The democratic proposal

[KeithB]

Have you seen this:
http://www.democraticledg...na%20Parks%20Referral.pdf

as well as the invatation to join the task force email:

Dear Concerned Citizen:

 

During the process of updating the Ellison Park Area Master Plan, it was critical for legislators to consider the feedback of community stakeholders like you. Community input was central in identifying areas ripe for improvement in the Plan. As such, we would like to invite you to continue your participation by attending the May 26, 2009 meeting of the Recreation and Education Committee of the Monroe County Legislature. In the course of this meeting, legislators will discuss the establishment of the Monroe County Parks Recreation Task Force, which we believe will help to better serve the recreational requirements of our entire community. The Task Force will be charged with looking at all 21 Monroe County Parks for possible opportunities to expand mountain biking or other recreational activities in the most efficient and sustainable manner possible. After reviewing the Ellison Park Area Master Plan, we feel it is important to consider all county parks for any additional areas where mountain biking will be permitted, instead of considering only a few parks at a given time. Your involvement in this process is very much encouraged.

 

The meeting will take place on the fourth floor of the County Office Building (39 West Main Street, Rochester) at 5:30 p.m. The public will be able to address the committee. Please call 753-1950 to sign up to speak.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

We look forward to working with you on this and other important community issues. To view the Task Force proposal, click HERE.

 

Best Regards,

the Democratic Caucus of the Monroe County Legislature
 

[AJ]

thanks for sharing this keith!

[rw420]

DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE!!!!

They lost but apparently they haven't given up yet.  This is just one more attempt to derail the progress we've made with the Ellison Parks Master Plan.

[KeithB]

I agree that the counter proposal was not really a proposal at all, but more of a stall tactic, but is it worth going to this meeting?  They are talking about MTBing in more county parks.  There are more parks than Tryon and Bay West that have decent trails.  Durand, Powdermill and Mendon Ponds come to mind, though I haven't biked in the last two in 10 years or so.

[1TRACK]

I think it's worth going to the meeting. Just don't believe the idle promises about opening other parks. Most likely, when it comes down to it, we'll get the same cold reception from the other park communities. If we allow people on the task force that want Tryon and BPW to fail, at the end of the trial, the gates will be locked to bikers. If we're "given" more land, we'll be escorted to a undeveloped TINY parcel of land no one else wants. We must move forward, work with the Parks Dept, and develop our own comprehensive plan, monitoring methods and success criteria.

[AJ]

Exactly!  Well put Single T.

[rw420]

I agree that the counter proposal was not really a proposal at all, but more of a stall tactic, but is it worth going to this meeting?  They are talking about MTBing in more county parks.  There are more parks than Tryon and Bay West that have decent trails.  Durand, Powdermill and Mendon Ponds come to mind, though I haven't biked in the last two in 10 years or so.

Don't fall for it!  Their primary goal is to drag out the process by arguing that West Bay is not ideal for off-road cycling.  They need to face the facts.  The Ellison Parks Master Plan already incorporates the scientific analysis in the definition of sustainable trails that has been adopted from the National Forest Service and IMBA.

[MD]

 If they really thought that way, they wouldn't have fought for 6 hours against Tryon and BPW. We need to keep our eye on the prize.  Stay the course, if they want to open other parks, they can do that after we prove our worth in these 2. (Actually, according to some, the parks dept. doesn't need them to open parks anyway, they can do it themselves w/o the Legislature.) No matter the intent, there are some people here we should NEVER sit down with. Remember the old parable about the turtle and the scorpion? http://www.snopes.com/critters/malice/scorpion.asp 
 We know who we're dealing with here, don't let our good, cooperative, inclusive nature be our undoing.

[leichel]

The real agenda of the Democrats is to stall the process until January. They think that they will win some seats on the legislature and then shoot everything down. Carmen Gumina has already said publicly that he does not approve of the master plan and is looking forward to the failure of shared use trails. He says he is open to considering MTB ing  in all 21 parks but has already stated publicly that he is against it in all the parks surrounding the Bay (sort of a contradiction). His reasons for opposing shared use trails in these parks sound as if Steve Daniels (from Parks Preservation) wrote them himself and then had Gumina read them back verbatim. He has either not studied the facts about this topic or simply doesn't care based on political aspirations. He has publically stated that he is in strong favor of looking at other non county parks and "yet unexplored private lands" for MTBing. In my opinion this is code for his plan to remove power from the parks department, deny access to MTBing in county parks and justify it by finding us some land to make a "Dryer Road Park" somewhere on the outskirts of Monroe County. PLEASE DO NOT FALL FOR THIS. Work hard on making Tryon and West Bay a success. The public wants shared use trails. We said so at the last meeting of the legislature. If the Democrats don't start looking at the facts and what the public wants for OUR parks then they might not win those seats they are looking for.

[KeithB]

Follow up:
http://www.democratandchr...&page=1#pluckcomments

[leichel]

This is my first visit to this site.  I understand that there is a strong desire on the part of MTB's to have more access to trails in Monroe county.  I have not read any of the studies/analysis of the area or even what the Master Plan is, but I do happen to live on the edge of West Bay Park and can attest to the fact that there is a lot of erosion in the area.  My neighbor had to pour tens of thousands of dollars into his backyard to keep his deck from sliding down the hill.  While you strive to find new places to ride, please also be aware that WBP is very fragile.  I have taken walks in the area and have seen numerous old house foundations that have long been abandoned.  I don't know if they were forced out due to the poor soil or if that was part of the Master Plan or what, but please keep in mind that this is a fragile area and that people do have houses along the park who don't want to see further erosion.  Thanks for considering this as you look for new places to ride.

[KeithB]

Lou?  Have you been hacked?  1st visit to this site

[AJ]

Help! Someone hijacked (or hacked) Lou!!    

[laxin1]

Very strange. This is where the post was made from so it was probably a mistake on a public machine:

OrgName:    Unity Health System
OrgID:      UNITY-7
Address:    89 Genesee Street
City:       Rochester
StateProv:  NY
PostalCode: 14611

[leichel]

I was working at unity today. I must have forgotten to log out. Sorry. I'll change the password just in case. In any event it is obvious that any people living on the border of these parks would be concerned about thru traffic. No one, including mountian bikers want to see trail erorsion. That is why I am sure every effort will be made to avoid getting too close to bordering houses and to create sustainable shared use trails.

[dg]

I did a double-take when I read "Lou's" earlier entry - especially as it was well written and it did read like something Lou might write. For a few moments, I thought we might have a Dr. Eichel/Mr. Hyde situation!!

[MD]

DG - first I'd noticed your quote.......awesome....totally awesome.