Thứ Ba, 29 tháng 8, 2017

News on Youtube Aug 29 2017

Here's Why EXO Xiumin Hates Drinking In Public

EXOs Xiumin revealed that he likes to drink at home by himself rather than going out. In a recent episode of Outside the Blanket is Dangerous, Xiumins said he drinks home alone due to avoid mistakes.

I drink alcohol home alone just in case I do something bad or a fight breaks out.

When the staff interviewed Baekhyun and Chen, they both confirmed that Xiumin really liked to be alone and did everything by himself. I think Minseok hyung (Xiumin) really likes being alone.

He either drinks by himself or watches movies, and thats it. He really doesnt do anything else.. Many deemed this very sensible of him and commended his maturity.

For more infomation >> Here's Why EXO Xiumin Hates Drinking In Public - Duration: 1:32.

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All Korean public institutions to hire employees through blind recruitment starting Sept. - Duration: 4:49.

Having a top university label and an eye-catching ID photo certainly didn't hurt one's chances

of landing a better job here in Korea.

But efforts are underway to change that trend... starting with public firms.

Relevant education, training, character and experience will play the deciding factors.

Oh Jung-hee gets us better acquainted with the new blind screening process.

What's been making life more difficult for young job seekers in Korea, in addition to

the frozen job market,... is the widespread recruitment culture -- firms seeking students

from high-level universities with good grades, strong foreign language skills and extra certification.

But the Moon Jae-in administration is to make a change to that starting from the latter

half of this year.

(Korean) June 22, 2017 "Applicants to public organizations won't

have to write down discriminatory factors like academic background, hometown or physical

conditions.

This is to have those from different universities fairly compete from the same starting point,

evaluated by their competency."

[ , ]

(Korean ) "These days, students don't give a serious

thought to what their real dreams are... but instead are busy thoughtlessly earning certifications.

We want to end this and change our society to the one where people can first think about

their desired career path and diligently prepare for that."

(Stand-up) "The National Health Insurance Corporation

is one of the very few public institutions that's been conducting blind recruitment.

It adopted the new recruitment system in 2015,... so has a lot to share with other public organizations

on the system's strengths, and on how best to conduct the whole process."

80-percent of the corporation's work is taking civil complaints,... so communication and

problem-solving skills are crucial.

Current application forms don't ask applicants about their academic background or language

skills... but about whether they have related experience... or took related school courses.

(Korean ) "Through the blind recruitment system, we

can offer opportunities to more applicants than before.

Also, the time new employees take to adjust... is shortened from 6 months to 2 or 3 months."

Hwang Hee-yeong graduated a local university... and went through several failures in job-seeking.

But after highlighting her experiences as a teaching assistant and others,... her key

capabilities were acknowledged and she was finally employed.

(Korean ) "I also applied to other companies that weren't

'blind recruiting,' but I wasn't confident about myself, and if I failed, I'd blame my

academic background.

But my current company recognized my capabilities above anything else, and that motivates me

to work even harder."

Midas-IT, a mid-sized software provider,... has been hiring workers based on their personality

and work ethic for seven years.

Until 2010, the company -- just like others -- had been hiring people who graduated from

top universities... but now, the company takes that only for reference.

(Korean ) "We once did an employee investigation...

and found out those who were doing well in our company weren't from good universities.

And they were all more positive, proactive, passionate and strategic than others.

So we thought those traits should be the key standards."

Kim Dong-min, who's been working here for 11 months,... says he didn't graduate from

a famous university and doesn't even have a widely-required high English score.

(Korean ) "I thought that it was natural for companies

to consider applicants' university degrees... but for this company, no.

During the interview, I told the interviewers mostly about what I can contribute by working

here."

Korea is only at the beginning stage of becoming a capability-based society... and some things

need to be done to successfully implement and improve the blind recruitment system.

(Korean ) "There will be cases when companies have good

enough reasons to see, maybe not which university applicants are from, but what they majored

in.

The same goes for photos or gender.

The policy will have to become a bit more flexible if it were to be expanded to the

private sector."

After blind recruitment was first announced by the government, responses varied among

university students,... with some saying it's a reverse discrimination against those from

high-level universities.

But all in all, the new system has been praised just for veiling applicants' university degrees...

as it grants opportunities to more people to 'just give it a try.'

Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.

For more infomation >> All Korean public institutions to hire employees through blind recruitment starting Sept. - Duration: 4:49.

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Assemblyman Surveying Public On Oroville Dam Spillway Response - Duration: 2:22.

For more infomation >> Assemblyman Surveying Public On Oroville Dam Spillway Response - Duration: 2:22.

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Should 'Explosive' Donald Trump Dossier Be Made Public? | AM Joy | MSNBC - Duration: 9:30.

For more infomation >> Should 'Explosive' Donald Trump Dossier Be Made Public? | AM Joy | MSNBC - Duration: 9:30.

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iOS 11 Beta 8 — ЧТО НОВОГО? (Ничего, но бету выпустили) - Duration: 2:24.

For more infomation >> iOS 11 Beta 8 — ЧТО НОВОГО? (Ничего, но бету выпустили) - Duration: 2:24.

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Ferries not open to public - Duration: 0:36.

For more infomation >> Ferries not open to public - Duration: 0:36.

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Public Royalty : La princesse Madeleine de Suède est enceinte de son troisième enfant ! - Duration: 1:54.

For more infomation >> Public Royalty : La princesse Madeleine de Suède est enceinte de son troisième enfant ! - Duration: 1:54.

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State funding for public education - Duration: 0:36.

For more infomation >> State funding for public education - Duration: 0:36.

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Yingluck will address public at appropriate time, Puea Thai party will carry on as before - Duration: 2:52.

Yingluck will address public at appropriate time, Puea Thai party will carry on as before: Statement

Thailands Puea Thai party on Tuesday (Aug 29) released its first statement since the disappearance of ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra last week, saying that she would address the public at an appropriate time.

In the meantime, the party will continue fighting for democracy and human rights, it said.

The statement comes amid intense speculation over the whereabouts of Yingluck, who failed to turn up in court on Friday (Aug 25) to hear the verdict in a criminal negligence case that could have landed her in jail for up to 10 years.

Public prosecutors had alleged that she, as prime minister, had mismanaged the multi-billion dollar programme that paid rice farmers some 50 per cent above market prices for their paddy.

From now on, the party stands as a political institution for the people, it said.

All the mighty struggles of the party would make the party, members and supporters stronger and support each other more, it said. We will work for a peaceful society, good economy and for the benefit of the people.

We will carry out our obligations as before.. The rice subsidy scheme was a key campaign promise of the Puea Thai party, which won a landslide victory in the 2011 elections.

But it left state warehouses overflowing with paddy, and unseated the country as the worlds top rice exporter.

Yingluck, Thailands first female prime minister, was ousted by a court ruling in 2014 shortly before the rest of her government was topped by a military coup.

She was retroactively impeached in 2015, and had her assets seized as the military government tried to fine her some 35 billion baht for the rice scheme.

She is now said to be in Dubai, where her brother Thaksin Shinawatra - another former prime minister ousted by a coup - lives in exile.

The ruling junta, which kept her under tight surveillance in recent years, has denied allegations that it had helped Yingluck leave the country. Her imprisonment would have created a powerful martyr figure, and heightened political tensions in the divided Kingdom.

For more infomation >> Yingluck will address public at appropriate time, Puea Thai party will carry on as before - Duration: 2:52.

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Are mug shots public record in Montana? - Duration: 0:50.

For more infomation >> Are mug shots public record in Montana? - Duration: 0:50.

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A Discussion On Women in Public Safety Positions - Duration: 20:02.

- Hi, everyone, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Jennifer Davies, the city's social media manager.

Women's Equality Day marks the day

that women were granted the right to vote.

While women continue to make strides

towards equality in every profession,

there's still one area that still

struggles to attract women,

and that is jobs in law enforcement and public safety.

To help women in our community consider careers

in law enforcement, we've brought together

female leaders for a candid discussion

about being a female in a predominately male field.

Joining us today are Department of Public Safety Chief

Michele Freeman, Sergeant Tiffany Dent,

Assistant Fire Chief Sarah McCrea

and Battalion Chief Dina Dalessio.

- Thanks. - Ladies, thank you

so much for being here.

- [All] Thanks for having us.

- And, so I want to get this conversation kicked off with

were you nervous to join this world in the very beginning?

Less than 4%, or the average for firefighters

for women across the country being firefighters is 4%.

In law enforcement, that's closer to 15%.

You are in the minority of your professions,

and, so, Chief, why don't we start with you,

what was it like to join that world initially?

- Thank you.

So, I've been with the department for 25 years.

When I started, I started as

an Assistant Corrections Officer,

then I moved up to a Corrections Officer

then a Corrections Corporal, Sergeant,

Deputy Chief and how the Chief.

So, that's kind of my path,

and, no, I wasn't nervous at all.

I was really excited.

I had a lot of enthusiasm.

I knew this was the place that I was meant to be.

- Wonderful.

Tiffany, what about you?

- Okay, so I've been with our department for 13 years,

a Correctional Sergeant, started off as

a Correctional Officer, then an FTO in classification.

For me, when I started, I was only 23 years old.

And, I had never worked in law enforcement.

I had never been in the military.

So, and I just came directly from college.

So, I was a little bit apprehensive going into this field,

but what helped me combat some of those things

was I spoke with other women who worked in the field,

and I also took a tour of the facility.

And, when I did that, and I seen other women

who looked like me, who were regular,

average women working in this field,

that kinda let me know that, you know what,

I can do this.

I have the confidence to do this, so.

- Wonderful.

Sarah, I know you've been with the department a long time.

- Yeah, so, almost 19 years now.

Also started as a firefighter,

went through paramedic school, became an engineer,

a member of our technical rescue team,

short stint on our hazmat team as well.

And then was our EMS quality improvement coordinator

and now in the Assistant Chief role.

So, I also wasn't nervous.

I think, in a way, I didn't necessarily

know what I was getting into,

but I was a competitive athlete growing up

and always very comfortable in that team setting

where you're constantly pushing yourself

and depending on others to accomplish a task.

And, the fire department was just a really good fit for me.

And, I had a lot of fun through the academy.

Granted, it was stressful and hard

and even in different periods of time

in my career have been challenging.

It's always been a really great team mentality

that I appreciate, and I love that I am

essentially an occupational athlete.

- [Jennifer] Dina?

