On the evening of August 17th, the Midway City Council voted 3 to 2 to reject a ballot Resolution which would have given Midway voters the right to choose if they wanted to authorize a sum of money for the city to use to help preserve Midway’s rural character and open space.
Pure Midway understands some of the concerns voiced by the council – we also shared some of them. But after a year of research and learning we felt that the pros outweighed the cons. Bond money can be stretched in many ways. We learned that once a city bonds, other entities are more likely to match funds through grants and donations that they will not do until a city shows they are committed. Bonding is just one possible approach to preserving open space, one that we felt could be a valuable component of the overall strategy but would require citizen support. Our research and efforts to get your feedback indicated that YOU, the public wanted to vote on the matter, and we regret that you were not given that opportunity at this time. Regardless of this outcome, Pure Midway will continue to seek public input and work diligently to understand the options that Midway has to preserve Open Space, including pros and cons of those options to the best of our ability. We are all aware of the very fast pace of growth and change around Midway. We hope we have not lost significant ground (pun intended) with the council’s decision but only time will tell.
For those of you who were not able to attend the August 17th meeting, we have obtained a copy of the audio, and we encourage you to listen to the discussion.
In a separate post we will later detail the previous council meeting on August 9th, including a presentation that detailed citizen petition and survey results which were shared with the council.
One major issue was the fact that Ken M. very very rudley interrupted part of the process. In the middle of a motion to call the city out and say they did not take public comment is simply NOT true. Another extreemly interesting fact is that Randy (the bond attorney recomended by a group of concerned citizens and pure Midway) recomended that if the council was not behind the idea to pull it now because of his experiance with bond election success. If pure Midway wants to succeed there needs to be a respect for the established system. This system is what we have and it works. Yes you have dedicated a year of service and hard work THANK YOU! for that. However, many of our public officials have been serving this community for decays. Not for personal gain but for a love of the community. Take a step back and regroup and help be part of the solution through serving in our community. I have been critical of the PM from the beginning but that is not because of the ideas and values of PM. Its is in the delivery. There needs to be a comming together of new and old, young and experienced. I hope PM can see that and wants to help overcome the devide within this awsome place we ALL call home. I will be one of the biggest cheerleaders for a bond if it is done correctly and goes through the process. I think the openspace committee will help in establishing criteria and educating the public on what they are buying. After speeking at LENGTH with each council member individually they feel the same about preserving this town. They too will support your efforts working through the system and process. Their experience will be critical in the next few years if we are to get a plan together that will help mold Midway into the city we would all like it to be. Yes Colleen Bonner is my sister and although I have great respect for her service this community I can tell you we admittally disagree on many things with respect to Midway. We fight like cats and dogs in some very heated discussions. But, working together with some give and take we usually agree that its the PEOPLE serving in the community together that makes Midway what it is.
decide for yourself.
I however do not agree with Clint Coleman’s account. Ken was on the contrary treated like a irritant.
It is was clear agenda had been decided. Impart due to gaveling over getting this special meeting. Sounded like conflicts of schedule and vacations. But miracle the all council where seated and ready.
It appeared it would be rather difficult to get this on the 17th.
I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise. To say it was a disappointment is an understatement.
I don’t agree the above comment that Ken M interrupted.
It was like pulling teeth just to get to this meeting.
To the contrary, Ken M was treated like a irritant…. a bug. But remember this meeting is “a special meeting”
It was special meeting …. every council seat was full. Even with all the blow back leading up to this. It was well known it would be difficult to disrupt vacation time and what not. Take that However you will…….
Pull Ken out of my precious comments and what do you have left?
The truth!