June 15, 2008
Article on Bottled Water Ban in King County
I found this in the news section of the King County website.
June 11, 2008
Compile a list of questions for city council and Nestle
We should compile a list of questions for the city council and Nestle. I for one want to see if there has been a comprehensive ground water study done to measure the impacts of private wells and municipal water withdrawal on groundwater supply. In other areas including Covington and Ravensdale wells have run dry from over allocation of ground water. What happens to the future of our water supply?
Who decides about Neslte Water North America?
There is an adhoc committee being formed to gather information about Nestle Water.
The only council members to adamantly say they were against continuing negotiations were Liz Reynolds and Jim Hogan. The others all said they would like more information in order to best represent the public. I don't know about you but I've yet to speak with anyone who is for this.
Michael Innis will chair the AdHoc committee along with Kevin Mahelona and Jeff Beckwith. The first meeting is 6/19 Thursday at 6pm and open to the public. (Call the city to make sure this time and date has not been changed. )
If you can make it please try. (I have a prior engagement to watch my son perform in a musical. Obviously I cannot miss that.) Get in touch with council members and voice your concerns. I've sent emails, but I've only heard back from Jim Hogan and Richard Elfers. Please keep in mind the council members found out about these negotiations the same time all of us did. They had absolutely nothing to do with bringing Nestle Water to town, so be respectful in your communications with them.
I was very impressed with comments from Jim Hogan and Liz Reynolds. Liz has put a lot of care and thought into researching Nestle Water and speaking with other communities that now regret their decision to bring Nestle into their towns. A key point she made was: Enumclaw is investing a lot of money to develop our tourism plan. How does it look to be hosting a "GREEN" King County Fair and then sporting a 250,000 square foot bottling plant. Plastics rely heavily on the use of petroleum as well as the hundreds of trucks that will be using ours roads 24/7.
I'm with Liz and Jim lets just stop the negotiations and use the council and admitstrators time to pursue talks with industries who are already authenticly exhibiting social and environmental responsible business practices.
Nestle's lip service to being GREEN is just that. A LEED certified building does not erase the fact they plan to pave over 30 acres of prime pasture land and fertile dirt. How about finding a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farmer willing to come in and set up an organic farm. We are going to need locally grown food not bottled water.
Share your thoughts and comments.
The only council members to adamantly say they were against continuing negotiations were Liz Reynolds and Jim Hogan. The others all said they would like more information in order to best represent the public. I don't know about you but I've yet to speak with anyone who is for this.
Michael Innis will chair the AdHoc committee along with Kevin Mahelona and Jeff Beckwith. The first meeting is 6/19 Thursday at 6pm and open to the public. (Call the city to make sure this time and date has not been changed. )
If you can make it please try. (I have a prior engagement to watch my son perform in a musical. Obviously I cannot miss that.) Get in touch with council members and voice your concerns. I've sent emails, but I've only heard back from Jim Hogan and Richard Elfers. Please keep in mind the council members found out about these negotiations the same time all of us did. They had absolutely nothing to do with bringing Nestle Water to town, so be respectful in your communications with them.
I was very impressed with comments from Jim Hogan and Liz Reynolds. Liz has put a lot of care and thought into researching Nestle Water and speaking with other communities that now regret their decision to bring Nestle into their towns. A key point she made was: Enumclaw is investing a lot of money to develop our tourism plan. How does it look to be hosting a "GREEN" King County Fair and then sporting a 250,000 square foot bottling plant. Plastics rely heavily on the use of petroleum as well as the hundreds of trucks that will be using ours roads 24/7.
I'm with Liz and Jim lets just stop the negotiations and use the council and admitstrators time to pursue talks with industries who are already authenticly exhibiting social and environmental responsible business practices.
Nestle's lip service to being GREEN is just that. A LEED certified building does not erase the fact they plan to pave over 30 acres of prime pasture land and fertile dirt. How about finding a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farmer willing to come in and set up an organic farm. We are going to need locally grown food not bottled water.
Share your thoughts and comments.
