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| Council turns down talks with West Park |
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| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Friday, 07 September 2007 | |
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“The longer we are not at the table, the less information we are going to receive.” — Dejeune Shelton Patterson City Councilwoman The Patterson City Council remained committed Tuesday to limiting talks with the prospective developer of the Crows Landing Air Facility. The council refused to let city employees and consultants meet with representatives of PCCP West Park, the company that wants to build a 4,800-acre industrial center on and around Crows Landing’s former naval airfield. Patterson City Manager Cleve Morris suggested meeting with West Park because a water study implies the proposed 7.5-square-mile facility could diminish the city’s water supply. “The goal would be for our water consultants and (Gerry Kamilos’) water consultants to meet,” Morris said. “They speak the same language. (West Park) may not have any details that are useful, but we don’t know unless we meet.” Kamilos is the lead developer for West Park. A water study West Park presented to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors last month said the project is considering using wells to collect ground water. Morris worried the wells would pull from the same aquifers Patterson uses. It was not the first time Morris had suggested meeting with West Park, but his arguments failed to sway council members, who said meeting with the development group would give the impression they had weakened in their opposition to the project. “Do we continue to fight, or just jump on board like Cleve is suggesting?” Mayor Becky Campo asked. A representative of a local group that formed to oppose the West Park project agreed. “There’s going to be an appearance of cooperation that is going to be used against the city,” said Claude Delphia of West Side-Patterson Alliance for Community and Environment. Councilwoman Dejeune Shelton, on the other hand, said the city is missing a valuable opportunity by refusing to meet with West Park. “The longer we are not at the table, the less information we are going to receive,” Shelton said. “The only way to get the information we’ll need to fight this … is if we’re sitting at the table.” Kamilos has until April to create a master plan for the county-owned airfield and the surrounding land. His proposal includes an inland port connected to the Port of Oakland by rail that would ship and receive containers. He estimates the project would create 37,000 jobs. The facility’s northern boundary would be about a mile from the city’s southernmost boundary line. The council has said increased train traffic and the massive scope of the project would destroy the West Side’s way of life. Until they know more about the plans, council members say, they will not allow city experts to meet with his company. Councilman Dominic Farinha said that until Kamilos puts detailed plans in writing, the council will never know what his real intentions are. He suggested there will always be uncertainty surrounding the project until an environmental impact report is presented. That report would describe the plans in detail, including their adverse impacts and measures to lessen those impacts. “The only information we’re really going to want is when the EIR comes out,” Farinha said. “Until then, we’ll be left in the dark.” In other council matters:
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