget.
> Beginning teacher's salaries are one of
the big issues. Idaho starts teachers
> at $22,000/ year. Dr. Howard
recommends $24,500 and the Governor less. Both
> Rep. Gary Young and I
support a goal of $30,000 as the starting salary. There
> will probably
be several initiatives to make this a legislative goal and come
> up
with some creative ways to speed up the process. Rep. Young and I have
>
requested data on how many of our school teachers are below the poverty
level.
> We are losing more and more of our teachers to other states
that pay higher
> salaries and also offer signing bonuses. I'm also
co-sponsoring a piece of
> legislation that would help teachers pay off
part of their school loans.
> This would help both recruitment and
retention.
>
> 6. Idaho Public Television -- There are still some
legislators that would
> love to see Idaho Public TV go away. A recent
study concluded that if IPTV
> was privatized it would no doubt fail
without further state support. The
> study found the system to be one of
the most widely viewed nationally for the
> size of it potential
audience, and it also gets more viewers to donate more
> money to
support operations than other public TV systems in similar markets.
>
The Governor has included over $6 million in his budget for digital
>
conversion. If this is not approved by JFAC then IPTV is basically
history.
> We will have more hearings this week, and, of course, I will
be supporting all
> efforts for IPTV.
>
> 7.
Religious-Freedom Act -- Debates and arguments continue over Idaho's
>
Religious-Freedom Act. We have several bills which would provide for
civil
> rights and child protection concerns under the current law.
Business
> interests have concerns about zoning and planning and
possible
> employer-employee litigation. The interesting feature is that
before this law
> was passed that religious groups in Idaho generally
got along well and the
> Attorney General reported no complaints from
citizens concerning their
> religious freedoms. Now that the bill is in
place, the various church
> communities are divided over the
issue.
>
> A more serious aspect is that legislation that would
amend the current bill
> will probably not even be heard in committee.
Sen. Darrington, Chair, of the
> Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee
said he won't hold a hearing on this
> topic that has generated more
discussion and debate than any other legislative
> matter this year.
Although I understand that the legislative chairs have the
> privilege
to hold a bill, I also believe that to do so in a case where there
> is
such public debate and interest, infringes on our First Amendment Rights.
> One of our early presidents said, "The demise of a nation begins when
free
> discussion and dialog over important public issues are thwarted
by the
> political process and those in power."
>
> Rep. Tom
Trail, district 5
> ttrail@house.state.id.us
>
> I would
like constituents to contact me by e-mail me with their ideas,
>
comments and recommendations.
>
> Legislative newsletters and
additional materials and information can be
> located on my web
>
and home page http://www.infotrail.com/idaho
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