June 6, 2008
Nestle Update - Missing Council Minutes
This was forwarded to me by John and Doreen Anderson regarding some missing Council Minutes with information about the water bottling. I'm having a hard time finding anyone who supports Nestle coming to town. I want to know what you think.
June 5
Doreen noticed that the Council minutes posted online stopped with the February 25, 2008 meeting. I inquired about this in the city clerk’s office June 6. The secretary immediately emailed the web director, and when we got home, the minutes for subsequent meetings were posted. The first of the missing meeting minutes (March 3, 2008) contained the first mention of the bottled water plant proposal, a brief three-word insertion. The April 7 minutes briefly summarized city administrator Mark Bauer’s report about the Nestle Bottling Company proposal.
City Council Study Session Monday, March 3, 2008
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
I. Emergent Opportunities – 20 minutes
iv. Bottled Water Plant
City Council Study Session Monday, April 7, 2008
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
G. Emergent Opportunities – 20 minutes
iii. Bottled Water Plant
Bauer discussed the proposition of the Nestle Bottling Company to use the spring water from Boise Creek for a water bottling plant. This business would employee about 50 people and plans to operate indefinitely. He noted the City has the rights to the water source but selling a large quantity of the City’s water source would cap the water available in the future. Searcy added that with water source improvements, we could supply water for the next 20 years of growth.
June 5
Doreen noticed that the Council minutes posted online stopped with the February 25, 2008 meeting. I inquired about this in the city clerk’s office June 6. The secretary immediately emailed the web director, and when we got home, the minutes for subsequent meetings were posted. The first of the missing meeting minutes (March 3, 2008) contained the first mention of the bottled water plant proposal, a brief three-word insertion. The April 7 minutes briefly summarized city administrator Mark Bauer’s report about the Nestle Bottling Company proposal.
City Council Study Session Monday, March 3, 2008
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
I. Emergent Opportunities – 20 minutes
iv. Bottled Water Plant
City Council Study Session Monday, April 7, 2008
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
G. Emergent Opportunities – 20 minutes
iii. Bottled Water Plant
Bauer discussed the proposition of the Nestle Bottling Company to use the spring water from Boise Creek for a water bottling plant. This business would employee about 50 people and plans to operate indefinitely. He noted the City has the rights to the water source but selling a large quantity of the City’s water source would cap the water available in the future. Searcy added that with water source improvements, we could supply water for the next 20 years of growth.
June 3, 2008
What do you think of a water bottling plant in Enumclaw?
Are Enumclaw city administrators considering selling our spring water to Nestle Water North America? I wasn't the only one concerned about this bit of news to come out in last weeks Courier Herald. The court house was full last night for the first in what is likely to be a series of public forums to discuss the pro's of selling our precious spring water.
To me spring water is a precious commodity. From the looks of the crowd in the court house others felt the same way. Chris Searcy cited reports that we would be at our "capacity" within 30 years, with or without Nestle coming to town. So what does that mean exactly? I don't know about you but to me 30 years is not a very long time. Unfortunately I didn't have a copy of the charts and pies Chris was reading from nor the handout provided by Nestle from their presentation.
Were any of you at the meeting last night? I came in late and had to leave before the community was allowed to ask questions. What are your thoughts about selling our water to a huge Swiss corporation? Personally I think we need to close the door on those negotiations but since I try to keep an open mind I'll be seeking more information before making my final decision.
I'd love to hear your comments.
To me spring water is a precious commodity. From the looks of the crowd in the court house others felt the same way. Chris Searcy cited reports that we would be at our "capacity" within 30 years, with or without Nestle coming to town. So what does that mean exactly? I don't know about you but to me 30 years is not a very long time. Unfortunately I didn't have a copy of the charts and pies Chris was reading from nor the handout provided by Nestle from their presentation.
Were any of you at the meeting last night? I came in late and had to leave before the community was allowed to ask questions. What are your thoughts about selling our water to a huge Swiss corporation? Personally I think we need to close the door on those negotiations but since I try to keep an open mind I'll be seeking more information before making my final decision.
I'd love to hear your comments.
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