This was emailed today, 4/2/14. At #3 is the link to the meeting, and is a big one. City Wall Hall sticks it to themselves. Reading this email before watching the meeting will clarify their intent to deny and discredit me against facts and proof in their face.
6/4/14 All talks of paving have ceased, not budgeted in the 2nd round of budget meetings. Appears Seaview Terrace will be left to rot and flood so they can take it after via eminent domain- rock bottom price.
1.
City Council, City Manager, Mayor, and Seaview Terrace Neighbors,
Seaview Terrace is slated for paving this spring/summer.. Mike Hurley states the he finally took a drive down Seaview Terrace after the last ugly meeting where I gave my final plea for Seaview Terrace to included into the Northport Ave TIF. Allowing use of those funds and grant resources to build sewer infrastructure to handle the illegal massive forced runoff coming into Seaview Terrace from all 3 sides and to repair the road of Seaview Terrace with road side drainage. For 2 years I campaigned for this and was denied. They voted instead to allow the robbing of this TIF for downtown projects, where they also have the Downtown TIF. In Joe Slocum's email below dated 9/9/11 he states the road needs repair but there isn't any money to fix it. He should have placed Seaview Terrace in the TIF then, but he does not. He is not planning properly with our taxes.
Mike Hurley and Mayor Ash both agreed the road is a disaster. These heaves may not be able to be leveled now. The road must have road side drainage, but Joe Slocum states it will cost 220k and there isn't any money for that. Yet, they approved funding for studies for the rail trail and inner harbor while a host of other spending is underway for tourist parking, lighting, etc. Joe states the road side ditching is a problem because our road is too narrow but he will ask residents if they will accept ditches. Right, they'll be towing cars out of the ditch when 2 are coming at each other, suspensions ruined. Good deal for Mayor Ash though and his towing. I hope he will stop refusing my emergency AAA calls. REPAVE WITH ROADSIDE SEWER DRAINS AND NOTE THAT THERE IS A POND AT MY SECTION WHERE THE DRIVEWAY MEETS THE ROAD. OUR MAILBOXES ARE ROADSIDE AS WELL.
The City has been destroying the flood zone, flood plain private property of Seaview Terrace for over 30 years. They should be refunding our taxes and bending over backwards to get that water out of here and fix the roads properly. It is their civic duty to protect and divert water from flood zone residents, and instead they have been illegally slaughtering us and burying, with holding, denying, manipulating the basic public document requests that would prove their corruption. Storm water/sewer/ditch maps, Final Approved Site Plans for all sites draining to us and the specific Zoning Conditions for these sites. Joe Slocum is spinning me as a addict requester of irrelevant public documents that he has fulfilled but I continue to request. Stating he has had over 40 requests from me. I am still trying to get those very same documents and because he does not provide the true documents, it keeps repeating itself.
City Council refuses to get involved, refuses to attend the viewing to authenticate once and for all that I receive the true documents, Joe Slocum refused to allow City Tax Assessor Bob Whiteley authenticate. Bob would have done it happily, in a New York minute, but Joe refused. Now, why is that? Bob is now out on medical leave and Roger Lee states in this meeting that he does not validate. Joe Slocum attempts to gain public support with this mess he created on the floor, and how it took him 19 hours to gather. I'm at home gasping as he is saying this to the public. He is also using this as an excuse that he doesn't have time to do an accounting of the specific public spending I requested that is easily tracked. The City Attorney is required to bill the City specifically for services rendered- one 5 minute call for that and the City has the rest. Below is the request for 4 specific area's, which I also read in the meeting. The 4 year request is for the 4 years that Joe Slocum chose not to use property tax money to save Seaview Terrace from their forced flooding.
They continue to use their reason for slaughtering us is that they can because they have manufactured this ditch as a natural stream, to coincide with the ordinance62-192 "Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage may be discharged to such sewers as specifically designated as storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved by the City."
Below is the Belfast City Engineer in 1987 hired because of flooding (apparently Dr. Caswell did not have any flooding when he bought this home in 1967-1985?) RIGHT HERE THE CITY ENGINEER STATES IT IS A MAN MADE DITCH! CASE CLOSED. See the pictures from 1939 in the link below- no stream visible- looks like the farm was sold and in the 60's a ditch was dug through there to allow for run off from the new Rte 1 built 1963. Then the area was approved for a Sub-division- Seaview Terrace. The ditch had to be pushed back to allow for houses on my side. See that engineer plan in the link- also with held from me. I scored it in a surprise visit to Bob Whiteley. That's when City Attorney Bill Kelly stepped in and told City Council to take the 5th- 12/2011. Kelly concedes the ditch/swale/stream-( he uses all 3 to cover) was moved, hence not natural.
