Springfield meeting about ash

[Doug V]

The informal group that has been researching the ash issue will hold a community meeting to discuss what we have learned: Thursday, May 20th, 7:15 pm at the Community Garden on Laura Street.

I hope the weather is good. 

Everyone is welcome to come, but we are planning this as an intra-neighborhood meeting, and therefore not asking city or EPA folks to make a presentation or field questions.  We will try to provide opportunity for all neighborhood voices to be heard.

[sheclown]

excellent!

[Doug V]

We are changing the location of the Thursday meeting to Carl's Restaurant at 1754 N Main, and at 7PM rather than 7:15.

[Springfield Chicken]

The meeting is NOT in Carl's Restaurant per se.  It is in the Banquet Room on the corner of 8th and Main.  The restaurant will be closed at that hour but he is opening up the Banquet Room for the meeting.  A tip jar will be there for contributions to cover his expenses for utilities and such.

[sheclown]

Good use of Carl's banquet room.  Kuddos!

[avs]

We have been able to gather lots of great information and hope to be able to answer as many questions as possible - we had lots of questions ourselves going into this.  This issue is something that the community really needs to pull together on

[sheclown]

Thank you AVS and Doug (and MissFixit for reading through that -- wow).  See you tonight.

[VAgent]

Good luck! We're moving to the Urban Core next Friday. I'd like to have attended the meeting, but seeing as how I'm still packing my house in Wisconsin, I'll be very eager to read this thread tomorrow morning to find out the latest news.

[danno]

I will be stuck in the office tonight.  Let us know how things go.

[sheclown]

Apparently there was a meeting today in Dr. Gaffney's office at 10:30 to discuss the ash issue in Springfield.  Did anyone go or does anyone know what was discussed?

[Sigma]

a meeting with who? who was there?  Amanda or Doug?

[sheclown]

Ash Information
General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville sent a letter to EPA dated March 23, 2010 (to be posted on www.sparcouncil.org) requesting guidance on proceeding with ash remediation testing due to a couple of factors. A significant finding during testing was levels of lead without ash. As Project New Ground is an ash remediation program, this unexpected finding required EPA input before proceeding. Testing was halted at the time the letter was sent, however there was a conference call with James Manning, CoJ Environmental Engineer, EPA and the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection on May 17th in which it was determined that testing would resume. It was also determined that if a property is found clean of ash and lead below approved numbers, the property will be removed from the Superfund site and property record designation will reflect the change. The actual language or change on the property record card is not confirmed (or in writing), but all indications are that it will be in a way that indicates the property is clean. Project New Ground is the program to correct a situation that began nearly 100 years ago, when the City of Jacksonville burned its solid waste in incinerators. Ash from those incinerators was created and/or deposited at four sites north and west of the downtown area. A public outreach center for information regarding ash remediation is located at 1605 Myrtle Ave. North. There you have access to property clean up plans, maps and historical documents. For general information you can call the information center at 357-8077 or visit www.projectnewground.org. For questions about 5th and Cleveland site (which applies to Springfield) you can speak with Carrie Davis, 256-4736.

When there is definitive information available, the SPAR office will post on its website, www.sparcouncil.org, and myspringfield.org as well as send out notices in its Weekly Update e-mail blasts.

http://myspringfield.org/bb/viewtopic.php?p=3238#p3238

[Doug V]

I am not aware of a meeting with Dr. Gaffney.

[sheclown]

[sheclown]

Strange as it may sound, a group of concerned Springfield citizens got together, in the same room, discussed important issues, and all without customary drama.

Doug, Christine and Amanda did an excellent job organizing the information for us.  Doug reminded us of the importance of banding with Durkeville and other neighborhoods and not attempting to garner a separate peace with the city.  Christine led us through the twists and turns of the legalese of the documents, Amanda spoke about the property values and property record cards.

And Carl gave us use of his restaurant, for free, giving this event a truly Main Street vibe.