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Click the link above to view all the Media Coverage on the Croom C&D Landfill
November 11, 2010
Greetings to All,
Well the Preservation Ride is over and what a success thanks to all the participants and volunteers.
A huge thank you goes out to all the volunteers that worked on Saturdays doing pre-registration and getting the word out about the ride and the proposed landfill in the Croom. The volunteers that worked the day of the ride were amazing from checking coggins, signing riders in, taking photos on the trail, serving coffee, lunch, selling tee shirts and raffle tickets, and getting over 120 new signatures on the petition to not give away Forest Trail 18 for a commercial road.
A very special thank you goes out to Margaret and John Bushell of the Diamond B Ranch for organizing and hosting this ride and the Pasco Sheriff’s Posse members for volunteering in an unofficial capacity to do all the above services plus be the outriders for the beautiful ride. Attached is a flyer about their up and coming fundraiser series….let’s get the word out and help support them as they did us!
Becky Card Swerdloff has written a beautiful description of the ride and Horse and Pony will print most of it in their December issue. However, if you want to read it in its entirety giving you a great visual from a rider’s perspective, please email me at paigecool@citizenspreservationfund.com and I will forward it on to you. She captures the intent and spirit of the purpose to save our precious forest and environment.
So the Preservation Ride provided enjoyment for many and added to our legal fund to continue our opposition to a landfill in the forest. It doesn’t get any better than that and even though the Holidays are upon us, our attorney will be continuing to work hard. Since we have some time before the Hearing in February, there are several activities that need to be pursued so that we can more effectively participate in the landfill permitting process and our opposition. We started so far behind; this is a wonderful opportunity for us to do some catching up. So if you can put the CPF on your Holiday Shopping List for a donation, that would be greatly appreciated (small, medium, large….) Speaking of that, we have some commemorative Preservation Ride Tee Shirts still available. Contact me or go to the website to purchase. You now can make a donation to the CPF on line through PayPal.
At the moment, our next fundraiser will be a Pampered Chef event on February 19th hosted by Alison Griffiths. Author of "Wild Horse Annie" (see the website). More to come on the specifics. Also, if you have an idea for a fundraiser, please share it and let us know.
So, once again, thank you to all that supported this Preservation Ride. You made it a huge success! Together we are making a difference.www.citizenspreservationfund.com
Donations to:
CPF
7150 La Dora Drive
Brooksville, Florida 34602
Paige
352-754-1759
paigecool@citizenspreservationfund.com
September 12, 2010
Greetings to All,
As you know, we are in the midst of gearing up for an exciting "Preservation Trail Ride" on November 7th. The ride will be across private lands most people have never ridden and may not ever be ridden again. We are blessed that the Diamond B Ranch is hosting this fundraiser for us and doing most of the work. They have asked that we help out with pre-registration and day of the ride help.
We are going to be doing pre-registration every Saturday from 10am to 2pm starting Sept 25th through Oct.30th. The pre-registrations will be held at various places (Wagon Wheel Feed, Farmer's Feed, Ranch Hand, Midway Farm and Ranch, Tractor Supply, Kemp's Feed, etc). Pre- registration will include getting people to sign the registration form, the hold harmless agreement, and, basically, just answer any questions that may come up. You will be paired with someone who has done this before so you won't be on your own. It will be necessary to have at least two people at each location (preferably three). We plan on doing multiple locations on the Saturdays.
So, who can we count on to volunteer to help with this most important part of the pre-ride organization? September 25th is almost here. Would you please call me or email me with what Saturday(s) would work for you and if you have a buddy that would go with you to help? You can make it a fun day!
Also, we will have one big banner announcing that we're there doing the pre-registration. It would be great if we could purchase a couple more. The cost is approx. $70 per banner. If you, or anyone you know, would sponsor a banner, let us know. If you are a business we'll make sure your business is recognized as the sponsor and you can write it off as advertising/client promotion expense!
This ride is a great opportunity to raise funds by calling attention to preserving the forest, trails, lands, and our quality of life while having a great time. I know we can count on the membership of the CPF to volunteer for this and I hope to hear from a lot of you this week !!! Thank you so much for all the support!
Paige
paigecool@citizenspreservationfund.com
352-754-1759
September 10, 2010
The membership of the Citizens' Preservation Fund has, once again, reached a goal. This time it was the $900 Matching Funds Offer by
September 15, 2010. You actually contributed a bit over that amount and before the deadline!