But seriously, let say it was a natural outlet. The City is still despicable in forcing that runoff from 2 miles away, with unapproved drainage from CASS and the muck (where Miller St rec'd 1.5 million in sewer improvement to take the CASS runoff and they bypassed it, corruptly sending send it to the watershed residents) all the way down and across, and then to force it from across Rte 1 up and down from the National Guard and those sites, plus the runoff from the highway and adding to it still with the Annex, Wight St and the townhouses. Drown the flood zone A residents, so what, who cares.
I come back for the 2nd open to the public to state the facts- the original request was for the Zoning Conditions of the 13 sites and only the final approved site plan for the Captain Albert Stevens School that I have been requesting since July 2011. Clearly, that mess of Joe's is 19 hours of corruption add on to 4 years of this and all the employees and fees from the City Attorney he has enlisted in this cover-up.
2._______________________________________________________________
6/4/14 IN 2009 CITY MANAGER JOE SLOCUM STATES ROAD NEEDS WORK BELOW. STILL NOT DONE and is appearing will never be done..
| From: | Joseph Slocum (citymanager@cityofbelfast.org) This sender is in your contact list. |
| Sent: | Fri 9/09/11 4:50 PM |
| To: | LAURIE ALLEN (laurieallen55@msn.com) |
| Cc: | Councilors (councilors@cityofbelfast.org); Wayne Marshall (planner@cityofbelfast.org); Bob Richards (publicworks@cityofbelfast.org) |
Ms. Allen,
Good afternoon. I regret that I have been away for two weeks because of two family emergencies.
The road could indeed use some work and will be addressed in conjunction with our regular road program which calls for attention in areas about every 10 years. The road has alligator cracking because the ground underneath is wet. The present existence of a couple of culverts underneath the road which transfer some water from the higher land across the street to your land on the North side are an attempt by the City to have the road not act as a dam to the natural flow of gravity and also to preserve the asphalt on the road itself by eliminating standing water on the road edge or underneath it. We have these culverts all over the City and you will indeed find them all over the State.I will ask my Public Works Director, by copy of this email to let us know in what year your road might see some resurfacing. It will not be this year. At this time there are no funds or plans to install storm sewers along your road. ...
The road could indeed use some work and will be addressed in conjunction with our regular road program which calls for attention in areas about every 10 years. The road has alligator cracking because the ground underneath is wet. The present existence of a couple of culverts underneath the road which transfer some water from the higher land across the street to your land on the North side are an attempt by the City to have the road not act as a dam to the natural flow of gravity and also to preserve the asphalt on the road itself by eliminating standing water on the road edge or underneath it. We have these culverts all over the City and you will indeed find them all over the State.I will ask my Public Works Director, by copy of this email to let us know in what year your road might see some resurfacing. It will not be this year. At this time there are no funds or plans to install storm sewers along your road. ...
Click #6 open to the public ff to 5:56. I had sent an email to Council, Mayor and City Manager and am reading from that. Per the State of Maine Municipal Association property taxes go first to education and basic municipal services (fire, police, rescue services, trash disposal, road upkeep and upgrades, clean air, and enforcement of health and safety codes. After those are satisfied, than to libraries, recreation, etc.
Click #7 communications ff to 2:55 Slocum, Hurley and David Smith take liberty to discredit me, they could have told me to stay, Joe didn't speak at all when I asked him for the documents. They know I leave.
Click #11 for the 2nd time I come back for open to the public and fly with facts and proof.
it will go right into 12 with Hurley, Slocum and Marshall repairing their web.
