GARDEN CITY GREENBELT

Mayor, council waste money on consultant

Shame on Garden City Mayor John Evans and his City Council. He paid $9,800 of my tax dollars to The Land Group of Eagle to tell us that it would take $1.3 million to pave a portion of the Boise River Greenbelt that doesn’t need to be paved. This was the cheapest scare tactic ever devised by a politician to get the public support to keep a stretch of the Greenbelt off limits to bikes.

There are lots of other sections of the Greenbelt that are not paved between Boise to Eagle and beyond. We don’t need to pave the Greenbelt in order for a trail to be used by bicyclists, walkers and joggers as it was originally intended.

In November 1980, the state of Idaho required the Riverside Village developer to construct a bike path beside the Boise River in Riverside Village in exchange for permission to build upon state-owned lands there. On Nov. 6, remember to exercise your rights! Lift the ban!

OLIVER THOMPSON, Garden City

Bicyclists endanger walkers

Regarding opening the Garden City nature path to bicycles, I would like to speak up for the many walkers who use the path regularly.

We do not live in Garden City, but use and appreciate this beautiful tranquil path. We are senior citizens and sharing our walks with bike traffic is very disturbing. A bicycle has hit and injured me twice while walking on the mixed-use portion of the Greenbelt. A number of bicyclists disregard the city ordinance and ride on the nature path. They speed by us without warning and are wearing headphones so we can’t even remind them that they are on a “walking only” path. This shows us that allowing bikes on the trail would only increase the hazard.

Not only do we appreciate the safety but also the shade and beauty of the river on our walks. We have taken out-of-town guests on this path on many occasions.

Thank you, Garden City mayor and council for this amenity. My advice for bicyclists is to try using the nature path for its designated purpose and you will understand what a pleasure a quiet walk can be.

KAREN AND STEVE BLACKBURN, Boise

Consider the majority

Garden City is a town of almost 11,000 people. Only a small percentage live in the exclusive area (Riverside Village) where the so-called nature trail has replaced the Greenbelt.

Recently, I walked the exclusive section and counted seven people using the pathway. Earlier, on the non-exclusive section, I had counted 156 persons, 86 of whom were walking and 70 riding bicycles. Many on bicycles were families with young children. The people I saw on the real Greenbelt represented a diverse group of people enjoying a public path.

I believe it is time for the 99 percent of Garden City to vote in the November election to ensure that the Greenbelt becomes a public resource and not an exclusive preserve for the 1 percent who live in Riverside Village.

GARY PAYNE, Boise

VETERANS BENEFITS

Twisted priorities

How is it we have billions to give people of other nations who have never done anything for us, but don't have money to pay disabled military retirees their earned military retirement and VA disability compensation?

BRIAN W. LIND, Boise

MINING

CuMo project site is not a lush, forested area

The Sunday, Sept. 9 photo of the upper Grimes Creek area on the Insight page was nice, but contrary to the caption it does not show the CuMo project, which is nearly a mile off the left edge of the photographed area. The CuMo area has a lot of bare rusty rock exposed at the surface and supports far fewer trees than the area shown on the Statesman photo. This is due to the presence of sulfide-bearing minerals in the rocks, minerals that are naturally unfriendly to vegetation.

CuMo is drained by Copper Gulch, which is a small intermittent stream that flows north into Grimes Creek and has been a natural contributor of copper, molybdenum, silver, iron, sulphur and other metals to Grimes Creek for tens of thousands of years with no impairment of aquatic life.

I have no stake whatever in the fate of the CuMo project but when the Statesman publishes a photo and makes a pitch at killing a minerals exploration project the photo should at least cover the project area, not just the green forested country nearby.

DON ADAIR, Boise

REP. RAUL LABRADOR’S VOTES

Numbers are meaningless

First Congressional District candidate Jimmy Farris, a Democrat, has accused freshman lawmaker Raul Labrador of missing too many votes in Congress. This might be serious if it was not coming from a man who admitted the first time he ever voted was 2008. Using that standard Labrador has him beat hands-down.

But let’s also keep this in mind. On any given day the U.S. House can vote on something as serious as health care reform to something as simple as naming a monument.

Missing “72 of 1,531 votes” says nothing about how serious the votes are that were missed. It also says nothing about personal or family issues the congressman might face. Lastly, if a vote is going to pass, in other words if the bill is a foregone conclusion, perhaps the congressman might better serve his constituents by reading up on another bill.

Don’t we all want our lawmakers to vote on bills they have read?

I may not live in Congressman Labrador's district, but I know a true public servant when I see one.

Raul Labrador is a true public servant and I hope come Nov. 6 his constituents recognize this at the ballot box.

GABE IACOBONI, Boise

DYNAMIS

This is no time for secrecy

I have been following the Statesman’s coverage of the Dynamis garbage-to-gas facility at the landfill and am amazed that this project appears to be moving forward, despite much secrecy.

If the state’s leading paper cannot get answers to basic questions about this company, how are Ada County citizens going to be assured that this technology is proven and that our clean air won’t be polluted? This very smoky summer has shown me one clear thing — it is not as fun to live in this community if the air is dirty and polluted.

We may not be able to stop wildfires, but we should be able to prevent additional industrial pollution.

As a businessman and grandfather, I urge the Ada County commissioners, especially Commissioners Sharon Ullman and Rick Yzaguirre, to rethink their support of Dynamis. If you cannot discuss this in public, what are you afraid of?

The Dynamis project is just too risky and there are too many unanswered questions.

JOHN L. WARREN, Boise