I know we all want to thank our anonymous donor for their generosity. We are blessed to have our "matching donors " as well as everyone
that has contributed whether it be large or small. With the help of our attorney, John Thomas, we are making a difference and we need to
continue our efforts in spreading the word and obtaining contributions.
Are you the next matching donor? Do you know someone/business that might be? Have an idea for a fundraiser? Can you send in a
donation?
Thank you for your support and good job !!
Make checks payable to : CPF
Mail to: 7150 La Dora Drive
Brooksville, Florida 34602
August 24, 2010
Hello everyone! Attached and pasted below is a letter from our esteemed attorney, John R. Thomas. Please take a few minutes to read it and get updated on the big news. **Please click here for the PDF attachment to download**
JOHN R. THOMAS
THOMAS & ASSOCIATES, P.A.
233 THIRD STREET NORTH, SUITE 101
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA 33701
Telephone: (727) 550-9072
Facsimile: (727) 550-9073
jrthomasesq@earthlink.net
August 24, 2010
Citizens Preservation Fund
c/o Paige Cool,
Alison Walter
Re: Out of Bounds, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, etc.,
DOAH Case No. 10-2683
Dear Friends:
Last week, Out of Bounds Inc. (OOB) headed back to the drawing board regarding its ill-conceived Croom Landfill. In March, they were
ferocious. They stormed out of my office when we tried to talk with them. They laughed from behind a ditch and berm roadblock they built to retaliate when we complained the landfill was too close to drinking wells. OOB followed this intimidating behavior with thinly-veiled threats of
legal retaliation, then angry demands. When the Department of Environmental Protection withdrew the proposed landfill permit and proposed
instead to deny it, OOB sued and ordered the interrogation of nine people during lengthy depositions. But when OOB’s Jack Hamilton was to
sit for his own deposition, OOB humbly slid a letter across the table, saying that:
Out of Bounds has determined that it would like to consider a modification of its permit application to include: (a) install a liner in accordance with F.A.C. 62-701.730; and (b) redesign the proposed landfill to provide that no debris will be accepted within 500 foot radius of any wells
that have been identified. Accordingly we request a six month continuance . . . .
The Judge agreed to continue the case for six months. After the six month continuance, the case will be re-set unless OOB decides not to
continue to pursue the landfill permit.
The landfill permit case is far from over though. OOB only says it will “consider” reconfiguring the proposed landfill to stay away from the potable wells of Dan and Bob Knox and Bob McCune, and will “consider” adding a liner and leachate collection system to prevent
groundwater contamination. But OOB made no firm commitments, and OOB has made no other offers regarding any of the other landfill
issues. They still plan to accept Chinese Drywall, they still intend to create “Mount Croom” of waste 60 or 70 feet (or more) above-grade on this 26 acre site, they still plan to widen and pave Forest Trail 18 for their use as a private easement, and they still plan to use Wildlife Lane
and High Corner Road as a driveway for up to 75 waste-hauling trucks a day.
While folks should be thankful that Out of Bounds will “consider” preventing the proposed landfill from contaminating the groundwater and wells nearby, even with a liner, the landfill would still affect daily life and safety for many. Declared one of the “10 Coolest Places You’ve
Never Been in North America” by the World Wildlife Fund, the Withlacoochee State Forest’s miles of trails for hiking, bicycling and horseback
riding would never be the same. The truck traffic alone would make access to the Croom/Wildlife area and many of these forest trails unsafe.
Odors, noxious gas, dust and noise from the proposed landfill would seriously interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of the forest and area,
chasing forest visitors and area residents away in droves, and converting this area from one of the “10 Coolest Places” to just another
industrial dump site. I sure hope it does not happen.
The landfill permit will be in limbo for the next several months, but Out of Bounds is also pursuing other State, Regional and County
approvals. From the get-go, Citizens’ Preservation Fund has been out-funded and has been playing catch-up throughout the landfill
permitting processes. The continuance provides an opportunity to raise the funds needed to more effectively participate in the landfill permit case, and time to make sure the other agencies involved hear from you and receive all of the relevant information we have gathered before
they approve this misplaced landfill. Lastly, the continuance allows a chance to try to develop a long-term solution for all. While you have
earned a reprieve and opportunity to take a break, I hope the association membership does not become complacent and is not distracted by
this delay.
I look forward to continuing the efforts we have begun and successful resolution of this matter.
Sincerely,
THOMAS & ASSOCIATES, P.A.,
John R. Thomas
August 8, 2010
Greetings To All !!!
