"LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN..."

Those were the words spoken by Supervisor Brian Budenski at the last Town Board meeting on December 9th. He was referring to his failed attempt last month to seek a temporary injunction against Great River Energy (GRE) so as to (at least for now) stop the installation of the rust-colored "monster poles" across the Township.

As you may recall, (See  "A Poll on the Poles" post) Budenski had volunteered his time along with assistance from Ray Kaufenberg to do the work to apply to the Public Utilities Commission for the change to galvanized poles.  Last time, Supervisor Kenny Miller (correctly) had to recuse himself due to his receiving income from GRE for its laydown yard on his property. As he explained, his voting on the matter could be argued to constitute a statutory conflict of interest, since an injunction, if approved, could prolong the project and thus increase his compensation.  Budenski and Storlie had voted for the motion, while Ceminsky and Madden had voted against it.

During the December discussion, Supervisor Ceminsky stated that he "didn't care" himself whether the poles were rust-colored or galvanized. He said he wondered whether the Township as a whole would come down on the side of galvanized poles.  He said he was concerned about the potential cost of the injunction to the Township, citing costs up to $40,000.

Budenski cleared that up by asking Township Attorney Chad Lemmons what the cost would be to file the injunction. Lemmons replied that it could cost from $2,000 up to $3,000.

Budenski assured Ceminsky that he, Budenski, has talked to the people whom this would affect most directly and he is speaking for them.

Let me editorialize for a moment:  The Town Board is elected to represent the public of Eureka.  At times, they have seemingly had no problem taking action to try to institute something like the agritourism ordinance in spite of the public's objections to the proposed language at two public hearings. Until pressed, they were not even willing to appoint a task force to explore the issue on behalf of you and other citizens. But when it comes to something which, to me, is as commonsensical as going with the less obtrusive option on the poles, now Ceminsky wants a vote by the public before acting on their behalf in a positive manner? Even though he is elected to do just that, one could argue.

Back to the vote: Once again, Supervisor Miller had to recuse himself from voting for his constituents because of his financial interest in the matter. Editorializing briefly, perhaps this is a good argument as to why a Town Board Supervisor shouldn't get himself into these situations. To my way of thinking, he is elected first and foremost to represent the citizens.  Just my opinion; enough said.

Once again, Storlie and Budenski voted "yes" to seek the injunction. This time, Supervisor Ceminsky joined them. Thus, the motion passed.

Supervisor Madden, as he is wont to do as the record shows, again voted "nay" without any explanation as to why he did so. Now understand, he is under no obligation to state for the record why he voted "nay."  However, this is an option taken by several Supervisors in the past. One of you out there might be curious as to his reasoning.

Digressing once again, after an earlier email by me to the Board quoting Ordinance language

regarding regulations on Conditional Use Permits, trying to show them the correct time frame under which the letters to adjacent property owners are to be sent, I received an email from Supervisor Madden.

His email stated : "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH." Just like that, all in caps; what some see as "shouting on the Internet!" So is he, as an elected public official, telling one of his constituents to quit communicating about Township issues, issues which can affect every one of us? How else do I take that? I'm not certain whether he was referring to my email or to this blog, but either way, REALLY?

Supervisor Madden may think "enough is enough," but I think posting on the blog to keep citizens informed and speaking up when one sees something done incorrectly, is important, of value, and I intend to continue.

stay tuned for updates on the injunction.  It is worth a shot, as we will be living with those poles for a very long time.

Thank you, Supervisor Budenski!