Proposition H information.
Past Commodore Gary Meinershagen wrote a letter to Senator Claire McCaskill (scroll down to read it) expressing his concerns about Proposition H. Here is the response he received from Senator McCaskill. The letter is basically identical to an email received by Con Trios Member Jennie McQuitty which can be more easily read below along with previous postings concerning Proposition H.
More information on Prop H:
Received the following email from Con Trios member Jennie McQuitty concerning Prop H. It is the response she received from Senator Claire McCaskill.
December 10, 2010
Dear Ms. Mcquitty,
Along the Mississippi River, families and businesses are all too familiar with the devastating damage that the rising river can cause.
Some of you may have heard of "Plan H" of the Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan, an option submitted by the Army Corps of Engineers which suggests ways to update our flood protection capabilities.
Implementation of Plan H would result in the strengthening of levees along nearly the entire length of the Upper Mississippi River to 500-year flood levels - except for the levees protecting Pike, Lincoln and St. Charles Counties. That's unacceptable.
I strongly share my constituents' concerns - if Plan H is implemented, homes, farms and businesses in these communities will all be placed in serious jeopardy. It is a risk that the people of these communities cannot afford.
I've sent a letter to the Commander of the St. Louis District Army Corps of Engineers urging him to garner support from all potentially affected communities before moving forward and letting him know that we will continue to monitor the plan's development with our partners at the federal, state and local level. Click here to read the letter.
Improving flood protection capabilities along the Mississippi River is important, but we must move forward in a comprehensive way that addresses the needs of the entire river basin.
Plan H fails to do so - I'll fight to make sure the plan is not implemented in its current form.
Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other issue.
Sincerely,
Claire McCaskill
United States Senator
P.S. If you would like more information about resources that can help Missourians, or what I am doing in the Senate on your behalf, please sign up for my email newsletter at www.mccaskill.senate.gov.
Guess I have opened the door on this issue and of course have received more emails concerning Proposition H. I would suggest anyone having any concerns about this issue to research the facts on their own. As with any political issue there will no doubt be interests on both sides that will pick and choose what portions they want to emphasize. That being said, I am posting an email from another Con Trios member, Leslie Fogarty, who seems to be on the same side of this issue. Here is Leslie's email and links to her attachments. Again, I would like to stress that anyone interested research and get involved with this. I am not knowledgeable about how much influence online petitions accomplish, I do know that individual letters normally get a personal response and that is my preferred method. This is my personal and club disclaimer but I do want the discussion to continue.
Darryll Weil, Past Commodore and Webmaster, Con Trios Yacht Club.
Here is Leslie's email:
Hi, Darryl!
Jim and I were there, as well as several other Con Trios members, and I would like to add that there is a website where people can “sign” to petition against this. The site is www.lowerlands.com Click on “please sign our petition to protect our land” Attached is some literature that was passed out if you’d like to post it on the site. It was a very interesting meeting and I certainly hope this disastrous proposal does not go through. It’s already been approved in Illinois.
Leslie Fogarty
Here are the links to the attachments she sent, they are Adobe Acrobat .pdf format as they have been marked up by someone:
Citizens against Prop H (CAP-H) newsletter.
Plan H edited.
Email from Past Commodore Gary Meinershagen:
I and about 200 other river people attended a meeting at Orchard Farm school last Wednesday night, Sept 29th.The subject was "building larger and higher levees" on the Mississippi River up stream from St Charles. St Charles is to become a flood storage area.
The bottom line was "write your congressmen about opposing Proposition H."
See the attached letter I wrote and a list of politicians I sent it to. I hope more boaters would sent a similar letter to the same politicians.
Here is Gary's letter, a downloadable copy is available also, click HERE. The list of politicians he mailed it to is available for download HERE.
October 1, 2010
Dear:
I am writing you concerning my opposition to Proposition “H”.
I am a resident of the City of St. Charles and have owned property on the Mississippi River in St. Charles County for the past 50 years. In the 1960’s, there was very little flooding, and until 1973, I had never experienced a 100 Year Flood. I recall periods of 7 years when there was no flooding, or very little flooding. As time went by, levees were built along the Mississippi River and channelization of the Missouri River was completed, flooding became more frequent and at higher levels. As you know, in 1993, we experienced a 500 Year Flood. With all the levees, the water could no longer spread out horizontally, but was forced to go vertically within the levees, causing higher floods.
Proposition “H” proposes larger and higher levees upstream from St. Charles, which will cause higher and more frequent floods in St. Charles County. During 2010, as per USGS, the Mississippi River was above flood stage at Grafton, Illinois and Winfield, Missouri 65% of the time from January 1st through September 1, 2010. It is my opinion that this flooding is a direct result of the building of levees.
In conclusion, I am asking that you oppose Proposition “H” and support legislation to stop any further building of levees along the Mississippi River.
Sincerely,
Gary L. Meinershagen