Well, the Encore is over and while we didn't set any records in our sales, we were successful in making enough money to continue our efforts to oppose the Croom Landfill.
The people of the Citizens' Preservation Fund should be very proud of themselves for taking a stand and acting to protect the aquifer/groundwater, the clean air, the forest and its native species, the equestrian/hiking/biking usage, and our way of life here in Eastern Hernando County. By our united effort to hire John R. Thomas to represent us, we are now looking at a Hearing/Trial starting August 30th where we are in the position of backing up and strengthening the DEP in their Intent to Deny a permit to the landfill owners. Had we all done nothing back earlier in the year, we would have an up and running landfill right now.
Please be aware that the Hearing/Trial may not be the end of this effort to stop the landfill. DEP may make stipulations in the form of additional rules and regulations that the landfill owners must adhere to in order to operate. They may agree or may not agree. Nevertheless, this Hearing only applies to the permit itself. As we all know there are other issues involved with our opposition to this location for a landfill, so we need to continue to spread the word and gather more people to help us in our efforts to pay for our attorney and the experts necessary. There are many people that love the "country" and all it means to them. Please ask your family, friends, church groups, social groups, business groups to visit our website and make up their own mind if they want to support us. Ask anyone and everyone to help. We have supporters from all over Florida, Missouri, Washington, Texas, and Canada. Let's see how many more states we can add!!!
Meanwhile, we'll keep you posted on events as they occur.
The website: www.citizenspreserationfund.com
Donations/Contributions payable to: Citizens' Preservation Fund (or CPF)
Mail to: 7150 La Dora Drive
Brooksville, Florida 34602
Best to All,
Paige
352-754-1759
July 12, 2010
Hello Everyone!
Well we did it! This community showed how it could pull together and put on a real yard sale. It was a huge success and we raised enough money to guarantee adding a hydrologist to assist our attorney in his efforts. We are now left with continuing the fundraising in order to maintain a reserve so our attorney can prepare for the upcoming trial on August 30th. There are depositions, discovery, and all the good things that attorneys have to do for hearings. In fact, our attorney, has had to file a Motion for Protective Order for us as the opposition's request for depositions from us are "objectionable". Just to reiterate this one more time; we are blessed to have our attorney, John R. Thomas.
In our fundraising efforts, Paige and I have been contacting the local businesses in a push to receive donations from them. If you or anyone you know owns a business in this area (or anywhere), please share our situation and website with them. Several businesses thus far have now supported our cause and donated to our group. Remember, we have the business sponsorship program so any business that donates will receive the marketing services in return so that they can write their "donation" off as marketing expenses on next year's taxes.
Although we sold so much at the yard sale, we actually have a ton of items left. Therefore, we are going to have an Encore Yard Sale on Friday and Saturday August 6 and 7 to sell the remainder. This is the final sale and it will truly be an "All Must Go - No Reasonable Offer Refused" sale. While we don't need any further donations, we hope that you will come again and support the cause and spread the word to everyone. You will be receiving more information on this final event in the coming weeks so stay tuned.
We cannot thank everyone enough for their support of this fundraiser to protect and save a beautiful community, a way of life, our forest and it's creatures, and our precious water source. At the end of this update we are listing a few of the people that truly went over and above in their efforts to put this "show" together. Please forgive us if we left anyone out, your support was not overlooked!
We will keep you updated as the depositions take place and the "Encore" yard sale nears. Meanwhile, please keep spreading the word about our opposition to this landfill's location and why. You can always refer to our website at: www.citizenspreservationfund.com
If you can find a few more dollars to contribute to continue this effort, please make your check payable to: CPF and mail to: c/o 7150 La Dora Drive, Brooksville, FL 34602
Every penny counts and is greatly appreciated.
Best,
Paige
352-754-1759
Huge thanks to all the media in our area that announced the event for all to see!
Some of the people that probably lost a few pounds in their effort to support the cause: Beverly, Dawn and Bob, Jena, Travis, and Trevor, Jennifer, Kathy and Art, Lynn and Harry, Lynn, and Missy.
Robin and Karen for the use of their horse trailers for storage and display.
Raffle Prize Winners:
Shell Gas Card - Robert Y
Spa Kit - Courtney
Golf Cart Cover - Timi B
Wild Horse Annie Book - Lynn D.
Wild Horse Annie Book & DVD - Janine P.
Upcoming Meetings
None at this time
Past Events & Meetings
General Community Meeting: March 1, 2010
Location: Hillside Community Baptist Church
Minutes: Click here to download the PDF