- You know, my role kind of parallels Chief McCrea's.

So, I started off as a firefighter,

then a firefighter paramedic,

moved to Captain, now Battalion Chief,

had the same types of certifications that Sarah has as well.

Same background of the sports background,

and so, it really is, they do parallel each other.

But, for me, I was absolutely more excited than nervous,

and I think partly because I was really naive

about how difficult it was to get hired on.

And, so, the fire service just had

the right mixture for me of medical and the physicality,

and so, that just, that made it more enticing

and certainly more exciting for me.

- Wonderful, and both of you have

brought up my next big point,

and a big misconception that we hear about women

wanting to be in these fields,

and that is the physicality of the job.

Was that a consideration for you guys?

How did you overcome it when you first applied,

when you were going through your respective academies?

Do you want to start over here?

- Sure. - Chief?

- Sure, so, as far as me, I never really

looked at that as an inhibitor.

I knew that it was something that I wanted to do.

We were able to get the training that we needed.

I kept myself in shape 'cause that's what essential,

whether you're a male or female,

it's essential to be in shape

and to be able to be there for backup

for your fellow teammates, your officers, your firefighters.

And, really, the best tool that

we have is our verbal skills.

So, that's what we learned from day one.

Even though we have other tools that we may need to lean to,

for us, the verbal skill is the best,

and the physical piece didn't really

ever enter into the situation.

Again, I feel like, really,

we get the training that we need,

we need to be in shape and we're here to support each other.

I mean, Tiffany can lend a hand to that piece of it, right?

- Absolutely.

I pretty much definitely agree with our chief.

One of the things that I would agree with

is that when you look at the trends in law enforcement,

and we've become more service oriented,

we are moving more towards a greater aptitude

of compassion, communication,

you need to be more diplomatic,

and, so, you're not just focused on

the physical aspect of the job.

And, throughout my career,

that's one of the things that I've noticed,

and I really believe that women,

we are essential in this organization

and we can benefit from actually being in

this organization. - And we should back up

and explain, too, that, in the Department of Public Safety,

that you two kind of came up through the same role,

but we have two kind of law enforcement arms there

with our corrections officers in the city jail

and, then, also, our Deputy City Marshals,

- Yes.

- Yes. - who are taxed with making

sure that city buildings and parks and things like

that stay safe. - Correct.

- Yes, and I'd like to also add, if you don't mind,

that we go through an academy,

so we get the training, we get the physical training,

and we get the academic training as well,

which is imperative, and then, additionally,

just for everyone to realize, I actually was on

part of our Special Emergency Response Team, which,

I don't want to say it's like a SWAT team, but it's similar.

Most people know more about a SWAT team.

So, it's similar to that,

and we have females on that team as well.

And, even though I'm short in stature,

that didn't inhibit me from being part of that team

and today, we still have a female on that team.

- Wonderful

And, so, what about from the Fire Department's perspective?

- You know, I think the Fire Department's

a little bit more physical,

so I think the females that are interested

in pursuing a career in their fire service,

they're drawn to the physicality of it.

And, no matter if you're a male or a female,

I mean, it's a physical job.

So, physical fitness needs to be a priority in your life.

Certainly with the fire service.

- It's not just a job, it's a lifestyle.

And you have to maintain a minimum level of fitness,

whether male, female, it doesn't matter.

And even size, you can have large females or small females

and the same thing with the males.

I mean, we have some short males,

so it really doesn't have anything to do with size at all,

it has to do with fitness and you do need to be strong.

- Right. - I mean, prior to

the fire service, I wasn't much of a weightlifter.

Once I joined the fire service,

I most certainly lifted weights

because I needed to have

the upper body strength to do the job.

- So, you don't feel like being a woman in the department

has precluded you from being part of any of the wide variety

of roles that we have in the actual firehouse?

- No. - Absolutely not.

No, so, whether you're a 6-1 female or a 5-5 males,

our standards are the same across the board.

So, everybody is at minimum.

So, there really isn't, gender really doesn't

or shouldn't play a role in that.

- Wonderful. - The same for us as well.

- Yeah. - Okay, good to know.

So, we're keeping everything equal in that way.

So, the other question that we get a lot, too,

when people want to apply or women are interested

in this field is that of being a mom.

So, I think some women feel like,

if you're gonna be a firefighter

or you're gonna be in law enforcement,

that it becomes hard to have a family.

And, so, Tiffany and Sarah, I know that

you both have children, do you want

to talk a little bit about your experience

being pregnant in the department

and kind of what that looks like?

- Right, so, yeah, I was hired very young,

and so I have two children now, 13 and 15.

And so, naturally I went through the pregnancies

and had babies and everything while still

being in the fire service.

I'm sure, I cannot be a firefighter when I'm pregnant,

so we do have some policies in place

where I can go an work light duty assignments

or clerical type assignments until

I'm finished with my pregnancy and back to, return to duty.

But, as far as being a mom in the fire service,

it's really no different than

being a father in the fire service.

I'm family oriented, I love my children,

and I want to be around as much as possible.

We have a unique schedule.

And, so there's those challenges,

but it's no different whether I'm male or female,

And so, I, don't that it's any bigger of a challenge

- Than any other job. - that can be said.

Interesting, Tiffany?

- When I first started, I didn't have any kids.

Now I have two children.

I have a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.

And, it's been great being a mom in law enforcement.

I don't think that it's ever hindered me

from bein' successful or doing what it is that I need to do.

And, I would encourage all women to join this field

because you can have a family, you can be successful,

you can be effective, bein' a mom,

or a father. - So, being in the jail,

were you pregnant in the jail

or did they put you on light duty as well?

- I was, on was on light duty. - How does that work?

So, as Sarah said, we have those same

type of policies where, if you are pregnant,

you'll get a clerical job, you'll be on light duty.

And so, once again, didn't hinder you.

There's still other administrative duties that you can do.

- [Jennifer] And it's nothing new, like,

- Correct. - other women have

obviously followed this path in the department,

and it's something that we're used to as a city,

to making those accommodations,

just like they did for me in my job

when I had my daughter as well.

It just all looks a little bit different

for all of us in our respective work forces.

So, another question is to,

I think, in women in general we like this sometimes,

and that is, when women get promotions,

sometimes it can feel like it's less earned

because sometimes, maybe, they're trying to meet

more of a quota for female leaders,

maybe, than they are for men.

Is that something that you've experienced in your job?

You know, Chief, you're, I think,

our second ever female chief of our Public Safety team,

and, so, I think, especially for you being

the lead of your department, what does that mean to you?

Is that something that you experienced over your career?

- So, I've been very fortunate, and the city of Las Vegas

and the Department of Public Safety is amazing

because we really haven't.

We've been very diverse, even when I started.

So, actually there was three female chiefs.

I'm the third one.

- Oh. - So, then,

and there was only four chiefs.

So, that says a lot and it's very interesting

because we opened in 1982.

So, you're going back to 1982,

- And even then. - which you see

that the diversification was very important.

When I first joined on, there were women

in leadership positions, first line leaders,

or first line supervisors,

and we also had, at the time, when I joined on,

I had, these are males,

but I'm showing diversification in general,

we had African American male as a lieutenant

and we had a Latino male as a lieutenant.

And, the very next two lieutenants were two females.

So I really grew up in a department

that really encouraged promoting people

for the best of yourselves, doing the best

and you get a promotion, not based on anything else.

So, I think that we showed that and we still do that

and we-- - And our numbers

really reflect that because, as I said earlier,

the national average for women

in law enforcement is 15% in any given department

and we're closer to 30, so, I mean,

we've already doubled that, which,

I think speaks volumes for our open

and diverse hiring practices

and department practices, like you said.

What about in the fire department?

- I believe every woman sitting here has their role

because they have the experience and skill to be there.

And with the testing processes,

the cream rise to the top

and once again, if that's a male

or a female, they'll fill that role.

So, no I don't see any type of misconceptions there, so.

- That's wonderful to hear.

So, I think another question that women think, too,

in terms of being the minority in your department,

and that is fitting in with your male coworkers.

Have you found that challenging?

What have you found, maybe, that works for you,

that you could share that insight

with other women that maybe would be nervous

about fitting into a culture like that?

- So, fitting in with men,

so, for me, I never really had a problem,

I never really even thought about it.

Kind of like Sarah, I grew up and I played a lot of sports,

so I was already in that team oriented,

male dominated world, and I love what I do

and criminal justice and law enforcement

has always been within me.

So, I never really thought about it

as any kind of inhibitor in my way.

I never thought about gender.

I never thought about it when I got into the department.

I never felt it.

I feel like we have a lot of encouragement.

I mean, I don't know, you probably feel the same way

but I feel like we encourage, we do encourage other females,

but we absolutely feel the encouragement from men

and we encourage men as well.

- And, Chief said it best.

I mean, I feel the exact same way.

When I entered into my career,

I never felt that there was any separation.

I've always felt we've been a team.

We're here for one goal.

We're here for one mission.

So, it's never crossed my mind

that there was any type of separation

or that I had to fit in.

- For, especially being in the jail,

do you find that even the inmates

sometimes approach you differently?

Or are surprised

to see you? (laughing)

- Yes, yes. - Yes.

- And, especially as an African American female,

I mean, do you feel that kind of

extra pressure or some side glances

from people that are surprised to see you

in that role? - They do, but, you know,

surprisingly so, being a female working in corrections,

I've actually had more success

because, as Chief Freeman said earlier, communication.

And, I think we, as women, we're natural communicators.

It comes naturally to us.

So, I think it's a little bit easier for us.

And, I don't really feel that there's been

too much difficulty or any issues with that.

- You know, I love to add this, too.

I really, this is really true.

It's not just 'cause I'm saying this,

and, 'cause we're supposed to say this

when you get into law enforcement

or into public safety, we have one look.

We bleed the same color, we're brothers

and sisters in our whole profession.

Whether it's law enforcement and, or we extend ourselves

and we are so fortunate in this community,

'cause not every community, police and fire love each other.

And, we do, we have a great relationship with one another,

and we are brothers and sisters,

extended family in law enforcement,

and it's really heartfelt,

not like words saying, it's heartfelt, so.

- Chief, it's ironic 'cause I just said those exact words

today when I was meeting with Clark County folks.

- Oh. - That, just, we all wear blue

and if they're from Clark County,

I treat them the same as I do my own guys on my own side,

so, yeah, those exact same words, it's interesting.

- Wonderful, so now, I mean, in the Fire Department,

we have recruitment classes now

going through several time a year.

And we've actually been out to the fire training center

and it's really an amazing thing to see

that the rigorous training that you guys go through.

And, some of our classes, we do sometimes

only have one female or two females.

In your respective training classes,

were there more than one woman?

Were you the only one?

What was that experience like?

- I was the only woman in my class.

And, once again, I think that women

who are drawn to this and then drawn to physicality,

they'll be the ones to sign up

and want to look further what this career is all about.

So, I think there was two in your class, right, three?

- I was one of three

out of 22. - Oh.

- Yeah. - Okay.

- And how many were in your class?

- Just me.

- But, 25 or 50?

- Oh. - She went to first

(talking drowns out speakers)

(laughing) - I was doing a solo class.

18. - 18.

- 19. - Interesting.

- Yeah. - So, was that

intimidating to you on day one,

when you roll up and you're the only woman there,

that was-- - No, it wasn't.

- [Jennifer] You were just focused on the job at hand.

- Yeah, and once again, having a background in sports,

I mean, and having that team mentality, you go into it

going, okay, well, I hope you guys can keep up.

(laughing) You know, right?

I know Sarah did as well.

You know, good luck here we go.

- Right. - Yeah, so I just, you just

I just don't think that way. - Just stay in good shape,

like you said,

that we have those - Yeah.

- requirements set in place that are same

whether you're male or female,

and I think we actually have those on our website

if people want to go check those out,

we have the workouts that

they should do if they're interested in

becoming a firefighter. - But, and like Sarge said,

too, I mean, I think both the police and fire,

I think the stereotypical characteristics

which are predominantly male characteristics

of having this rigid or you need to be this certain way,

it's certainly not what police or fire are looking for.

You're looking for dependable, honest people.

You're looking for people that understand their role,

their role in the community who are

teamwork oriented, who communicate well,

and, so those are the types of characteristics,

I think, that both organizations are looking for, so.

- Wonderful, so, before we wrap this up,

does anyone have any final thoughts

if there are women watching, who maybe were inspired

by something that you said, to help them

take that step towards applying,

what words would you share with them?

- Gosh, I mean, really, truthfully,

the city of Las Vegas is just a phenomena place to work

and our department and the Fire Department,

I can't speak for them,

but I know, working with them for so many years,

just such great professionalism,

such great camaraderie, great places to work,

really the words of wisdom are,

I mean, be true to yourself.

Be true to yourself and, if something you want, do it,

'cause you can, I mean, we're proof that you can do it.

And, it doesn't matter what size you are,

like you said, I mean, it's in your heart

and it's in your mind,

and I know this is over utilized a lot,

but for me, it really is a calling.

That's the reason.

We want to help people, that's why you get

into a law enforcement, public service type position.

So, please, I'd encourage, I'd encourage everybody

to come on out and join us and be part of our family, yeah.

- Tiffany?

- For me, working for the Department of Public Safety,

city of Las Vegas, it's been a phenomenal experience.

I definitely would encourage everybody,

or all women, to come out and get into this field.

I love what I do, it's probably one of

the best choices that I've ever made,

and you just, like you said, it's like a family

and it truly is.

We're not up here just saying that.

You really leave every day knowing that

I'm doing something good and it's nice knowing

that you're impacting the community.

So, I really enjoy my career

and I really would encourage all women,

whether it's fire, corrections, marshals,

animal control, we have a lot of opportunities,

we're progressive, the city of Las Vegas

is a progressive government,

and, so, it's just really nice to get into this field.

- [Michele] Great points.

- Yeah, I would echo that, that working for this city

is a wonderful place to work and, for the Fire Department,

specifically, and it truly is a family,

and is a brother and a sisterhood.

And, also, just, if you're interested

in doing something like that, reach out,

you know somebody, right, and if you don't,

find somebody that does that line of work

and kinda just pick their brain

and see what it is that, to make sure

that it is something that you're interested in doing.

Get the real truths about what they're doing day to day.

And then, also, they'll tell you

how to best prepare for that job.

And, so, if there's certain physical requirements

through the testing process, like you were saying,

and on our website, maybe,

there's some different workouts that you can recommend.

There's programming out there depending on how old you are,

if you're young enough to join the Explorer Program.

There's programs at the community colleges.

There's a lot of ways to get ready for these jobs

and not only will it get you ready,

but it will give you an idea

as to whether or not this truly the right job for you

because it does need to be the right job.

- Absolutely. - And, in a way,

you do have to have a calling,

'cause it truly is about serving your community.

You can't get into this field

because, for any selfish reasons,

because those will wear out quickly.

- I like everything that the ladies said,

but, also, if you are interested,

reach a little, get out of your comfort zone,

see what's possible.

You'll find the resiliency in yourself

and find your confidence because it's amazing.

And, in the fire service, we probably

spend more time with our fire family

than we even do with our own families at home, so.

- Same here. - Yeah, right,

So, it's amazing.

You learn so much about yourself,

about your community, about how to give back.

It's endless and it's extremely rewarding.

So, with us, if you are medically inclined,

physically inclined, it's an amazing job.

- Well, wonderful to hear.

Ladies, thank you so much for being here

and thank you so much for watching.

If you are interested in learning any more about

any of these positions, you can go

to lasvegasnevada.gov/jobs.

Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.

For more infomation >> A Discussion On Women in Public Safety Positions - Duration: 20:02.

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8/28: An RI Public Radio perspective with Ian Donnis on State of Mind - Duration: 24:06.

For more infomation >> 8/28: An RI Public Radio perspective with Ian Donnis on State of Mind - Duration: 24:06.

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SACS to host final public meeting on building upgrades - Duration: 1:49.

For more infomation >> SACS to host final public meeting on building upgrades - Duration: 1:49.

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Milburnie Dam Public Meeting Q&A - Duration: 1:17:58.

- Now we're ready to enter the question

and answer portion of the evening.

A couple of ground rules to set out.

When you checked-in, we had people indicate

if you wanted to ask a question.

Obviously, maybe your question was answered,

and if so, that's fine, you can just raise your hand

and say no problem, go to the next one.

But we're gonna take people, we're gonna call people

up to the microphone in the middle

so that we can get all this on the record.

We're gonna call people up to the microphone

in the middle in the order that you signed in,

if you indicated you want to ask a question.

Because we have so many folks who want to ask questions,

we ask you to keep it to one question per person

and we ask you to limit your question

to a minute or less.

That's so that everyone can have an opportunity to ask.

If we have additional time, once everybody

has had an opportunity to ask a question,

then we'll go back and you can ask a second question.

- [Man] Is this considered open forum?

It seems to me like there's been several hours

to one side, probably a few minutes from the other side.

That doesn't seem (mumbles).

- This is a public information workshop

where we'll have an opportunity for folks,

like yourself, to come up.

(mumbles)

The purpose of this is to learn more

about what's going on with this proposal

and where it stands in the process

and for you to raise questions that you might have.

- [Man] And terms?

- Absolutely.

Alright, we'll go ahead and begin.

If at any point you have follow-up questions

or don't feel like your question was adequately addressed,

Lauris, the person standing in the back

is ready to take your information,

your complete question, and we will make sure

that Restoration Systems or one of the experts

gets back to you personally to address that question

and make sure that all of your concerns are addressed.

So the first question comes from Bob Emmanuel.

Is Bob here?

- [Bob] Yes, I have no question, I deffer to the others.

- Okay, thank you, Mr. Emmanuel.

The next question is Michael Williams.

- [Michael] No question.

- You guys are making this too easy.

Next question is David Rhodes.

- [David] Yes, my name is David Rhodes.

- Can you just come stand at the microphone?

Thank you.

- My name is David Rhodes and I live here in Raleigh.

In fact, very near here Hedingham,

I was wondering about how long we should expect

to see the benefits of once the dam is removed,

what is the time frame you think

we might start to see the benefits

of the dam removal.

- [Matt] Adam, do you want to start?

Thank you, Dave.

(mumbling)

Speak up.

- I'm trying.

I might be a PhD, but I can't operate a microphone.

To answer your question, it depends

on what particular part of the ecosystem

you're looking for a change in.

Expect to see habitats start to shift

as soon as water's released from behind the dam

and that will be an ongoing process.

It'll happen a little bit more with each flow.

Each rain, Spring event, or release from Falls Dam.

It will re-distribute some of the sediments

into new forms and into new places.

That is the basis of most of the change

that you're going to see.

That will become the habitat that will then

support the biology as it comes back into the impoundment.

It'll take some time.

I think that Tim and Matt here can expand

on that a good bit.

As far as water quality goes,

that will be pretty instantaneous.

Usually you don't have these water quality problems

in the Winter months, as in the Summer months.

So if the dam is removed in Fall/Winter,

come Spring and Summer, you won't have

those issues anymore.

Anybody else want to expand?

- With the dam removal projects

that we've been involved in and doing the monitoring of

as well as the literature on dam removal

that exists throughout the country and the world,

some of the fastest responders

are those Benthic macroinvertebrates.

Why that's important is that those are gonna be

one of the essential basis of the food chain

for the fishes and the birds and other things

to come in there and be able to take advantage

of some of the hallower habitats.

While they may not be eating the bugs directly,

some of the smaller minnows will also be attracted

to those birds, so the Benthic macroinvertebrates

responding within the first season

is something we've seen in the past.

They don't get to their ultimate improvement

in that first season,

but you already see a dramatic shift

because a lot of their lifespan is annual

for some species, while it's several years

for some of the longer life.

But they'll be coming in and deposit the eggs

and as soon as the flowing water habitat is there

and in the ripples, which is one

of the most rich habitats in the river ecosystem like that,

you'll start to see the change that Fall and Spring.

- Basically, I guess every dam removal's different

and different systems will respond

at different rates.

Our experience with the two that we've been involved with

with Carbonton Dam and the Lowell Dam,

the fish community response was fairly quick.

Within the first year of monitoring we saw improvement

and continued to see improvement

through the five-year monitoring period.

We didn't expect the mussels

to show improvement very quickly,

and that's mainly associated with their life cycle.

They require a fish basis to complete their life cycle.

And they're not very mobile.

So it takes them a while to populate new areas.

However, with Carbonton, the mussel recovery

was quite a lot quicker than we expected.

By year three, we're seeing rare species

that weren't there before show up in low numbers

in the form of impoundment.

With Lowell, that was a little slower,

but we did see improvement by year five

with the fresh water mussels.

- The next question comes from Mr. Bob Davis.

- Realizing that we're not talking

about a specific point in time, but a range

of time period, I'm just curious

what kind of timeframe we're talking about

for the actual removal down the line.

- Do you mean the deconstruction of the dam itself,

or the time period from now 'til it will be deconstructed?

- [Bob] I'd like to know when it will be deconstructed.

- How much longer are we looking at

before that actually happens?

- That's kind of a permitting question in our business.

That's always an important question

and we've learned the hard way of the years

that we don't count on things happening anytime soon.

As you can see, we're at a preliminary stage

and we've got four years into it.

I would say most hopefully by next Fall,

but most likely, by the following Fall.

- [Bob] Thank you.

- Thank you.

Jim Nelson is next.

- I have several questions about (mumbles).

- Thank you. - As we said,

it's a simple one.

How much would the water level in the river be reduced?

- Great question, and as you can imagine,

it's probably on a lot of people's minds

and I apologize for not including that information

in the presentation.

My forever reason, my 60 slides didn't have room for it.

The answer is, it depends.

I hate to be a broken record because

that was my answer to the other question.

It depends on where you're looking in today's impoundment.

The dam obviously, it creates deep water,

but the water gets deeper as you get closer to the dam.

There's quite a variation in the depth

of that impoundment now.

Here at the very top of it, it can be

a foot or two right now.

If you're really close to the dam,

it could be eight, 10 feet.

I think worse case scenario, you'll see an adjustment

under normal flow conditions close

to the dam about eight feet now.

As you go upstream --

- [Man] The water by the dam will be eight feet shallower?

- That would be my expectation, yes.

If you go upstream, you're gonna find

much shallow areas and much deeper areas,

depending on where you are because what we'll see,

pools will form and ripples will form

and you'll see a lot of variation in depth.

- How will that be conducive to canoeing and kayaking?

- It should be okay.

I've canoed the river both above the dam,

above the impoundment I should say,

and below the impoundment.

I think for those that are curious

and have access to the river,

that's what I would encourage you to do.

Put in above the impoundment, float to the impoundment,

and get a sense for what that stretch

of the river is like without a dam.

Once you get to the impoundment, you'll know it.

It will change enough.

It will get slow, it will get deep,

it will get a little wider.

And then be very careful, forage around the dam,

put it below it and float.

Float further.

And you'll get a sense, it'll be different

above it and below it.

But it's a rip above it and below it.

That should give you some sense as to what to expect.

- Thank you.

Camille Warren.

- Hi, I'm Camille Warren,

and I'm a kayaker.

I'm a member of two paddling clubs

based here in the triangle.

And did notice that sone of the factors

that are considered are recreational factors

and my interests are historical and recreational.

I've done a lot of research on the web

about the dam and it's got some very interesting history.

The original dam was built as an eight foot timber dam

before the Civil War.

And then around 1900,

the current Granite Block

and Mesa Route Dam was built

to a height of 16 feet (mumbling).

The granite blocks were locally poured

and given that and the fact

that the dam is so much history

of this area, I really feel like

they belong to Raleigh in Wade County

and it would be really wonderful

if the blocks would be donated

to the City of Raleigh for it to use

as it sees fit in the Milburnie Park

that it will build some day.

The other thing is as a paddler,

I enjoy flat water paddling

and have enjoyed paddling in Flat Waters Bridge

above the dam, but I also do

white water paddling, and have enjoyed that.

In some of the old historical references

I have read about Milburnie Dam,

some of the very old things I found refer

to even older documents that talked about

Milburnie Falls.

And of course, we all know,

these dams that were built for power generation

to run mills or whatever,

were often built at falls because

they could take better advantage

of the fall of the water.

There are places in the country

where dams have been removed strategically,

in such a way as to create really nice

white water features, and in fact,

in San Marcos, Texas, dam removal was done

in such a way that created this

beautiful river park with white water features.

Given the fact the dam is coming down,

there's very likely some interesting,

natural white water features there.

Nobody knows, it's been 150 years.

It would just be a real shame

to pass up the opportunity to take advantage

of that using what's there and perhaps,

even some of the blots

to create a wonderful

white water paddling location.

And so that's not really a question.

- No, but I think --

- No, that's a fine comment though.

I'm glad the corps of engineers was here to see it,

that there's public support for doing that.

You could imagine, when we do that,

it tends to just complicate the plan

because we've got a particular objective

we're trying to reach.

But if it can enhance the plan

and make it more attractive to have it removed,

and help please our regulators,

then of course we would consider that.

We've already done a lot of work

with Elizabeth Gardner and her club.

And we're actually gonna be contributors --

- [Camille] I belong to that club.

- Yeah, and we're gonna contribute

to the white water park, and we're gonna follow

what we feel we're a part of that river's community.

Whether we do something on the site,

possibly as a result of your comment

and interest of the corp,

or whether we're working upstream

with the paddling groups, that's one of our objectives.

We want to make recreation better on the river

and very much appreciate your comment.

- [Matt] Thank you.

- [Camille] Thank you.

- [Matt] Betty Rhodes is next.

- I'm really concerned about the area around Hedingham

and that was answered for me.

- [Matt] Okay, thank you.

Ed Brandle.

- Good evening, my name's Ed Brandle,

I live in the Foxcroft subdivision

and like many others here, I feel like

we're kind of being short changed

by the brief time we can spend up here.

I want to ask several things, but under the conditions

that prevail, I don't think I can.

One question I wanted to ask, though,

and I had several.

- [Man] Mr. Brandle, please ask all the question you'd like.

We don't have as large a group as we might've thought.

If you'd like to ask a couple of questions, go ahead.

- Well, that's good to note.

Have you considered a fish ladder?

Because there are several of us

who would be glad to fund a fish ladder to begin with

if that was one of the main problems

that you were facing and the reason

you want to take the dam down.

Was it because of the shad going no further?

They come 120 miles, I don't think 15 miles

is gonna make that much difference to the shad.

- And likely, there are a couple of things going on

and one is a little bit like putting dance shoes

on a cow, you know.

You've got an ugly, decrepit facility there.

Well, ugly in some people's views and not in others.

But it's a decrepit facility,

which is continuing to gray,

continuing to get older, continuing to get less stable,

and to take a very sophisticated thing

like a fish latter and make it an integral part of it

is taking something that is very unstable

and uncertain and putting a modern device on it,

which it seems unwise.

Second, as an economic proposition,

it might be a good idea if you get past those concerns,

but that wouldn't produce the credit sufficient

for us to probably either fund the fish latter

or make it worthwhile.

We don't get the same number of credits

for doing such an action as we would

for what we're doing here.

- I thought that was one of the main reason

getting the shad a little further

up the river and toward the dam.

It is, there are actually four different things

we have to achieve to get the credits

that we've defined.

If we only achieve that, it'll be one fourth

of the value of the project.

- I've been down that river a lot of times

in my boat, in those (mumbles) areas and

so forth, wetlands.

My opinion is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

There's a lot of wildlife in there

that's going to be destroyed, just a lot of wildlife.

We had docked too to go to down to

the Laurel Lake Dam.

And I'll tell you, those people down there,

they are hot.

I mean, I wouldn't even wanna show up to go

through that town now, 'cause they're hot.

They didn't like the results of it at all.

We went down there and walked up around the lake,

the river, that is, you see a tire over here

and that, this, and the other.

The mayor, they were just hot under the collar.

They were just ready to boil over.

I hate to think that this would be left the same way

and who'd clean up the debris upstream?

- We'll work with the agencies on that.

There's always some concern.

They consider the woody debris in there

to be a benefit to wildlife,

so we've got to be careful.

I think we can work out something

where we can get passage through,

if there is an adequate passage.

We don't know what it's gonna look like yet.

But nature will take care of it for one thing.

The Lowell Dam has got nothing but better

and better behind it.

It gets continually cleans itself out

in a natural manner and I imagine

this river system will do the same thing.

- I just know that there's a lot of junk.

I fish the river a lot too.

Batch of springs and (mumbles) and

everything else around there,

so there's a lot to be considered

in the clean up if you go that route.

- Just remember, all that's in there right now,

it would be an aesthetic thing to take it out

because whatever environmental damage

or toxic damage and that kind of stuff,

that's going on right now.

So this not only gives us a chance

to clean it up that we don't have

while the dam's there.

- So you'd clean up everything

that's exposed?

- I can't commit to that now,

not to clean up everything that's exposed.

Again, if it's woody debris and that type of stuff.

But if there's an old Model T sitting down

behind the dam, I guarantee you, we'll drag it out.

- Well, I guess you would.

By the way, I want to say something

to the people, or Howard's family.

I knew Howard for 50 years, he was a good man

and I appreciate him a lot.

I was in Jaycees with him and so on

and I was with him a week before he died.

I'm gonna miss him.

- [Woman] Thank you.

- I know you do.

I'll deffer to the rest of the people.

But I'd stay out of that area,

down there in Laurel Dam.

You won't be safe, I don't think.

- Take a look at the Carbonton Dam.

It's a larger river and kind of more similar to this one.

If you ever make it down there,

it's only about a 45 minute drive

and it's quite attractive.

- [Ed] Thank you.

- Next question is Mr. Bill Jones.

- [Bill] My question's been answered.

- Thank you, sir.

John Connors.

- Hello, I'm John Connors.

As a wildlife biologist, I appreciate what you do.

In this particular case,

I have to admit I'm a little skeptical

of the benefits and here's why.

We're trading ecosystems here, I think.

So there is a functional, vibrant,

as Ed said, wildlife rich environment

that's there right now,

up above the dam.

My concern is when we take the dam out,

which I would normally support,

the river system that's up above

from there to the False Lake Dam,

the City of Raleigh made a decision

when we put Falls Lake Dam in

to infill that flood plain,

that watershed.

And that is one of the heaviest,

neighborhood development that took place in Raleigh.

So all the streams that we're talking about,

a percentage of them like Perry Creek,

which I'm very familiar with,

these are highly impacted streams.

And so, sending the shad upstream to breed

in these areas, you know,

it's a little bit wishful, I think.

I can deffer to my friend Mike

and Tim, maybe you can tell me more

to reassure me that this will actually work.

That the shad will go up there

and have success breeding.

A measure of them making it

to False Lake Dam, is not a measure of success.

It's a measure of success

of breeders surviving up to there,

but we really should measure

whether they successfully spawn

and whether their young make it back downstream.

- [Man In Audience] You want me to --

- Go ahead and take a shot.

- I think when they did,

success criteria they will be required

to measure --

- [Man In Black Shirt] Mike, I'm sorry,

go ahead and introduce yourself.

- I'm Mike (mumbles) with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

I think with a --

They will be required --

So they will be required to do that.

I think if you look at most of these fish,

the striped bass, American Shad,

and you know, there's a couple of species of sturgeon too.

The sturgeon get up

and we don't really know how far they go up,

but they might make it up there.

But if you look at the trail ways of Falls Lake

and look at the water coming over the lake.

It's fairly clear, it's good water quality.

I suspect the bulk of the actual productivity

to augment the population will be proximate Falls Lake.

So the thing about these fish

is that they have, you know,

very high fecundity and you know,

you might have one individual that has

a half million.

Depending on the species, several 100,000 eggs.

That's where I think the real benefit if gonna be,

not so much up the trips at all,

but you know, getting right in that clean water

coming off the trail ways of falls.

But you're right, at the end of the day

what we really want to do

is get these where people might be able

to see a sturgeon in North Carolina.

Most North Carolina natives have never seen one.

They've seen them back up in Richmond,

you know, there are guys who have lived there

for 40 years and are seeing six-foot sturgeon

swimming under the bridge, it's kind of neat.

- [Man] Why was the dam removed?

- [Man] Well, because of habitat restoration.

I think, you know, they've done

some spawning.

They've done dam removal there too,

but they've done a number of things there.

That's what we're shooting for.

- Is there any value in

releasing those little fingerling shad

that they're doing now?

People are raising them,

releasing them to recolonize.

Will there be any value

in actually doing a test run?

Like letting some of those things go

off into Perry Creek or some place upstream

and see what the survival is this year.

- [Man] We've got the national fish hatcheries.

We've got a fish hatchery in (mumbles).

We realize that the production

and the natural system exceeds

what we can possibly produce in our fish hatchery system.

In other words, if we can get the Neuse working,

we could do the productivity

of four or five national fish hatcheries.

- My question is really like,

the macroinvertebrate populations

in those head water streams is very low.

So there's not very much for these shad hatchlings to eat.

- [Man] The food form is small larvae,

the fish, you know, when it's fertilized,

you've got the egg sack and then they exhaust that

and then they've got the food.

Really what you're doing is inoculating

the downstream area.

If you look at the distance between Falls Lake

and the ocean, or the (mumbles),

really you're (mumbles) areas

you're really inoculating that

with a larvae and stuff that use that habitat

that's all those miles down stream.

- [John] Okay.

- Then important thing to think about, John, is that --

I mean, Hightower would be a really good one to say this,

but he would say, molten volcanic rock

is basically a rocky riffly area,

and if you look at the Neuse,

you've got some around Smithsville,

you've got some around Hillsborough.

But then, when you're really getting into Raleigh,

that's where you're really getting

in the rocky bottom of the Neuse.

But you go up towards Falls,

if you've been in that stretch,

that's really primo habitat.

So by getting the fish, there's plenty of area there

to produce enough spawn to really utilize

the nursery area of habitat in the main stem Neuse.

But there's not spawning habitat

in all those miles of the coastal plain.

It's just not suitable spawning habitat.

- That helps.

- Thank you.

Next question.

Oh, sorry.

- I'd like to add a little bit

to what Mike was saying.

As far as even if Perry Creek

was a good quality creek,

probably wouldn't expect American shad

to go up into the small creeks.

It's kind of a river spawner.

And then, one other point to make is,

the migratory fish is just one component

of the aquatic restoration.

If you look at our baseline studies,

our upstream control sites

and our downstream control sites,

the fish community at the control sites

was much more what we'd expect

in a free flowing river than what's

in the impoundment.

To give an example, the fresh water mussels,

as far as abundance,

we measure abundance

by how many we find in a certain period of time,

how many per hour.

The six sites within the impoundment,

I think where you're looking at eight

or nine mussels per hour,

whereas the downstream control sites

were up in the 100s per hour.

Upstream control right near the Falls tail areas,

we're looking at 70 individuals.

There's definitely an adverse effect

to those communities from existing dam.

- Next question is from Janet Busset.

- [Woman] Busset.

- I'm sorry.

- Hello everybody.

I've been following this dog and pony show

for two years.

I live in Foxcroft,

which borders the impoundment.

The neighborhood is 180 acres.

It's Raleigh's little secret.

It's full of nature.

You come in there and there's (mumbles) everywhere.

Turtles that are 40 years old.

What I would ask as part of the process,

is somebody coming there and sample our neighborhood

see what we have before this happens

and after it happens.

I do want to say thank you to Mr. Rigsby,

Martin Dole, I've been following your work

for several years.

- [Martin] Thank you.

- Actually, I read your thesis this week.

Gave me a headache, but got through it.

I have some first hand experience,

like you, with the Lowell Dam.

And I chime in with Mr. Randall.

I'm not gonna repeat what he said,

but what was interesting, was that

it was your own hope that your research

would help with future dam

stream mitigation projects.

(mumbles) , I think that's great.

I'm not gonna fight

or say the dam going away,

I'm not gonna go there.

I'm gonna go a different angle.

Use that working hat,

I think it's great.

It's not scientifically defensible

because it's based on standards that you came up with.

It's all research.

But it's something

that nobody else has probably done yet.

What I think we need to do here,

and I thank you that we have this opportunity

to come together and get this out on the table.

I've been into this for two years

and I'm getting a headache.

So it's about time that all these leaders

and everybody in the community got it out.

Now, this is what I see.

I have enough evidence so far with Lowell Dam,

all these other dams, but especially

with what Mr. Rigsby said.

He saw from the approach that you took,

didn't go in there and do the blown (mumble).

Pretty much punctured a hole in it,

April you let out some water twice.

You meet in December and let some water out twice.

Issue was, they didn't bank on,

they had a high precipitation event.

Then it rained again in January.

They had a lot of downstream flooding.

Of course, that's been documented.

I've gotta control my hands 'cause I don't want you

to get distracted.

The difference between Johnston County,

and that's where I got a little bit of this twang from,

'cause I used to work for the mayor down there.

The difference between where the Lowell Dam is

and where this dam is, is almost like night and day.

This is a highly populated area,

down there is not.

I've been there, I've walked all around.

What else I don't see in this plan?

What's the emergency plan?

What's the contingency plan?

What are the site protections?

What kind of bond are you gonna put up?

And five years is not good enough for me.

I think it ought to be into perpetuity

or at least 10 years at a minimum.

And I think something needs to be coordinated

with the City of Raleigh

to protect these people downstream

and it needs to get out on the table.

- [Man] I'm sorry, protect them from what?

- From potential flood, like Adam's document.

(mumbles) heard anybody when all that flooding happened.

It was 13 days straight.

Are you gonna correct me?

- I'll respond to it.

- You're (mumbles) on that.

I've read your paper, am I wrong?

- I can tell, I can tell, great detail.

- I think we need to do something.

That's all I've got to say.

- Thanks for the comment.

Two things to go out there.

One is, we did learn a lot from Lowell

and we've learn a lot from other dam removals

that I did not participate in

and that we are fortunate enough

to have a rich literature to go by.

And when I say we've learned a lot from Lowell,

these two guys, to my right in particular,

they're the ones who did a lot of the science

that supported the mitigation project.

My dissertation involved following flows

through the reservoir after the dam was removed.

The dam did not add flows.

I think that's an important distinction.

The removal of that dam did not cause a flood.

I monitored the movement of sediment

and nutrients through the old impoundment

during flood events.

So what I was curious about,

and with the help of Martin and Doyle

and a few of my colleagues,

there you can see, was once the dam's removed,

we know that's a susceptible time

for that impoundment, as you noted, it's sensitive.

We were curious what happens.

What ends up leaving the impoundment

has been stored over 100 plus years

and where does it go.

We monitored dozens of miles of river

and we followed what I referred to

as a flood wave in my paper, but it was not a flood,

it never left the banks of the little river.

It was simply a pulse of water

with some sediment and some nutrients.

I need to make that distinction

and I'll gladly answer question about it

as this is important.

Removing Milburnie Dam is not gonna

cause flooding downstream.

Not during the process and not because

there's a rain event after the process.

We will not create a flood downstream.

Now what may happen and what you're referring to

in that paper, is something that I did call a flood wave

and I wrote that out.

Now, I'm second guessing the use of that term.

Six years later.

But what it was, it was during the dewatering process,

you're right, I released it twice.

It was during the dewatering process,

they opened the gates up and there was,

what I should've called, a pulse of water

and material that moved downstream.

So there's stored water behind the dam,

it then enters the little river

and then moves downstream.

It never left the banks of the little river,

so it was not a flood, that is --

Martin, you deserve to be reprimanded

for letting me write that in that paper.

It was not a flood wave, so I apologize for that.

To summarize, two quick distinctions.

You're right, Lowell is not Milburnie.

We did learn some lessons at Lowell.

We learned some lessons at Carbonton.

But there were several more,

thanks to (mumbles) Rivers, we saw this flood.

Thousand other dam removals out there

from which we can work.

And we can avoid making mistakes

that have been made over a 1000 over dam removals.

So there's a lot going in there.

And it's not gonna flood downstream

because we dewatered Milburnie.

It's an important distinction.

- Next question is Terri Benton.

- Thank you, a lot of questions have been answered

and I guess not answered this evening.

But I guess at this time we'll have to take that.

But I appreciate you being here tonight.

A couple of questions from the homeowners

along the Neuse River.

Ed touched on it, will the debris be cleaned up

from the river because when we watched the videos

from my friend, Jeanna went down

and she shot them, we found there's a lot

of debris on the river bank

and left a mess and people were very unhappy.

Will the banks be seeded?

And with Restoration Systems will be able

to post a bond to compensate homeowners for lost wells.

Our other concern, as I live in Riverbend Plantation.

When this first started coming around,

people from Restoration Systems apparently went

and spoke with our neighbors

about the Stoud Way

and they expressed to the neighbors

that when the river, the dam goes away,

there'll be no flooding in our neighborhood.

So I'm concerned about the level of the water

in Stoud Lake as well, which is in our subdivision,

which is Riverbend.

We're concerned.

Can you address whether that lake level

will be affected if the dam is taken out?

- I can give you very general answers.

I am not familiar with that lake.

I don't know how it's formed.

Obviously, I would imagine there's a dam.

It's probably not a natural lake.

- [Terri] Right.

- I don't know the nature of that dam.

I don't know where it's located

relative to the Neuse River,

and so honestly, I can't give you

a good plan of action. - So that would be

a question that I could pose and send in

and give you coordinates.

- Yes, ma'am, I will gladly look into that.

- And how about the wells

that most of my neighbors are on

as far as damage to the wells

if the dam goes away?

- You know, that is a common fear with dam removal,

is that --

And it's a logical concern.

Is that if you lower the water level of the river,

do you affect the local ground water table,

the depth of that table?

Its placement in the soil.

In some cases, yes, locally you can see that.

I'm not familiar with each individual well.

We didn't see that problem at Lowell,

and we didn't see that problem at Carbonton.

To order, John, were you ever called by somebody

who couldn't draw on ground water

because you removed the dam?

So I think that ground water is affected

to a certain extent.

The depth at which we usually drill

in order to get ground water for drinking water purposes,

is much greater than the dam

is gonna cause and affect it.

In other words, the straw goes so deep down

to tap into the ground water that I don't think

the dam is going to have an effect.

- I'm sorry our neighbor and good friend,

Ed Small couldn't be here tonight,

because he really is, I'm sure you're very familiar with Ed.

He has a science behind him

he can really listen to what you're saying

and make sense of it and he can ask questions.

I wish he were here.

I did bring a copy of the letter that he wrote

in response to the public.

I'd love to hand it out if I could.

They probably have it at corp,

but he had so many questions

that I'm not sure really, some been answered.

- I will gladly, please leave your information.

- Okay. - So that I can contact you.

- Lauris is right at the back of the room,

you can leave all your information.

Next question is Ted Dunn.

- My name is Ted Dunn, I live in the Woods Creek subdivision

which is adjacent to Foxcroft.

I think you've done an excellent job

in your presentation.

It's provided much more information

than what I heard before.

I guess my position would be that,

I think that whenever we would extend

the natural habitat of the Neuse River

for an additional 15 miles, that's very appealing.

As I listened to everything,

I realized the Army Corps of Engineers

can't say they're either for this

or against this, but they have to remain neutral.

But I think that for the neighbors,

who may not be exactly adjacent to the river

or the dam, but are in the vicinity

and have these legitimate concerns,

that you work through the process,

as you've obviously done so far

to address our concerns,

but one of the things that was touched on briefly

that I think that in addition to

extending the natural habitat

of the river to what it used to be

is that we have a structure that no longer serves

its original purpose, and with the extension

of the Greenway by the Raleigh Park System,

it seems that we have what is,

I'm not an attorney, but I think

it would be referred to as almost like

a public nuisance in the sense

that you have a dam that has taken lives before.

I know from where I grew up,

that's what dams do.

Like you said, they don't kill one person sometimes,

they kill two people, or the number of people

that go to rescue the original victim.

So that if the current owners of this dam

want the liability to go away

and they don't want the risk of future deaths

on their property because of the proximity

to the Greenway, it's almost,

if I was an attorney, we talk about scales of justice,

and rarely is anything ever 100%

and it's obviously isn't going to be 100% in your favor

because of the concerns of the neighbors in Foxcroft

and Woods Creek and perhaps heading down.

That would seem like they would consider

the life safety issues and so many other things

that we're talking about here

that you would still tip the scales

in favor of what you want to do.

I am so impressed with what you've done.

Attending this, I'm more likely to support

what you're trying to do, but hope that you will

for the neighbors, continue to address

their individual concerns.

Thank you.

- [Men] Thank you.

- The next question is from Cheryl Gregory.

- [Cheryl] I didn't have a question.

- Oh, okay, great.

Next question, John Holly.

- Listening with a great interest

to a lot of the information that's being presented

and one thing that I didn't hear a lot about

and just encourage you to take a look at,

if you haven't already, is potential

for head cutting erosion in some of the tributaries

that feed now into the open water.

A lot of that is directly adjacent to

or actually bordering on private land

and there could be some property damage

that is a part of that erosion process

that's gonna naturally occur.

And so some of that may need to be addressed structurally,

in the process of taking the dam out

and doing som work to correct erosion.

I would encourage that to be looked that.

My question I guess would be,

how much has that been looked at

and have you anticipated some potential problem areas?

- Thanks for bringing that up and that is

obviously a concern that you have

when you move a dam.

Head cut migration is fairly common to see.

In certain situations, you want to see that.

In other situations, like you just noted,

you don't want to see that.

My biggest concern for head cuts right now

is that open water area just below (mumble) Dam Lake.

And we're working to develop a strategy

so that we don't have that problem there.

Other areas that I have noted.

- We were out there today.

- Yeah, in fact we were.

Other areas I've noted, seem to have

some hardened structures, they're dams

with lots and lots and lots of riff raff

that connect the tail of the dam to the river.

That's good.

I mean it's not great habitat,

but that's great for a concern

like you just voiced and that we certainly share.

And that will be part of the process

to identify those spots and see what we can do

to avoid the problems.

Because, we want to avoid problems like that,

that's important.

- I just want to add, John.

I actually spoke with Mel Nevils this morning,

who I believe you work with

and I was speaking with him on another matter.

He brought this up too and I committed

to sit down with you guys at Land Resources

and go on over it in some detail.

- I believe this particular project

would end up with the city jurisdiction.

The city has a local (mumbling) control over.

Of course, it's delegated to them by us.

So we would be working hand-in-hand --

- Well you all are experts too.

We would involve the city as well.

- Thank you, Mr. Holly.

- Jay Saint Claire.

- Hey guys, this gentleman over here hit

on the first question I had too.

The first one was, I was curious,

is it a rumor or is it true that people have drowned here

and so how many people have drowned

as a result of that dam.

- Well, thanks, Mr. Saint Claire.

We got interested in that question

after the two deaths this Summer.

And I asked a young fellow that works for us

to go down to the Neuse Observer

and look it up.

It didn't take him too long.

I think we identified 11 deaths

that were in the paper that he was able to pull notice

some of them quite horrifying.

Four of eight of those were doubles.

In other words, there were four instances

where two people died, including a,

I don't mean to be dramatic,

but a one armed vegetable produce merchant

who went in after his wife, who never swam

a day in his life.

And yet he had one arm and went in after

and he went down, and that was on the cover then.

And what we figure is that there are

more single drownings out there

that didn't get picked up by the paper,

because it's not as newsworthy when two die.

You'd have either always kills in two's,

which is unlikely, or there are many more drownings

than just the 11.

So, there's 11 known, and only four of those

in the last five years.

And I suspect that going back, it would be

many more and above 20.

- [Woman] There's a small park there

that Carolyn and my father came gave the city of (mumbles)

where people can go that's public,

a little public area.

And there's postings and stuff about swimming,

but it's hot, it's 95 degrees in the Summer

and a five year old is (mumbles) fishing.

It's just inevitable when someone's gonna tempt fate.

- That's an excellent point.

And it brings up the Greenway part.

If you say that the number of people that drown

or get in trouble out there is a function

of how many people visited in the first place,

which would seem logical,

that was a very obscure location in Raleigh.

As you know, you can talk to a lot of people

who live in Raleigh, some of them their whole lives

and you bring up the Milburnie Dam

and they've never seen it,

that's not going to be the case

after they open up a full Greenway

to the Neuse Blueway.

There are going to be thousands upon thousands

of new visitors that never would have known

that place was there.

They're gonna find a new swimming hole

and that's gonna serve as an attractive nuisance

that the Twiggs no longer want to maintain.

- We put signs up, they rip them down.

They rip through fences.

It's just an impossible thing to keep up with.

- [Man] And it's only gonna get worse.

- [Woman] Right.

What's scary too is that the water on the surface

looks calm and still and underneath it

is where the strong current is.

It may look innocent, but it's not.

- Right.

- Second question, I'll try to make this quick

is for Mr. Rigby.

You did a good job talking about, I think,

the theory behind some of the negative impacts

that are a result of a dam being put

into a (mumbling).

And you also talked about some of the ecological benefits

that can come from removing the dam.

So my question for you is,

as part of this (drowned out by cough), yourself,

what have you witnessed and specific documented.

Maybe some of the highlights

of dam removals with this group.

- In terms of ecological changes.

- [Man] The changes.

- I think the most remarkable accomplishment,

if you will, or benefit, was the Cape Fear Shiner

and the Deep River.

It was one of the only ecosystem restoration projects

on the East Coast that I'm aware of

where we got federally protected species

to recolonize and a significantly long stretch of river.

10 miles, plus additional miles

in some of the larger tributaries.

In fact, Tim continues to go back

and document new occurrences of the species

and further and further back into the (mumbles),

which I think is just fascinating.

We've also seen some great shifts in habitat.

I mean, these guys have been through the river

a lot more than I have, to be honest.

Because both those removals took place

while I was conducting my dissertation research

and I did study them.

But then I left in 2006 and these guys

just kept going back year after year after year.

So if they want to expand, I certainly pass it along.

- I mentioned that the Benthic macroinvertebrates

are one of the first to change

and that's what we observed at both

of the removals that we were involved in.

With them being the base of the food chain,

it supported, I think, the fish species change

that Tim will be able to comment on.

And then ultimately, the fish are believe

the host for mussels.

That's why the mussels are the last step in that process.

We also had, you know, when the water goes down,

the river bed didn't always change as much.

I mean, there's some sudden deposition,

but then you also see you know,

when the water goes down,

the riffle and pool sequence gets reestablished

and say you have periods of shallow, fast water

within deeper slow water.

And those were there immediately in the first year.

But even over successive years of monitoring,

extra ones would pop up as sediment

was getting cleared out of those.

Seeing those habitats established

was really great.

I always had to be safety conscious with our crews,

but they loved going through those riffles

on their canoes and stuff.

And I go, you have $15,000 worth of gear in that boat!

(mumbles)

Seeing that and then you know.

I've heard several folks say that

there are great wildlife

and you know, I totally understand that

and agree with that and I think you're gonna see

that you are going to continue to see great wildlife

and you'll see a lot more birds all the way down

along the creek.

Wading birds fishing and I think

that those things will continue.

- Just add to that, as an aquatic ecologist,

I love great flowing rivers.

In the presentation I've done

about the Carbonton Dam removal,

got a shot of me standing at a ripple spot

and I tell the story, when we did

the pre-removal baseline surveys,

it was 17 feet deep at that spot.

