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March 19, 2010
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Posted at: 11:30 AM | 2 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Land Board Meeting - August 19th
August 18, 2008
The Citizens for an Open Greenbelt has just learned that
Mayor John Evans has requested to speak to the Commissioners at the August 19th meeting. COG looks forward to addressing these issues with Mr. Evans present.
Press Release
COG to Make its Case to the State Board of Land Commissioners
Garden City, Idaho August18, 2008 – The Citizens for an Open Greenbelt (COG) is scheduled to speak at the Idaho State Board of Lands Commissioners on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 concerning the ban on bike riding on a portion of the Boise River Greenbelt behind Riverside Village in Garden City.
COG will request that the State of Idaho take the necessary action to open the Greenbelt in Garden City to bike riding as mandated by the State of Idaho over 30 years ago.
The designation of “bicycle path” as a condition of approval for the development of Riverside Village is clear upon review of over 250 pages of public documents discovered by COG a year ago. Many of these key documents and other information are available for review online at http://idahocog.org
The Citizens for an Open Greenbelt is a grassroots advocacy group dedicated to supporting...
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Posted at: 10:46 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
COG Going to Land Board - Please e-mail them b4 Aug 19!
August 13, 2008
As I said in our last update to you,
COG is committed to supporting the stated goal of the
Treasure Valley Greenbelt...“to provide continuous open space along the river for non-motorized, mixed use for the citizens of
Idaho.”
That means it is now time for Garden City to lift its ban on Greenbelt bike riding. Since our last posting we’ve been pretty busy. Two weeks ago we met with Clive Strong and Steve Schuster, deputies to State Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. Clive is the attorney for the Lands Commissioners and Steve is one of the Deputy AGs for the Department of Lands. It was a good meeting in that we presented our findings and explained why we felt it was now time for the State to take action against Garden City. They listened, asked good questions, and told us that their job will be to provide the Land Board Commissioners their legal assessment as to action to be taken against Garden City.
But the most important announcement is this:
COG is presenting its case to the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 . This meeting will be held at 9:00...
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Posted at: 08:35 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Great Letter to the Attorney General
July 27, 2008
from one of our supporters -- THANX!
Dear Mr Wasden,
Especially in this time of escalating fuel prices, we need your help in improving alternative transportation options. There are many who choose to, and many others who would like to commute by bicycle for the fuel savings, the decreased negative impact on the environment, and health benefits (especially in this age of obesity epidemic). The Greenbelt is a valuable asset to many who wish to commute without the danger of automobile traffic.
As the one with the legal responsibility to protect the great state of Idaho I implore you to take action to assure the public gets the greenbelt back. The State of Idaho spent thousands of dollars of our tax money to assure this was an open greenbelt and now has failed to enforce it. This is particularly a problem in a section near the Riverside Subdivision in Garden City. Mayor John Evans and the Garden City council apparently believe they are above the law, and are in defiance of the courts decision to open the greenbelt to cyclists. Are they truly above the law? Can they at will ignore a mandate of the Court? Does a court judgment...
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Posted at: 09:15 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
RVHOA backpedals again
July 26, 2008
They must be taking lessons from Mayor John Evans. The pattern is clear - Evans & the RVHOA make a claim. COG disproves it or discloses it, so they pull it and come up with something new that is equally outrageous!
When we pointed out that they were posting info on how to get rid of geese, which included destroying nests and habitat, they removed the info from their site and replaced with cute pictures of momma, daddy, and baby goslings.
When we sent out a link to the minutes from one of their meetings where they advocate gaining title to the greenbelt and putting it into a land trust for the HOA (see the previous blog), they removed THAT info from their site. Here are the details...
One of our supporters wrote: I don't know if they are having a server problem or they've removed all of their notes, but the meeting notes you referenced below can no longer be accessed. I thought you might be interested to know that.
Gary wrote: Thanks for the heads up. Very interesting, I just went to the website and sure enough, they pulled the notes. No doubt as soon as we made it public...
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Posted at: 12:36 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Update - July 2008 -- News from Gary
July 26, 2008
My apology to all for not keeping you current on the work COG has been doing. I assure you we have been very busy with this campaign and be assured, WE ARE NOT GIVING UP until we exhaust every option and strategy to assure we have an open greenbelt in Garden City. Go to our website at www.idahocog.org for lots of details.
As you know, Mayor John Evans and the Garden City Council have thumbed their collective noses at the rest of the Treasure Valley community in order to protect the interests of a few. This is a long post so I’m going to get right to the point of this email.
It is now time for Idaho State Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to step up to the plate and take action to assure Garden City complies with the State mandate that the greenbelt in Riverside Village be open to bike riding. I ask you to take just a few moments and go HERE and express your opinion and demand that takes action to assure we get our greenbelt back. Ask him why the State of Idaho spent thousands of dollars of our tax money to...
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Posted at: 12:16 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Evans' Credibility - Busted Again!
May 1, 2008
Mayor Evans made a slide presentation on "his Greenbelt" at the ACHD Bicycle Advisory Meeting April 7, after which he abruptly departed the meeting. Gary Segers also made a presentation on behalf of COG, but Mayor Evans was just too busy to stick around and listen.
One of Mayor Evans' slides showed a map of "the 1410 foot section of greenbelt path that he claims is privately owned by RVHOA and is only available to the public by prescriptive right." He was even asked to show the slide twice and repeat his claim. However, when the presentations were posted online at ACHD, THIS SLIDE HAD BEEN REMOVED!
It seems to me that we must have accurate, not doctored versions of public documents posted online for public reference. We asked ACHD to verify the omission. Their reply is below - YES, Evans did it again - manipulated the facts for his own purposes!!!
"Jacki - I posted the presentation and did not review it for content; you are right about the missing slide. I've asked the Mayor's Office to supply it and will append the file when it is sent...
Craig Quintana
Communications Manager
Ada County Highway District
208.387.6107"------------------------------------------
Here's the link...
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Posted at: 08:24 AM | 2 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Who owns what?
April 27, 2008
Thank you for your contributions
April 19, 2008
Many of you have sent checks recently which are so appreciated. As we dig deeper into the legalities of what has happened "right here in Garden City," legal advice is needed more and more frequently. Although we have an attorney who is doing this initial review and baseline for us as a non-profit at a reduced rate, it is still going to add up pretty quickly!
If you do want to make a donation of time or money, details on how you can do that are on our "You Can Help!" page.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Jacki Liddell
Citizens for an Open Greenbelt
Posted at: 08:31 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
The next "Bike In" by Access4All
April 19, 2008
Update to the Update. There have been some changes to plans for this ride. To see the dialogue, you can go to the IdahoCOG Yahoo Group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IdahoCOG/
Also see Mike's blog http://access4all-motowrencher.blogspot.com/ or e-mail him below with your questions.
Update. This just in from Mike Long... "Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, 10:00am, D&B Parking lot at Glenwood and Riverside Dr" If you have any questions, please contact Mike directly -- motowrencher@yahoo.com
-----Message below from Gary Segers----
Many of you have expressed an interest in doing another "Bike In" - a true "Bike In". You have been itching to ride your bike through the Garden City Greenbelt in Riverside Village and challenge the elected officials of Garden City about their ludicrous bike ban. Now is your opportunity.
Mike Long, a strong COG supporter, has asked that we let you all know that he would like those who are interested to contact him. Mike's email address is motowrencher@yahoo.com I don't believe he has scheduled a date - much will depend on what you all want to do.
As you know by now, COG is still trying to work within the "system" (sometimes I wonder why) and will support a "bike in" ...
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Posted at: 08:29 PM | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink
