Letter of Support for Improvement to Peterson Road.

[SPR]

Folks, please write a brief letter to Matthew Rasmussen with the Franklin County Public Works stating your desire to have improvements made to Peterson Road so that accessing Juniper Dunes is easier and safer. See notice below. I have also included an example letter to help you out.


From: Conner [mailto:dualsprt@charter.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2012 8:06 PM
To: Conner
Subject: Juniper Dunes Access

I was contacted by Franklin County Public Works. They are trying to get a grant to help pay for the right of way and road improvements to Peterson Road. This is the road we use to access Juniper Dunes. They need as many letters of support as they can get as soon as they can get them. The sooner the better.

Please send letters to:

Matthew Rasmussen
3416 Steerman Ave.
Pasco, WA 99301





Stephen Richardson
1234 W Dog Vomit Lane
Kennewick WA 99336


December 28, 2012


Matthew Rasmussen, P.E.
County Engineer/Assistant Public Works Director
3416 Steerman Ave.
Pasco, WA 99301


Mr. Rasmussen:

It has come to my attention that you are seeking a grant to fund improvement to Peterson Road in Franklin County. I strongly support your efforts to make improvements to Peterson Road so as to allow easier and safer travel. My family and many of my friends use Peterson Road to access the Juniper Dunes Recreational Area. We would visit the Juniper Dunes Recreational area and surrounding public lands more frequently if the access road was in better condition.


Sincerely,



Stephen Richardson

[Grumpy]

Thanks for the post, Steve. Word is getting out about this in a big way. I took the liberty of contacting Hastings office as well, so we'll see if we can get on their radar! Looking forward to Matt joining us on the 9th.

[Grumpy]

Matt Rasmussen, County Engineer
Franklin County Public Works
Pasco, WA


Re: Peterson Road / Juniper Dunes Access Grants



Matt,

As a frequent user of Peterson Road to access the OHV area of Juniper
Dunes, I want to take this opportunity to throw my support behind the
County efforts to improve Peterson Road. This is something that is
long overdue! Juniper is a very popular recreation area, and for years
those of us who use it have been trespassing when we use the road. Not
something I’m good with, nor is anyone else.

There are many reasons this project should be undertaken, Juniper
access being only one. Benefits would include better access for the
local residents, less maintenance costs for the farmers who use the
road to get their product out of the fields, and less wear and tear on
equipment. In the case of the farm operations, this could very well
translate to some added profit. Additionally, as a part of the County
road system, Peterson Road would be subject to better patrol by law
enforcement, thus adding a margin of security for local residents that
may not be there now.

If I may get a bit “politicalâ€

[iaccocca]

My personal letter of support for the funding has gone out to Mr. Rasmussen as well as a letter of support for the funding to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners in the name of the club. Tonight, at the meeting, I will give Matthew the clubs letter of support.

[iaccocca]

Franklin County Board of County Commissioners
Rick Miller
Bob Koch
Brad Peck
1016 N. 4th Avenue
Pasco WA 99301

To Whom it may concern:

It has come to the attention of our Four Wheel Drive club that the County Engineer is seeking a grant to fund improvement to Peterson Road in Franklin County. We strongly support efforts to make improvements to Peterson Road so as to allow easier and safer travel. The Peak Putters have worked hard for many years to improve access to the Juniper Dunes Recreation Area. Including, reaching out to the legislators, especially Doc Hastings, law enforcement, working with BLM, and going as far as to take a reporter and a photographer from the TriCity Herald on a 'tour' of the recreation area during one of our clean-up / fun days.
The Juniper Dunes Recreation Area is an excellent resource for many land users, including four wheelers, OHV and horseback riders. Improving the road would be helpful to these groups and more. Also, the road improvement would be helpful to the farmers whose lands border the road. An improved road would also allow easier access to law enforcement, firefighters, and other emergency responders.
Thank you for your attention to this.

Sincerely,

Lee Retterer
President
TriCities Peak Putters

[pascoscout]

Not sure if you all saw the article in the Herald last week but the project we (Franklin County) submitted was selected for programming. What this means in a nut shell is we are on the list. Right now the program lasts for 4 years but there is only guaranteed funding for the first 2 years; projects in the 3rd or 4th years are dependent on Congress giving more money to the program. We should know in the next 60 days which year our project will go in, hoping year 1 or year 2.

Thanks to everyone who wrote letters and expressed support, it went a long way to getting us this far.

[Grumpy]

Saw the article, and find myself guardedly optimistic. That'd be that "old age cynicism" showing. Matt, we are behind you and the County on this big time. I will again make it known that, in my opinion, BLM is obligated to take a bigger role in this! As far as I'm concerned, Congress stepped on it when they made no provision for access in the legislation. Gonna stick to that stance, too. And yes, I will keep annoying Hastings about it

[SPR]

Thanks Matt.