City Council and City Manager have been misspending our tax dollars on personal agenda wants with huge projects, neglecting the education and roads and infrastructure. School tax is est. to rise 16% this year per School Board member and Belfast resident, Chris Hyk. The cost to save Seaview Terrace from the destruction by the City as an illegal run off outlet for miles outside and inside Seaview Terrace is substantial. They don't want to do it. We are not a natural outlet, Slocum and Marshall continue with this stream- that stream is probably the Morrissey Brook which I was behind public works on Congress Street way back when. Hurley citing England flooding, mother nature doesn't hold water when you make 1000 acres impervious and force the runoff to private property. In fact, it magnifies the danger we are in at EVERY event. Click on this link or for those that receive my letters-access the internet and type in www.belfastliars.blogspot.com and the link is there. View maps, original plans, pictures of water slaughter
4._________________________________________________________
Below is the 1987 City Consulting Engineer of Belfast A. Neil Finlayson, P.E. findings to Wilma Moses, Belfast City Manager. Mr.Gerry is at 18 Seaview Terrace across the street from me (now owned by Charles Beck) Mrs. McDonald is at 11 Seaview Terrace next door to me (now owned by Rose and Frank Costello) and Dr. Caswell is 17 Seaview Terrace (now owned by me, Laurie Allen) A tri-angle.
August 26, 1987
Subject: Seaview Terrace Drainage Problems
Dear Wilma:
The rain water drainage problems which we investigated this morning on Seaview Terrace, are primarily due to the overall topography of the land on which this development was built. In general, the land slopes downward from South to North across Seaview Terrace. In addition, there is a slope form the direction of Route 1 Bypass downwards towards Northport Ave.
The owner complaints, as I recall them, are as follows:
1. Mr.Gerry states that after heavy rains his basement tends to collect water. (The same problem of basement flooding is a regular feature in many other houses in Belfast.)
This problem could be minimized by having Keith Pooler lower the culvert that crosses the road at Mr. Gerry's lot and make sure it is clean inside for maximum water flow from his lot across Seaview Terrace to the boundary between Mrs. McDonald's lot and Dr. Caswell's. In addition, it should be suggested to Mr. Gerry that if he would increase the cross sectional area of his ditch which empties into the City culvert, (now about 6" wide and of equal depth), there would be less tendency for water to collect on his lawn, and thus send its way into his basement.
2. Mrs. McDonald says that rain water drainage, after a heavy rain, can rise to the point where it gets into and damage expensive plantings at the eastern side of her house. In part, this may be due to water flooding across the road from Mr. Gerry's house. But there is also water coming down on her side of the road from other lots above hers. Lowering and cleaning the culvert in front of Mr.Gerry's house would tend to minimize flooding over the road, but the overall effect with respect to correcting her problem might well be negligible.
It should be suggested to Mrs. McDonald that if she had a sizeable ditch dug from the end of the culvert on her side of the road and carried it back to the "Brook", it would probably reduce the flooding of her gardens.
3. Dr. Caswell has mentioned that after heavy rains the brook can flood and create problems for all owners whose lots back up to it. He suggests that the City clean it out to reduce this tendency. I have a feeling that this brook is NOTHING MORE THAN A DRAINAGE DITCH PUT IN BY THE DEVELOPER OF THE TRACT.
You could suggest to Dr. Caswell that his brook is private property and that if he, and other owners, feel strongly about the problem, that the hire a contractor to clean out the brook to their specifications.
Summary:
As you mentioned during our visit, the basic cause of the flooding is the topography of the land which the owners bought.
Actions:
Suggest to the owners:
1. Aside from the culvert, which is on a Belfast City street and thus a City responsibility, all other possible corrective actions involve private land and must be carried out by the owners themselves.
2. The flooding problems that exist are inherent in the topography of the land that them bought; it has existed pretty much as it is now, from the outset. The problems are not due to any action by the City and are therefore not a direct City responsibility. However, in accordance with your belief that the City should assist the residents with their problems, I have added my thoughts on the action the might take to minimize these problems.
Very Truly Yours,
A. Neil Finlayson, P.E.
City of Belfast Consulting Engineer
5.________________________________________________________________________
And here is the current request for public spending where Joe Slocum wants $130 from me to start and certainly will turn into another marathon of never to be true corrupting of public documents/information. Still waiting for CASS final approved plans and cut the zoning conditions down to 7. I asked for the fee to be waived per MFOIA and also told Council they should be requesting this through a study. Clearly they will not do this, I cannot pay the money and we should know this, all residents need to know before the budget.And that 's all folks.
I cannot afford to pay the fees charged by the agency or official to research my request or copy the records. Can I get a waiver?
