To ban or not to ban
A commenter in a thread below raised the fact that Moline is now debating a ban on all leaf burning in the city.
A Dispatch editorial is 100% behind the idea and reports that Ald. Dick Potter is the person pushing for it.
The effort to ban leaf burning, which continues to puff along in Moline, will get harder before it gets easier. But once a permanent ban on choking smoke is in place, the folks in charge will wonder why they didn't do it before. It would be easy to scoff at an 8-0 vote by aldermen last week to formally consider banning leaf burning, but such consideration really does represent progress in the inevitable trek to a leaf-burning ban. As we and others have noted, the nice thing here is that Moline doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. Examples of communities which successfully undertook this good government effort abound. The key will be making it as easy on residents and as inexpensive for taxpayers as possible. As Ald. Bill Adams, 5th Ward, said last week, "The only way to do it is to bite the bullet ... and put your money where your mouth is." Indeed. So cheers to another step taken in abolishing what Ald. Dick Potter, who is driving this effort correctly termed a "barbaric practiceBarbaric? Well, barbaric or not, what are your views on the issue?
While it's an annoyance at times, I feel it would be a huge inconvenience for many to enact a total ban. But we must keep in mind that there are many who have respiratory problems which make leaf burning season hell for them.
Also, if the city does enact this ban, it had darn well better improve the woefull leaf vacuuming efforts which have proven to be sporadic and inefficient at best.
The trucks have to drive to a rural farm in Coal Valley every time they get full, unload, then drive back into town to resume where they left off. Needless to say, this makes it next to impossible to make much progress, costs a LOT in fuel costs, and the city has to pay workers high wages for spending most of their time not doing anything but riding in a truck. Efficient? Hardly.
According to my conversation with city workers on the truck, the farm is owned by some crony of city officials, and rather than paying the city for the tons of valuable mulch and compost material, the CITY pays the guy to dump the leaves on his property. The whole thing smacks of inefficiency and a huge waste of time and tax dollars. The idea of providing leaf vacuums is a sound one and provides a vital service as an alternative to burning, but the way it is currently being done could stand some expansion and rethinking.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 9/15/2005
10 comments
10 Comments:
Why can't they put the issue on a ballot and let the voters decide whether or not to allow leaf burning? I, for one, don't mind it, and I DO mind ald. potter calling it a barbaric practice. For some reason those words just annoy me. I'm tired of him trying to shove this issue down our throats everytime we get a new member on the city council. Put it to vote and I will be happy with the outcome either way, let a select few decide and it will irritate me.
I agree with Alderman Potter. It is a barbaric practice. There are people in our community who, because of breathing problems, have to stay indoors when people are burning leaves. In my neighborhood the vast majority of people are considerate of their neighbors and go to the extra effort to dispose of their leaves without burning them. I only see a few people, about one per block, who burn their leaves but those few are enough to polute the air for everyone. Given how few people I see burning their leaves I am always amazed how many people show up in discussions like this to proclaim their opposition to any ban and to pronounce their indifference to the suffering their burning causes others.
It does not make any sense to me. The vast majority of Americans consider themselves environmentalists and think it is reasonable to scuttle a major development project like a dam or something if it might endanger a threatened species like the snail-darter. But to propose that along with all the other clear-air measures we as a society have agreed to we should stop the open-air burning of leaves in the fall - a kind of burning that because it is inefficient produces a disproportionately large amount of air polution and you get people talking about how they object to things being shoved down their throats. Why is this something that is being shoved down their throats and the endangered species act and the clean air acts are just sensible public policy?
I didn't realize the Moline city council was responsible for passing the endangered species and clean air acts.
Ban or no ban - it's going to take a lot of money the City does not have to ban the burn and vaccuum the leaves which is the favorite way if we can't burn.
However, the 90 people who tilted the scales to get Welvert in as Mayor will soon see his whimpy ways when they don't have any money for what is needed.
Once he raises our taxes, bye bye welvert --- hello O'Brien!! O'Brien for mayor of Moline! Let's get back to common sense again in Moline.
let us burn our leaves. i aint paying for trucks, with city employees working 2 months out of the year in the spring and fall to remove what nature gave us. its bad enough we cant smoke in a bar in illinois anymore (or at least thats the way things are heading, thanks young alderman carton), next i wont be able to use my fireplace in my house, this is PC run amok. tell me i cant burn my leaves? i talk to my neighbors, i even know my neighbors names, and when they arent home, i burn then, because they asked me. this isnt about an archaic practice, this is about common sense among neighbors. the little old lady who lives to my souht, puts her white sheets up on her clothes line, i wont burn, if they aren't up in the first place, i'll still check with her beforehand. not once has a neighbor said no, and i check the wind direction. i even have my neighbors ask me if they can burn too. its about neighborhoods, and neighbors communicating first not archaic practices being banned for overly pc alderman like mr. potter. hee haw
if i cant lay out the garbage of pc, when i beleive it is true, then dont play the sympathy card with ashtma. i interact with kids all day, i dont want to see any kid suffer, but hell more kids are hurt when they fall into a 5 gallon bucket, then by leave burning, we banning 5 gallon buckets now? more kids get sick eating chicken, thru salmonella, you see us banning chicken? you know how many lbs of leaves there are to be cleaned up in any city? you want to have your taxes raised for that? and by the way, no plan whatsoever to pick up the leaves is out there that is workable. but thats par for the course; no planning, just say we need to do something, do it, and have no plan for its implentation.
Anon - see the new Moline Mayor about it - why is he silent? Because he has no clue what is going on in his own town!!!
At least some of the alderman have ideas or opinions.
Yes Huntooner - but right now the big issue is what exactly is going on with the issue at Moline CIty Hall? Do we burn or not burn??
We don't have plain talking Pat O'Brien sitting on the council to give us a clear statement anymore since that empty suit - Welvert got in as Mayor and put O'Brien on the bench. Darn - I miss the days when the average citizen could read O'Brien's quotes on the latest events and get a clear idea of the changes in Moline.
Now we have the confused drivel and lack of leadership in our town.....so sad. Anyone know what the last two meetings result is on the issue? I sure don't.
It's as clear as the mississippi mud.
The poor children with asthma...... how about a ban on pregnant women smoking, or parents of small children smoking in their homes and cars.... No.... just blame everyone who tries to keep their yards looking nice in the fall.
Maybesomeday, The personal choices in tiny universes cause children to have asthma. Then the parents who have caused this want the world to change its ways to protect the problems they have caused.... and no, I do not care to see your ditto head.
annon 16:18
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