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September 29, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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September 29, 2006
 
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LETTERSHZ! CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:8 Twenty-five wereveterans,20 were youth (under age 20). It is far more beneficial to citefactsthantocouchapoint of view in hyperbole ("They [homeless] comefrom allover in droves...") or innuendo ("Why not in your backyard, Mr. Burt?") The Salvation Army'sAlanBurt and hiswife have, for years, taken into their own home the unfortu- nate and dispossessed. The reality is that real people find themselvesindire straitsthroughthe accidental occurrences of life and other real people do what they can to help them. Max Money Centerville Alan Burt has done his share, and more I am writinginresponse to B.J.Thomas'letter re: getting real on the homeless. Mr.Thomas is the one who needs to get real and get a clue. If he knew from whence he spoke he would not have suggested Alan Burt "invite them to hishome."He would know Mr. Burt and his wife have offered shelterto theless fortunate and the homelessin theirhomeonmanyoccasions. He would know Mr. Burt and wife pay for the homeless in the Overnight of Hospitality programtostayinalocalhotel room on Christmas Eve - so they have a chance to shower and lay their burden down for just a night. He would know that night after night, Mr. Burt is in the Salvation Armyparkinglot coordinating transportation for the over- night program participants - in rain and snow - making sure the programparticipants are safe and taken care of. He would knowthat Mr.Burt and his wife have given time and againof theirlove,their home, theirfunds -givenineveryway to those less fortunate in our society... I.M. Giles Harwich AHOD is right for Barnstahle I am writing this letter in support of the AHOD (afford- able housingoverlaydistrict), azoningchangeunder discus- sioninthetown ofBarnstable. I must first disclose that I serve this town in avolunteer capacity as the newly elected chair of the planningboard. I do not sit on the zoning sub- committee that worked with town staff in the creation of the AHOD, and so I am not an author nor a participant in its creation. For those who may be un- awareofthe zoning,hereitisin anutshell:TheAHODprovides an opportunity for a builder to create a greater amount of affordable units in exchange for density and predictability. Its components are simple: both density incentives and timelineincentivesareoffered in exchange for an increased number of affordable units, whichourtownso desperately needs. It allowsfor community input at every stage.It gives the town a chance to gain on the ever-elusive "greater than 10 percent" number of afford- able housing each townseeks. It evenincludesasunsetclause - meaning that in 18 months after inceptionthiszoningtool isautomaticallyeliminatedun- less it has been found to be a success. Then the councilmay choose to re-enact it. What this zoning will do: 1.Offer anincreased density in exchange for a higher per- centage of affordable homes. 2.Make the process predict- able and manageable. 3.Unlike40B proposals,the AHOD offers the community (i.e., neighborhoods) three opportunities to participate in public hearings on each and every project: two with the planning board and one with the town council. 4. Allow for-profit and not- for-profit entitiesthat wishto engage in projects consisting of 29 units or fewer to build higher percentages of afford- able homes. 5. Provide up to 40 percent affordable homes with each project built. 6. Allow the community to have control over where the housing gets built and what it looks like. 7. Allow the developer to maximize profit with no re- strictions or disclosure (as opposed to 40B) 8.Provide affordable homes to the community in perpe- tuity. 9. Be reviewed after 18 months for its usefulness and effectiveness. If the zoning is not used, it will expire. 10.Create affordable homes for our residents with house- hold incomes of $65,000 or less. What it will not do: 1. Provide a large playing field for mainstream builders to retain their usual profits of 15 to 20 percent. 2. Allow a builder to side- step local control and input. 3.Create more market-rate housing in higher numbers than planned. 4. Perpetuate grid develop- ments. The arguments offered in opposition to the AHOD are that the percentage of affordable housing is too high, and as a result the lo- cal development community will not be interested in it because they believe it is not profitable; that the deeded affordability "inperpetuity"is an issue; and that the village plans must have a stronger influence in the planning board's decisions. The towns of Dennis and Sandwich both have projects under waywhere the percent- ageof affordable housingisup to 50percent. Consideringthe built-in sunset clause, what harm canthisAHOD possibly do to our town? Felicia R. Penn Barnstable Planning Board, Chair Hyannis Act on school mold now! Editor 's note: This letter was addressed to school com- mittee member Peggy Dan- dridge and copied to the newspaper. Wecaught,thisevening, the last minute or so of your com- ments on the mold in class- rooms on arebroadcast of the school committee meeting.If there is any type of mold in the classrooms, Barnstable needs to act now. Any delay places the students and staff in dire health