We had to scuba dive to sample the bottom,

whereas, we were doing it wading.

And ripple habitats are very species rich,

very diverse, and as an ecologist,

that's what you look for.

- [Man] Right, thanks Pat.

- [Woman] There really isn't a free flowing river, though.

The corps (mumbles) control of the lease.

Is that not true?

- It seems to be a going point,

and it's something worth pointing out,

but keep in mind, that's true for every river

in North Carolina.

If you're on the Roanoke, you're controlled

from the Carl Lakes Dam, whatever they call that.

If you're in the Cape Fear at any point,

there are 17 dams on the Cape Fear.

So that every point along the Cape Fear is controlled.

Moving along, I think there's no major river

that reaches into the Piedmont, North Carolina

that isn't controlled.

That said, I think it will put significant pressure

on the corps.

You'd think it'd be prevailed upon

to probably do more nature like releases there.

- I think we know that this provides

the waters from Raleigh.

- [Man] That's right.

- Considering the fact that

the environment's changing dramatically

as it is and there's bound to be a drought.

A drastic drought, a (mumbles) drought.

Probably in our near future,

maybe in our lifetime, certainly.

When the people need water

more than the river needs water, what's gonna happen?

- Well, just remember that the people

who live in Smithfield, have been dealing

with the natural water level in that river

and it's never gone dry.

You've never heard them say --

- [Man] Smithfield is a lot smaller community.

- Right, but the rivers continue to flow.

The Neuse has never gone dry below the dam.

There's always been a flowing river,

even during the 2007 drought.

Right?

There's a minimum release.

There's a wall that says that (mumbles) there is serious.

- [Man] Not a wall.

- Not a wall?

- [Man] No, it's an agreement.

- Okay.

An agreement that they have to release

a certain amount of water for ecological purposes.

- Folks, can we just ask anyone who's asking a question,

since we are recording this for official

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer records,

that you ask your questions at the microphone.

And we have one more person who registered

that they want to ask a question,

so I want to get to them.

- Matt, it's okay, we'll wrap this up

and get to the next person.

- Okay, please.

- In the document, there is a hydrological analysis

because that's required by the corps.

In other words, will there be a sustainable

flow regime to support the ecosystem

we are proposing to restore.

And our analysis indicates that yes,

there should be.

Now, extreme events are extreme events.

The Neuse would run dry if we were in that type

of drought as you indicated,

regardless of where the falls are as they are not.

- [Man] We talked about Milburnie Dam,

it still be above --

- Well it too would run dry

if it was such an extreme event.

Milburnie doesn't create water,

it just holds on to it, which it evaporates,

goes downstream, whatever the case may be.

In this case, George was mentioning an agreement

that Smithfield has with the Army Corps of Engineers

and the state governments to release water

for water quality purposes downstream.

In other words, I believe it's Smithfield

that has a waste water discharge.

If there's not enough water being released

from falls, it's heavily concentrated pollution.

High amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus.

They want to avoid that and they want to avoid

the smell that comes with it.

So that's why you see a fairly reliable release.

And again, I wrote this document so long ago,

I don't recall the details immediately,

but it's in there.

It's under hydrological analysis section.

And if you have questions after reading that,

please get back with me or follow up

with me again and I will have read it more thoroughly

and will be able to more accurately answer that.

- I'll just add one thing to your question

about is it a free flowing natural river.

It's not natural, as George mentioned,

it is regulated, but our control sites,

which are upstream of the current impoundment,

we show that the fish fauna,

the fresh water mussel fauna are kind of

what you'd expect from a free flowing river system.

So we expect those species to recolonize

the impoundment that is created by Milburnie.

- [Woman] It's unfortunate,

I understand the (mumbles) point of view

that they want to get rid of the dam.

I know there have been several people

that have said that have said

they would speak with them on a private basis,

in fact, (mumbles) in Winston-Salem to speak

with Carolyn Fox and he was intercepted

by Mr. Howard, he didn't want to allow

that conversation to go on.

- Man, that's not true.

- [Woman] That's not true?

- No, I went down with him, greeted her with him.

She asked me to come with him

because she felt a little bit intimidated

that someone wanted to come and talk her out of something.

- That's not intimidating.

He said he felt (drowned out).

- She wanted me to come there and be with her.

I didn't intercept and we rode down the elevator together,

welcomed her back to her room

and I did my best to answer questions

that she couldn't answer.

- [Man] Did he limit the number of questions

that Mr. Howard could ask?

- [Man] No.

- Alright, next.

Our final question that someone had indicated ahead of time

and then we can take a few more

while we have time available.

Jeff, and I'm sorry if I get this wrong, Destreach.

- A follow up I think on the hydrological question.

Is there any hydrological effect

on the nine miles above the pool?

Are there any shock absorber effects

from having that pool down there?

Or a rate change?

- [Man] Rephrase that question for me, I'm sorry.

- On the section of river above the pool,

the pool water.

- Which is the impoundment?

- Above the impoundment.

- Between the impoundment and falls (mumbles),

is there gonna be any hydrological change for that?

Is the flow gonna feel faster or --

- You know, I expect the answer is inforseeably yes.

Impoundments we have to draw a line

and say the effect stops here,

but that's not necessarily true.

Because there are secondary effects.

I think yes, it could get a little bit faster,

but I don't think that you would notice,

to be honest.

- Alright, and I believe we have time

for two more questions.

Sir.

- I indicated I wanted to ask a question.

I'm Jim Hayden from Foxcroft.

My interest in the river is that I knew the river

with my children and my grandchildren,

so I really enjoyed the (mumbles),

because I could (mumbles) right down

to where my property is.

But my question is, the real reason

for taking down the dam is to receive

the mitigation credits and the goals that you have

are to achieve or to measure how much credits you get.

I notice you guys sitting at the table here

are pretty much of the same community.

You're interlinked to some degree.

And I suppose in monitoring the river,

that those monitoring studies are paid for by RS,

is that correct?

- [Man] Mmh hmm.

- Now, my question is how do you maintain

your independence when your client

is gonna be the person who benefits

from your results.

Who monitors your independence is my question.

- I'll be glad to take a shot at that.

And obviously Restoration Systems

is a sponsor of the mitigation bank.

As you've heard from the owners of the dam tonight,

the dam is their private property,

they wish to see it removed.

We've been engaged in the effort with them

to go through the permitting process.

The team of consultants we have up here tonight

does work for many other clients,

much bigger and more powerful than Restoration Systems.

And their projects have to be reviewed

by the Corps of Engineers too.

I think that in the spirit

of a positive discourse,

you shouldn't cast dispersions

on the team of consultants we have up here tonight

or the quality of their work

because if there was a made as instructed type

of work product, they would not have any credibility

with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

for other clients.

And instead, they have a great deal of credibility

based on their track record, of long successful projects.

- Anyone want to speak (mumbles) integrity (mumbles).

- I understand why you asked the question,

I get it.

I'm sure you understand the response

I'm about to give you, which is,

I like to be a person of integrity.

I went to school studying systems that I love

and I hoped that when I got out,

I could be a part of something that was giving back

and I wasn't taking paychecks

and that was the only concern.

I like to get paid, I'll be honest,

I do have two small children, and a wife, and a house.

So I do have to pay the bills,

but I don't do it at the expense of my integrity.

And I don't think these guys do either.

- I'll just add to that.

We are contracted by Restoration Systems,

but the amount that we get paid

has no bearing on whether they receive

maximum credit or no credit.

We're getting paid the same amount regardless.

If the dam's removed

and Restoration Systems

aren't awarded any credits,

we're still gonna be expecting our paycheck.

- [Man] We're not being paid by the shad.

- [Matt] Alright, we have time for one final question.

- [Man] I believe I put my name,

or I put a check mark.

- I'm sorry, it looks like we missed a couple.

Please come on up.

Could you just state your name

when you get to the microphone.

- My name is Ferrel Benton,

I live right on the river.

I enjoy the river the way it is.

I'm wondering why the leak, depth in species,

they're such a bad thing.

Looks like they're all gonna go away again.

In return you'll get one, maybe two week opportunity

to watch the shad swim by and

that's some wild catching.

Also, I didn't realize they were an endangered species.

I also understand that they are commercially fished,

I can't imagine that would be allowed

if that were in fact the case.

The other thing is,

(mumbles) our neighborhood, we have a little lake there,

we spend a lot of money to maintain the lake.

It's a lake called Lake Iris.

I'm surprised you didn't notice it,

it backs right up to the dam.

- [Man] I'm sure I noticed it,

I don't know which one is yours, that's my problem.

Sorry about that.

- When the water level in the river comes up

due to flooding or due to releases from the dam,

False Lake Dam.

Our neighborhood floods, and it doesn't flood

by coming back over the dam.

It seeps up through the sand.

So we know that the sand is coarse enough

to allow water to come up through it.

Obviously it's gonna be coarse enough

that the water goes back down through it.

So when that level goes down,

our lake's gonna go away.

I'm 99% positive for that.

I'm just wondering how we'll be compensated for that.

- A lot of questions there.

Tim, will you address the species questions?

- Yeah, the lake adapted species,

they won't disappear.

They'll inhabit pools.

As Adam mentioned earlier, rather than homogeneous river

of just deep, full habitat, you'll have ripple runs

and pools.

And so those species that are there now,

we expect them to continue to be there.

Just not totally dominating.

It will be more ecologically diverse fish bottom.

The bit about the American shad being endangered,

it's not an endangered species.

There are state, endangered state threatened species

that do occur in the Neuse River

and we hope to see a benefit to those species

from removal and that's maybe

where the confusion came from.

- Again, in reference to the dam.

I certainly follow up with you guys on that.

That is the same lake, correct?

(mumbles)

So we'll follow up with you on that.

Again, I don't know the location exactly.

I do know the soils fairly well

in that flood plain area along the whole impoundment

and it's not as much sand as you think.

Now your location may be completely different story

and I haven't seen it and haven't been on the ground yet,

but what I know going up and down that impoundment

is a whole heck of a lot of fine sediment.

Fine sediment doesn't actually allow

for a lot of flow up and down.

It traps water and holds on to it very effectively.

That's just my observation across the region as a whole.

I'm not trying to discredit or challenge

your observations over time.

You know your place better than I do.

I'll gladly make a visit and we'll learn

what I can learn and I'll share with you what I learn.

- If the water level changes there changes that dramatically

in the near future ...

- Is there a dam in place now, sir?

