From the transcript of the Environment Committee, January 26, 2007:
"Rep. Fawcett: Thank you, Mr.
Chairman, and Members of the Committee. I am Kim Fawcett. I am a newly elected
State Representative from the 133rd Legislative District. I am
thrilled to share with you that this is my first time in this capacity as State
Representative testifying for Committee.
I am testifying
today in support of House Bill 5454. As Representative Drew just shared, it is
a request for funding for critical improvements that must be made to the
Today, while
others are sharing with you stories about the flooding that occurred just last
spring, it caused damage to homes. They will talk about the emergency
evacuation of residents, and as Tom mentioned, the death of one of our
citizens.
I am bringing
you a very personal plea to my testimony today. I live in one of the
communities that is faced with the threat of flooding from the
Last spring, as
you remember, we had an unusual amount of rain, so much so that many of the
rivers and tributaries overflowed throughout
It mixed excess
storm water with raw sewage that was flowing from our homes. As the rains continued,
this contaminated sewage and storm water mixture exploded. I have heard stories
from my constituents of it exploding onto the streets.
It eventually
flooded people's basements. I have several neighbors and friends who had more
than two feet of water in their basement, and then had the unfortunate
experience of looking outside, only to realize that the water that was flooding
their street was contaminated with raw sewage.
Nobody likes the
inconvenience of having water in their basement. A few years ago, I had a
flood. I lost many boxes of family photos, spent weeks dealing with the
cleanup, and found out that the insurance company does not always pay for all
the damage.
The
This health risk
is compounded by the fact that most of the overflowing water must have
eventually made its way into the Long Island Sound that is just one mile down
the road.
During the time
when clean water projects are at the forefront of discussion for so many
environmental groups, please consider funding House Bill 5454, the Rooster
Flood Mitigation Project.
Please help prevent flooding of my neighbors' homes, but also help prevent this potential public health threat that exists when raw sewage seeps through and into public areas, and the devastating damage this pollution is causing to the Long Island Sound. Thank you."
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From the transcript of the Transportation Committee,March 12, 2007:
"Rep. Fawcett: Thank
you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to follow up with Representative Scribner's
comments about the dollar surcharge.
And I'm
extremely frustrated because while being new here was a constituent and the
wife of a train rider when that package was passed and effects Metro North
riders several years ago.
If I
remember correctly, that dollar surcharge was told to the entire Metro North
community as something that would not take place until they had the new trains.
It is
important to emphasize that it's not about having new trains. The
people down there don't really care about having nice seats. What
they really want is a seat. They don't have seats on the trains.
And so
my fear is that, one, you're instituting a dollar surcharge, and
then our riders have to wait several more years for the new trains but that the
new trains will come, and many, many, many of our riders will actually be
standing, looking at the new seats, having paid the dollar surcharge for
several years.
It just
seems too unacceptable and so unfair to a huge community of commuters who are
quite literally the backbone of our transportation infrastructure in