danger. I happen to know more than most of the average citizen and more than any Barnstable Government of- ficial about the causes and effects of mold. Do not be compromised by those that liken the mold you probably have to that found in a com- mon bathroom. There are many types of mold and all are dangerous. Should anybody disagree withmy comment, I have at- tached aletter from the head ofthe CDCthat waswrittento me at therequest ofPresident Bush. Dr. Gerberding states that allmolds are dangerous. This was the first time Dr. Gerberding made a state- ment on mold dangers. The most susceptible peo- ple are children, the elderly, handicapped and those with lung or asthmatic issues already. Dr. Eckardt Johan- ning, my Doctor, of Albany New York, wrote the CDC guidelines for Mold in por- table classrooms. Toxic Molds are the worst molds known to Science. We had the four most dangerous ToxicMoldsinour Centerville home at 38 Hawser Bend. We had to leave our home due to the illnesseswe suffered from the exposure. We became homeless. The worst of the worst Tox- icMolds is Stachybotrys atra which is a cousin of Anthrax and can become airborne. Special tests are needed to discover this and many other Toxic Molds. The CDC and the US Army Disease Center at Ft. Dietrich Maryland are the two places that have the most information. I have had a Toxic Mold bill,attached, on Beacon Hill for the past several years but Massachusetts hasnot shown any interest in passing this bill to protect the citizens from this ticking time bomb. I helped Erin Brockovich get a similar bill passed in California bycontactingthen- Governor Davis. It is ironic that you dis- cussed this issue while we were onthe Cape,havingbeen forced to leave in October 2002. If you check the Town Council minutes from Octo- ber 2001, you will see that I told the Council of the Toxic Mold but my cries for help fell on deaf ears. Here is a photo of the Stachybotrys atra that was growing in our home that I showed to the Town Council. It smelled as bad as it looks. If interested in needing any more information, feel free to contact me. The fellow inthe suit in our home wasfrom Dallas,Texas. He alsoworked for then-Gov- ernor Bush to remove the Toxic Mold in the Governor's Mansion inAustin.Mrs.Bush and the Twinswere gettingill from the Toxic Mold. Ken Moulton Greenwood, Conn.; Becket, Ma.; Lawton-Ft. Sill, Ok. Wehave options on the wind farm AftertheAug.30WindFarm discussion at Cape Cod Com- munity College, aWind Farm supporter posed aquestionto those of us who had negative concerns: "What alternative do you propose?" My re- sponse is quite simple. Conserve! I am aware of no mandate issued to Jim Gordon to build a Wind Farm. No exigency definedby the ISO New Eng- land, and no crisis requiring a commercialpower plant to be built inthe center of amarine sanctuary.When I asked ifthe Middlegrunden Wind Farm was built near any protected ocean sites Jens Larsen re- sponded that there was an island three milesawaywhere there were protected bird species. Sothe Denmark site is hardly comparable to the Horseshoe Shoals. As far as alternatives , and given the Wind Farm's billion=dollar price tagraised mainly at tax payer and rate payer expense , I suggest conservation. If we replaced 10 incandescent bulbs in each Massachusetts house- hold with CLF bulbs, there would be energy demand reduction of approximately 5 percent, which equates to more than twice the produc- tion of the Wind Farm at one quarter the cost! And, it is estimated that each CLF bulb can save the rate payer $37.50 per year.That leaves a substantial amount to > direct toward other alterna- tives that won't despoil a treasured national resource by a private developer for personal gain, A second alternative: move the Wind Farm to the Shoals east of Nantucket. Deep wa- ter technology is evolving, and it is estimated that it will be 10years before the North- east power grid willneed ad- ditional generation capacity. Wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that in 10 years we could build sufficient deep water wind farms to handle not only the increased needs, but retire some coal-fired generating plants? A third alternativethat has been discussed is movingthe wind farm to No Man's Land island south of the Vineyard thereby obviating any ocean issue save the cable to the mainland. There are alternatives to forsaking our responsibility to preserve and protect a precious ocean resource by giving it over to a private developer who is willing to destroy 24 square miles of scenic beauty to achieve his financial goals. Barry J Thompson Centerville Thanks from the Brits in the band On behalf of members and guests of the Albert Hall Show Band, we would like to thank the people of Barnstable County for mak- ing us so welcome. We all had awonderful time and are graduallygettingback to nor- mal.A big thank you to Louis Cataldo for invitingus.Tothe members of the Tales of Cape Cod for providing the won- derful cakesand transport, to the lady who gave us the tour of Barnstable,the ladies who showed usround theirhomes, the whale watching, the trip to Martha'sVineyard. Thank you to the Rotarians the Council and the staff at the Hyannis Travel Inn.We also enjoyed visiting all the res- taurants and shops. We look forward to a return visit. If anyone is planning a visit to Barnstaple England, please let us know we would love to see you. 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