To the editor:
I read with sadness the account presented by Kim Milbury regarding her take on the “football field issue” in the July 30, 2008, Star-Herald. This is obviously quite a troubling issue for this lady. While it would be tempting to get into a great debate with her here, that would force us to badly miss the mark, clouding issues rather than clarifying them.
So let’s dispense with the facts quickly. Kim did indeed attend a meeting on March 7, 2008, and was informed that she was the only neighbor to have responded to the notice, not the only objector. She was shown the entire project and had the purpose of it explained to her. She certainly attended the zoning board hearing on May 13. The only significant fact regarding that hearing is that the code enforcement officer for the city of Presque Isle assured Aroostook Football leaders that this was a formality; as a result, no research was done to prepare for the hearing. The outcome of that hearing was indeed unfavorable for the field because of concerns about the impact of the field lights and crowd noise on the two neighbors who appeared and complained.
There was a second hearing scheduled on June 3rd. Aroostook Football accepted the challenge and obtained factual data to address those concerns. Instead of relying on vague/anonymous arguments such as “someone told me” or “I felt this”, Aroostook Football came prepared with engineering reports on the lighting that demonstrated no impact on the neighbors and hard sound meter data to demonstrate that the noise generated on U.S. Route 1 at a distance of 50 feet (the distance Kim lives from that major road) is significantly louder than the noise of youth sporting events at over 200 feet (the minimum distance any of the proposed facilities is from Kim’s home). They came with actual pictures showing the extent of tree buffering existing at the site. Unfortunately, the zoning board elected not to even consider any facts. This is a bit confusing considering the chairman, Larry Perry, had announced that they struggled with not having any concrete guidelines to go by in making such decisions about noise and light issues; one would have thought they would have welcomed real data instead of groundless opinions. Evidently not!
Instead of allowing Aroostook Football to use its own land for wholesome purposes, Kim suggests that Aroostook Football pursue and exploit its continuing good relationship with the Caribou Rec. Department rather than seek to build its own facility. Somehow I doubt she would welcome others telling her how to use her own property. Still, on the surface this might appear to be a good idea. However, Aroostook Football is not a Caribou program and is always at risk to lose use of the field in favor of Caribou programs (quite understandable). Because Caribou actually needs its fields for its own purposes, Aroostook Football is quite limited in the amount of field time available and can’t really expand its offerings or even coordinate effectively between its existing high school program and its new middle school program.
The new field was essential for both offering the kind of instruction that would allow players to excel and for any expansion. Further, the land we were given by the Cole family for the sole purpose of building these fields lies right on Highway One nearly equidistantly between Presque Isle and Caribou, making it accessible to many more kids than any other location. Given the terrain in the area, this was one of the relatively flattest parcels of land available (reducing the cost of development). All Aroostook Football was looking for was the same right to use its own property as it wanted, just like Kim wants for her property. The real fact is that the football program would have had no impact on her quality of life, no more impact than it has had on area residents surrounding Sincock Field in Caribou (where the football program has been playing for five years). Those people stated in writing that they had never experienced a problem with noise, light, trespass or vandalism as a result of the football program’s activities (something the zoning board was not interested in).
Clearly Kim is greatly troubled about Aroostook Football’s field. That is understandable. It is sad that she attempts to reduce this to a “quarrel between her and I”. This has never been about me. I did not lose out on the field. I was not harmed. I can move forward in my life. The real losers continue to be our community, the children of Aroostook County and, in particular the ones who ever played or want to play football. There was an opportunity for an $800,000 recreational facility for our young that would not have cost the taxpayers a penny; the opportunity is gone. Kim says she has no stake in the field and shouldn’t have to have it imposed on her. Now this appears to be the real heart of the matter. This is selfish and short sighted on her part. We all have a stake in the betterment of our youth. They are the ones who will run our society when those of us who are adults are old. We are going to have to depend on them.
Everyone should want them to be the best possible citizens they can be. When programs comes along that focus on responsibility, accountability, self-control, decision making, goal-setting, leadership, courage, sportsmanship, perseverance and teamwork, we all need to embrace them and encourage our young to belong. We need to do all we can to foster the growth and success of such programs. Sadly, there are too few such programs available to our young. Rather than do everything in her power to enlist the zoning board to sabotage the field project, Kim ought to have encouraged it and welcomed it as the good neighbor it would have been.
Ultimately, the issue isn’t about Kim and her neighbors and their uninformed objections to the presence of the proposed field. Her position is understandable. She erroneously thinks she will be harmed somehow and is fighting for her “survival”. The real issue is the zoning board’s misleading of the leadership of Aroostook Football, their failure to consider fairly all the facts and their failure to apply the rules consistently.
In rejecting Aroostook Football’s proposed field, Mr. Larry Perry, the chairman, clearly stated that the objections of neighbors were of primary importance. However, just a few weeks later, he chose to ignore the objections of many more neighbors in granting approval to Maine Public Service Company to build their sub-station. I guess, in the end, around here power is more important than kids.
Presque Isle