The agency or official may, but is not required to, waive part or all of the total fee if the requester is indigent, or if the agency or official considers release of the public record to be in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. 1 M.R.S. § 408-A(11)
From: laurieallen55@msn.com
To: jslocum@cityofbelfast.org; ward1councilor@cityofbelfast.org; laurieallen55@msn.com
Subject: Public Spending MFOIA 3/18/14
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:39:27 -0400
To: jslocum@cityofbelfast.org; ward1councilor@cityofbelfast.org; laurieallen55@msn.com
Subject: Public Spending MFOIA 3/18/14
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:39:27 -0400
Joe Slocum-Belfast City Manager and Mary Mortier-Ward1 City Council,
Please provide the following years spread sheet cost accounting, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 to current;
1. Identify each lawsuit to the City of Belfast including all employees and include verdict,settlement and all fees.
2. Identify each and all in-house counsel fees.
3.Identify each and all costs for grants, including application, if awarded, City funds contributed, including pending and final cost for each project clearly identifying total grant cost and monies received, vs. total City funds spent and those pending or underway to date.
4. Identify each and all public money consultations/studies for all (recreation projects scrapped and/or approved, harbor walk, rail trail, parking, lighting, education/schools, capital projects, etc.) sart to finish, underway and pending to date.
Certainly this is valuable information to all with the upcoming budget and disaster we are facing. To try to extort research wages from me would be outrageous and a call for public outcry.
Sincerely,
Laurie Allen
City Council Meeting 4/15/14
http://belfastme.swagit.com/play/04152014-1176/#2
Click 6 open to public ff 7:50-12:06 (at 9:32, my word of the day BALDERDASH)
True to form, City Council and City Manager refuse to save Seaview Terrace from their corrupt ego's I prove AGAIN that the City is force flooding via the BELFAST CONSULTING ENGINEER NEIL FINLAYSON reporting in 1987 that this is a drainage ditch. I show the picture of this ditch, in 6/2010 that was 2 ft wide and 2 ft deep. After spring melt in 2011- white water rapids tore through for days and days, ripping away over 600 ft of my property. Right up to my newly installed 6k fence. Just a bit more and away it would have went.
Click 7 communications or let it go right into it from Open to the Public. Listen to it all if you can bear it.
City Manager, Joe Slocum committed to Seaview Terrace road work in the last meeting but wants to take the cheapest way out. Destroy more of our property with digging drainage ditches in our front yards that will soon look like my backyard ravine.
They refused to plan and prepare by putting us in the TIF (Tax Increment Finance)and Mitigation Plan. They refuse to provide the 4 year spread sheet for spending on legal fees, grants, matching funds, capital projects, recreation, consultations/studies. I request this accounting again direct to my Council, Mary Mortier, ASAP before they start hacking away at the blue, pink and yellow collars, resident infrastructure and schools in this budget.
Councilor Hurley told me in the last meeting that I need to stay and wait for the communications portion where they will address the open to the public comments. They have taken the 5th in all meetings by orders of the City Attorney because each time they open their mouths they hang themselves. Sometimes they disobey the mighty one, unable to curtail their ego's.Communications spotlights their true incompetence and dribble. It is painful to watch, and a true test of keeping my head out of the wall when I am in the same room as them. This meeting I award myself the "Hole-less Wall Award".FF to5:50/communications City Manager, Joe Slocum goes back to hiding behind the City Attorney (clearly he reads this blog since he had that 12/27/2011 letter in hand. Takes him 19 hours to find zero public documents for me but they are overflowing with their maps and documents for cover ups. I endure the dribble of his problems to get mud cleaned up around some poles, the public bathrooms being unlocked and locked, all during FLOOD TIME and mud season, concern only for City property.Councilor Eric Sanders is status quo- rhetoric mediation much ado about nothing. At least he stopped picking his teeth and ears on camera. Nasty.
FF to 8:44 Incredibly, Councilor Nancy Hamilton, at communications, had this to say (sadly and surely she prepared this balderdash) Happy Tax Day. Because we are living here and seeing where our money goes, I think we are a little more accountable than the Feds. Hope to balance the needs of the taxpayers with the needs of the town.
FF 9:25 Hurley thanks me for mentioning the 1987 Belfast Consulting Engineers name, Neil Finlayson??? Giving us a personal rundown of how HURLEY knows Neil. WT* does this have to do with an engineer confirming Belfast City Hall corruption and the slaughter of Seaview Terrace???
Tell me how City Council Nancy Hamilton is allowed on Council when her husband is the Chairman for the Planning Board. Stacking the votes. Hamilton, Hurley, Lee and Mortier are solid City Corruption, Sanders goes with the flow but acts resident friendly and concerned. Total hypocrite.
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