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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2021.05.31 Correspondence D GallipoliFrom: gallipolifish@gmail.com Date: May 31, 2021 at 7:51:31 AM MDT To: Erin Greaves <egreaves@mccall.id.us> Subject: Report a Compliment or Service Concern - New Form Submission for McCall Idaho Reply-To: gallipolifish@gmail.com CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. A new submission has been received for Report a Compliment or Service Concern at 05/31/2021 7:51 AM First Name: David Last Name: Gallipoli Email Address: gallipolifish@gmail.com Phone: 12033141377 Address: 200 Scott St City: McCall State/Province: ID Zip Code: 83638 Describe Your Concern: Please support all the opposition groups and individuals to Alec Williams/Trident proposal for endowment land in McCall. Convince the IDL a Trident plan has nothing to do with preservation. Thank you. Alec Williams recent "Setting the record straight about Preserve McCall" in the Star-News, May 27th continues to be disingenuous. The word Preserve is defined as maintaining (something) in its original or existing state. Alec Williams's comments conflict with that definition. The 20,000-acre exchange of endowment land in McCall for private timberland is land Trident doesn't own. And the claim that the timberland will make the state four million dollars has not been verified by an independent firm. If Trident's proposal were to be accepted, how would planting houses on 2500 acres preserve the land as it is now? It would only fragment the land, which would impact the wildlife and watershed. We also do not need Alec Williams to donate 17,000 acres to Ponderosa State Park. The IDL can do that independently. We have seen developers' promises of providing more public access only to be disappointed after a project is finished; the result is less access to the public. Alec Williams's proposal is nothing more than another grotesque land grab to exploit our archaic state law to obtain irreplaceable endowment land. Alec is dismissive about the groups and individuals, too many to name, in opposition to his facts. He makes no mention of who his investors are or what the investors expect for a return on their investment and how they would achieve that goal. The public needs to know what is in Trident's investor prospectus. There has been little transparency or details from Alec Williams other than his rough set of concepts and an ever- changing proposal to gain support that he does not have in our community. Alec Williams also continues with his efforts to lobby individuals, groups, and businesses in McCall. What does Alec Williams promise them? Alec Williams has failed to purchase other properties (see Drew Dodson's reporting in the Star-News April 8th) in McCall, which raises many questions about his motives and plans for McCall. Alec Williams is playing a monopoly game, not a preservation game. Any consideration by the IDL would be making a devil's bargain with his four Trident LLCs, one registered in Maryland. Alec Williams has no experience in development; he denies and ignores the science of what more human impact on our ecosystem would mean. Environment, ecosystem, wildlife, habitat, and watershed are not in Alec Williams or Trident's vocabulary. Alec Williams's promise of "legally binding contracts" means absolutely nothing when developers declare bankruptcy or sell to other parties, and I imagine a Trident document of small print with enough loopholes to cancel whatever oral promises Alec Williams is making. Alec Williams mentions adding to the "much- needed housing a range of options from modestly priced, local housing, a community recreation center, and some middle and higher-end homes targeted to Idahoans to help pay for the park while also solving the area's housing shortage." Really? What price? Where are the specific details? The median home price in McCall is now at four-hundred thousand dollars. Alec Williams's proposals continue to change not because he listens to anyone but because he needs to adjust to unanimous opposition of his proposals. Would Trident investors want a substantial return on their investment? It is unlikely the development will meet investors' goals by building affordable housing or middle-end homes. A higher probability outcome will be higher-end housing and more second homes that will be short-term rentals, not for Idahoans struggling to find housing in McCall and more shoreline closed to the public. But Alec Williams's proposal avoids the most crucial goal of any preservation plan: addressing the environmental impact on the ecosystem from increased human development. The IDL is exempt from environmental impact studies, which is irresponsible when considering the land and water issues we face in the 21st century. It is strange not to hear any mention of environmental impact studies from Alec Williams, especially considering his use and lack of understanding of what Preserve means. Developing without knowing the impact on an already compromised ecosystem is thoughtless and a crime against the environment and place we live. Are we to trust Alec Williams's vague plans or the IDL who ignores our history of destruction in the West? If the IDL only considers the profit for a few, we all lose what is irreplaceable to the many who oppose Alec Williams and Trident. Alec Williams also claims that his proposal "is a large-scale plan that brings certainty to the fate of endowment lands in Valley County. The only certainty is that a transfer of land to Trident or a developer like Trident would set the first-time precedent to transfer endowment land to a private company for development. It would be the beginning of a land grab by private developers, threatening all 2.3 million acres of endowment land accessible to the public: State endowment land that borders Nez Perce land, BLM and National Forest land, and many watersheds. Ecosystems and wildlife corridors do not know boundaries, and continued fragmentation of land will impact all species. We have a moral obligation not to continue the trend of destroying the environment. There are other options and solutions to fund education than making a deal with Alec Williams. Education is about ethical values, critical thinking, and an attitude of giving back. We do not want future generations asking, Why did they do that? What were they thinking? We must demand environmental justice for our environment from those who only think about extracting profit from the land. Our history begs us not to make the same mistakes of the past and protect and preserve what remains. Science provides the solutions we need to protect and preserve wildlife, land, and water from destructive proposals of companies like Trident. Nothing in the history of the West suggests that the states have adequately protected the environment. We must join forces to stop Alec Williams and demand the IDL think of endowment land as more than just a commodity to exploit for the profits of a few and say no to Alec Williams.