One more M-CORES meeting down the road
Yes, really down and really road.
This was headed up by Co-Chair Jason Peters aided by Huiwei Shen and Will Watts of FDOT. OSFR was represented by board member Kristin Rubin (who gave a very strong message opposing the roads) and your historian.
The Task Force will have no trouble wondering where OSFR stands on this issue, except we don’t know if there was a Task Force left at 12:o3 pm, the time at which we spoke. The number of attendees at that time was 115, down from 159 when the meeting began.
Public input continues to dwindle, down to about a dozen people from triple that a few weeks ago. Understandingly so, as the two hours preceding is a stiff price to pay to be able to personally ask the Task Force to write “NO BUILD” in their Oct. report, and to say this in presence of the DOT people and Galvano cronies.
Few in number the input may be, but with the one exception we hear each time, all the speakers are strongly opposed to this political money pit/boondoggle.
If you were not virtually present at the meeting, what you didn’t miss was any sincere concern for our environment or any facts establishing need for the roads, but what you did miss were updates on the Task Force Work Plan regarding avoidance & attraction areas, high end needs, guiding principals, and instructions for project development.
This seems to be leading up to the Task Force’s task of generating a first draft of their report. Our recommendation to them is “No Build.”
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org - A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
We need to preserve natural Florida at all costs.
The toll roads will destroy the natural habitats of many animals. Such as the Florida Panther, Bald Eagle etc..
As well as pollute our springs, which are in peril. Not looking forward to 5G either. Use the money to help Floridans.
Why is the state even considering this toll road as a possibility with the enormous TOLL we are already paying with a pandemic and record unemployment. The cost of these roads is outrageous expense at a time when there are many more important priorities! NO BUILD!
Thank you Jim and Kristin for attending this.
Thank you Jim and Kristin