Published: January 25, 2007 12:22 pm            

Time for answers in South Clinton

Of all the things that were made abundantly clear at Tuesday’s Clinton City Council meeting, the most alarming is simply how much is unknown by both the city and its residents in the South Clinton neighborhood.

We have long advocated for the expansion of Archer Daniels Midland in South Clinton, both for its overall financial impact on the company and its contributions to the environment, somewhat through a new power plant that should be more clean than its current facility, but moreso through the development and production of a biodegradable plastic that hopefully will reduce strain on America’s landfills.

And yet, that progress — like almost all progress — does not come without a cost. While homes remain in South Clinton, it no longer resembles the unique neighborhood it once was. Gone are the school, park, church and many, many homes that, while certainly not large or extravagant, were a point of honest pride for generations of people.

Those who remain in what’s left of South Clinton are very concerned about the immediate and long-term future. While they have been told the city will not close the Second and Fourth street viaducts that provide access to South Clinton, or the boat ramp to the Mississippi River, many other questions remain unanswered, even after Tuesday’s public hearing that was supposed to provide information.

The logistics of travel in South Clinton have not yet been finalized. ADM is paying the city almost $560,000 for the rights to several South Clinton streets, yet there are no firm details about the surface of the remaining roads, which roads will become dead ends and how ADM’s traffic in the area could affect the remaining residential area.

It is odd that South Clinton residents are worried about the presence of turnarounds and then to remember the residents of Ninth Avenue North who fought so hard to keep a cul-de-sac on their street from being opened into Springdale Cemetery. But it’s all about location and the expectations of property owners.

Some issues are simply between ADM and the residents — noise and dust are examples of two things that have been around for years before the expansion. The plant simply will not get quieter. The company is building buffer zones, but we understand residents may not find that sufficient. Still, people who live even 10 blocks from such a factory must have no reasonable expectations for pin-dropping silence.

Also, some residents now say they’d like to have ADM buy their homes — even some of the same people who in 2004 said they’d never sell. But that’s again between the company and the homeowner. The city can be a conduit, but ought to butt out of the open market.

But when it comes to the streets, the city simply must become involved. Council members have shown a willingness to be so concerned, and that’s welcome. If any street work is to be done in South Clinton, we’d hope it would be with concrete, curb and gutter, just the way we hope any street improved in Clinton is built to that standards. The days of accepting sealcoats and asphalt overlays should be long gone.

If the city has a good reason for just temporarily rehabbing a few roads, it needs to be explained. We refuse to accept any more bargain basement street work in Clinton. It’s not that the city crews do a poor job, it’s that the city settles for patchwork rather than real improvements.

Former City Councilwoman Pam Graboski had an excellent suggestion, the creation of a citizen advisory group so residents can have open communication with the company. ADM has in the past met with this newspaper to explain projects, even using our pages to answer frequent questions about former projects. While we still support that means, we see no reason why the direct neighbors shouldn’t get a special audience with the powers that be.

Overall, we don’t see any issue in South Clinton that can’t be addressed in one form or another. Some will have more simple resolutions, others could drag on for quite some time. The most important thing for the city at large is open communication. There are many questions, but we believe there are just as many answers.

Let’s keep the open flow of dialogue continuing, and here’s hoping for a lot less “I don’t know” responses.

        

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