Re: Hodgdon Meadow housing project

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_61068.shtml

Question for you: Why are employees living in the valley? Why don't they drive to work from outside their work area like the rest of us?

Impact.

If the employees had to commute, you would have a huge number of extra vehicles moving on the roads, seven days a week, 365 days a year, with the congestion, pollution, gas use attributable. When the landslide hit, they would probably have had to close the park, due to lack fo employees.

Additionally, the employees are paid minimal wages, particularly Park Service employees. They could probably not find conventional housing that is affordable.

KenM wrote:

> Impact.
>
> If the employees had to commute, you would have a huge number
> of extra vehicles moving on the roads, seven days a week, 365
> days a year, with the congestion, pollution, gas use
> attributable. When the landslide hit, they would probably have
> had to close the park, due to lack fo employees.
>
> Additionally, the employees are paid minimal wages,
> particularly Park Service employees. They could probably not
> find conventional housing that is affordable.


Couldn't they shuttle the workers to and from in a natural gas bus? That would only add one additional vehicle to the road.

Hodgdon Meadow is on the park side of the landslide last year, and the employees would have been able to get to work.

---

Dan

Dan-O wrote:

> Couldn't they shuttle the workers to and from in a natural gas
> bus? That would only add one additional vehicle to the road.

A lot of the employees live outside the park and commute on YARTS.

"Hodgdon Meadow is on the park side of the landslide last year, and the employees would have been able to get to work."

Exactly. and it they lived in nearby communities, they would not have.

When you pay people almost nothing, it's problematic for them to afford housing in California.

Yosemite National Park Announces Public Review and Comment Period for Hodgdon Meadow Housing Area Trailer Replacement and Utilities Improvement Project Environmental Assessment

Environmental Assessment (EA) will be released on July 16, 2007

Yosemite National Park is announcing the public comment period for the Hodgdon Meadow Housing Area Trailer Replacement and Utilities Improvement Project Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA outlines a range of feasible project alternatives and analyzes the environmental effects of each.

The public review and comment period for the EA will open on July 16, 2007 and will run until August 15, 2007. Written comments must be postmarked no later than August 15, 2007.

The National Park Service (NPS) is considering the construction of a duplex at the Hodgdon Meadow housing area of Yosemite National Park. The duplex would replace a three-bedroom trailer that was in poor condition and did not meet acceptable housing standards. It posed serious health and safety risks with electrical, plumbing, and heating deficiencies. Consequently, the trailer was removed from the park and is no longer in use. The new duplex would help maintain suitable employee housing in Yosemite National Park. The shortage is most acute in the Mather District, which includes Hodgdon Meadow. The park identified Hodgdon Meadow area as an appropriate area for residential and administrative facilities development in the 1980 General Management Plan.

The NPS is also considering replacing the well water disinfection system. Low pH values in the drinking water are causing copper piping and lead solder to leach into the drinking water. Consequently, drinking water is above California Department of Health Services (CDHS) mandated action levels. The new system would increase pH values, thereby reducing corrosiveness of the well water and improving drinking water to within CDHS standards.

A public meeting will take place during the Public Comment and Review Period at the park's monthly Open House on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 from 1pm to 5pm in the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center Auditorium.

Comments can be submitted at public meetings, by mail, fax, email, and through the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) commenting system. A link to project information will be posted on the park's website at www.nps.gov/yose/planning. To request a hard copy or CD ROM version of the EA and to submit written comments:

In person at public meeting

Fax: (209) 379-1294

Email: yose_planning@nps.gov

PEPC: http://parkplanning.nps.gov

Mail:

Yosemite National Park Superintendent
Attn: Hodgdon Meadow Housing Area Trailer Replacement and Utilities Improvement Project
P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389

(-NPS-)