Okay, so chances are good.

And again, I'll learn more once I'm on the ground.

Chances are good, someone built that dam

to hold water that was coming up slow.

That's what dams are for.

They didn't build the dam to hold water

that comes in underground.

Because you wouldn't need a dam

if it simply exchanged underground.

A dam usually traps surface water, not ground water.

It's not always the case,

but the position of the dam,

I'm just assuming based on what I learned here tonight,

suggests to me is capturing water

coming from up slope along the bank

and then it's holding it in place.

Your experience, and again,

I'm not trying to argue.

- [Man] (mumbles) I couldn't tell you whether (mumbles).

- I'll be glad to take a look,

and everything I learn, I'll share.

- [Matt] Alright now.

- [Mike] I wanted to add, I think then on one thing

to think about, I work with the Fish and Wildlife Service,

so I'm a civil servant to the population

to this state and city

and locals.

The way I look at it is that I think there's

a real misconception about why I would support

this type of thing.

If you just look at the stretch of river

from the dam, you know, past your property

or even up to the lake, and the benefit

that people have seen the fish,

American shad, sturgeon and whatever,

as it relates to that property,

is relatively finite.

It's like you said, what's the benefit if I see a shad

or even if there's 10 people fishing for them.

What's the big deal?

There's not a big a deal about that.

The thing you've got to bare in mind

is the fish that spawn in this area

are the same ones that feed the speckled trout,

the puppy (mumbles), the flounders,

the blue fish, the tunas, the mackerels,

the dolphins.

When you get down to Oriental,

get down to Atlantic Beach, if you look

at the recreational fishing industry

in North Carolina, it's a $1.4 billion industry.

There's a lot of people who make their living doing that.

A lot of people's children have their jobs.

It's a state and federal resource.

If it was a private farm pond,

or a private lake, absolutely.

But the thing is, I think there's a problem

and that some people consider the river their lake.

It is very important to the populace

of the state and the country

and that's the reason we're interested in it.

If it wasn't a huge benefit, I would personally

never support it, because obviously,

some people love the dam and think it's pretty

and that kind of thing.

- The question I have about that is

to have the least impact, why wouldn't a fish ladder

be just as effective?

- We're building a fish ladder.

The Corps of Engineers is locking them number one

as a $13 million project.

Now we've got steep pass ladders

that hold like --

In other words, that's one of the things

that I interact with, building fish ladders.

To build a fish ladder on Milburnie Dam

would probably cost several $100,000.

We've been trying to get funding

to build a fish ladder at Carbtree Creek,

which is owned by the City of Raleigh,

they're pretty sweet on it.

I mean, they've got no objection.

The homeowners there, that are the controlling interest

in last year's Mill Dam, and I talked to people,

they were at the dam.

I feel fairly confident in dealing

with these type of things before.

If we built it and looked nice

and keep it with that historic structure,

they'd be fine with it.

The problem is there's no money

to do things like that.

I think the notion that fish ladders

are relatively inexpensive is generally and not true,

they're fairly expensive.

- Several million dollars make in credit stuff

available to ...

(muffled voices)

- In core speak, that would be an alternative.

And the alternative wouldn't work for two reasons.

One, Mike was getting in it, it's expensive.

Just because we pass shad over Milburnie,

doesn't mean it generates enough credits

to pay for the fish ladder, in fact,

it probably doesn't.

That's the least productive ecological component

of this project in terms of credit potential.

We have to think like that.

This is a project that has a budget.

And whatever credits we generate,

we have to be able to sell to recoup the cost.

The other thing is that it probably increases

their liability at the site.

They still have a dam in place,

that hasn't gone away, and now

they probably added another nuisance on top of it.

Now you're gonna have the potential

for people to climb up and down a fish ladder.

That sounds like you just increased --

- [Woman] On an old structure.

- On an old structure.

Right, and George brought that point up earlier

that you know, you're putting some new,

nice piece of technology on top

of a very old, old foundation.

- As far as that goes, as far as

where there's a concern for safety,

now taking that dam down, it's just gonna expose

more areas of rocks and places where

a current isn't obvious all along the river bank

and that together with the Greenway,

I would think the safety issue

is going to be disbursed,

it's just gonna be (mumbles).

- The simple fact is the owners don't perceive it that way

and they're the ones that are bearing

the cost and the anxiety

for your aesthetic pleasure.

And I don't mean that as flippin' as it sounds,

but that's what's going on now.

They're no longer willing to bear that.

Even if some other alternatives,

their opinion is the most important opinion in the room.

If they didn't want the dam removed,

we wouldn't be here.

- But we're open for other people to purchase the dam.

I mean, that's certainly a conversation.

- There are more than one concern.

What I want to say is, I really honor and appreciate

your long patience with this long process.

And I also understand

that you have private concerns

for your private property because it's going

to affect your private property.

As I try to say, and I'm not a public speaker,

but my father did not go into this

without thinking this through.

He was a citizen of Raleigh in a big way.

He cared deeply about the public.

And he chose these people because he knows

that they were going to do something

that was going to have the least negative damage

as possible for everybody else.

The only thing that I want to say is,

I honor and hear your concerns and

it is my hope that this process, what you've seen,

will at least alleviate some of your concerns.

There will be change, change is inevitable,

change will happen.

Change is hard and there's gonna be pros and cons

for everybody.

And I have to reiterate what George said.

Honestly, I'm really just following through

with my father's wishes, I'm not been

that involved in the process,

although he talked to me a lot about it.

I'm seeing why he wanted to make this decision.

He had grave concerns for Carolyn and her family,

as you can imagine.

In addition, he was very concerned about liability.

And he did have an environmental concern.

It's on several levels, it's not just about shad,

it's not just about lake bubbles.

It's about so many things.

And my hope is that although it will change the area,

it will still be really beautiful.

I think it will still be really beautiful

and I don't think my dad would have chosen this path

if he thought he was going to leave a mess

for other people.

I just see he wasn't that person.

I really don't think that's gonna happen.

And I hope the hard work of these people's presentation

has certainly impressed me,

and I hope, you see, there really is

a genuine effort.

Money will be made, there's money in this process,

that's how it's gonna work.

But, it's not about coming and just raping the land

and rolling over people and taking the money.

It's really not.

- [Woman] We love the river as well,

we're out there every year (drowned out) it.

- I know.

- [Woman] We're very much participating ...

- I know, and I appreciate you guys

being so participatory.

- Another thing about the dam going away,

that's going to make the river accessible

to canoers and kayakers.

People who now can take advantage of miles

of the river by going in another boat

other than the kayak boat commute

will lose access to that river.

I have elderly uncles, elderly step-father-in-law

that really very much loves to come and go fishing there.

That's gonna go away for them.

There's no way that they'll be able to access

that big mile stretch.

And I'm just wondering if there aren't other people

who are not as well and abled.

You guys are gonna be old someday

and maybe would like to have something

like that available.

It's just a comment and I think

it's a fair comment.

So you're taking something away

other than monetary value.

- [Woman] I think that ...

- [Mike] I work around dams a lot.

I have the unfortunate task of sometimes

talking to parents who's children have died in dams.

Apex Fire Department that pulled out

the two kids that drowned last Summer.

It's hard for somebody like me.

I may have liabilities working on fish ladders

and helping with people's drownings,

but liabilities don't drive somebody like me,

but what does drive me is that

if I know that you're doing something

that will ultimately result in a child's death

that was avoidable, that's a very driving thing

for somebody like me.

- More kids draw in buckets than drown in a dam.

- [Mike] If the hydraulic beneath Milburnie Dam,

underneath the tail ways, esisodically is such

that I couldn't swim past it.

I don't think anybody could swim through it.

I'll take you out there and show you sometime

if you'd like to.

It's a death trap.

It's not a situation

where somebody can't swim,

it's not what it is.

I'll be happy to show it to you if you'd like me to.

- Alright folks, I think --

- Any kind of water is a death trap.

- [Mike] Absolutely.

- [Mike] Children or not.

- I'm talking about ...

- [Mike] That's not correct.

I mean the potential to drown and anything is there,

this curler hydraulic, it's a death trap.

- Alright, I want to thank everyone

for coming out tonight and staying a lot longer

than we all originally planned.

- [Man] If we have more questions,

who do we ...

- Yes, if you have more questions, Lauris

is at the back of the room.

- [Man] Let me explain something.

- Please go to him and you can register you name,

contact information, and who you think

would be the best person from the team up here

to respond to you and we will get back to you.

Thank you all.

- Special thanks to Tiffany (mumble).

- [Woman] Thank you, Tiffany, thank you.

(crowd background chatter)

For more infomation >> Milburnie Dam Public Meeting Q&A - Duration: 1:17:58.

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Widow of Deputy Moore asks Broadwater County leaders for more public safety funding - Duration: 2:12.

For more infomation >> Widow of Deputy Moore asks Broadwater County leaders for more public safety funding - Duration: 2:12.

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Public Royalty : Hollywood ou le prince Harry, Meghan Markle va devoir choisir ! - Duration: 1:58.

For more infomation >> Public Royalty : Hollywood ou le prince Harry, Meghan Markle va devoir choisir ! - Duration: 1:58.

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Public Safety Officers Distribute Backpacks to School Kids - Duration: 1:01.

Although we are at the end of summer, we are at the

beginning of a great school year here in Fairfax County

and really across the region. What we are doing here today,

we have our Public Safety Officers from both Fire and

Rescue as well as the Police Department here handing out

donated backpacks for children at the school and the schools

in this area. Money has been donated to the Fire and Rescue

Department through various means and now we have turned

in along with the Police Department those donations

into backpacks to really set these young kids up for

success at school. Right now, today we will be handing to

about seventy backpacks for school for these children as

well as feeding them lunch today. What a great day for

these children to be able to get something to be successful

in their first day of class. Have a safe end of the summer

and beginning of school year.

For more infomation >> Public Safety Officers Distribute Backpacks to School Kids - Duration: 1:01.

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PDMPs as a Public Health Tool: Opportunities and Strategies - Duration: 4:22.

GISELA ROTS: So when PDMPs were initially created,

they were created for the purposes

really to benefit the medical community.

And they've come so far, and we've

realized that the data that they have is incredibly valuable.

In terms of public health, one of the things

that PDMPs allows us to do is to kind of do

a better surveillance of where opioids or other medications,

controlled substances, are being prescribed

or are dispensed more frequently.

We can then take that information and underlay

or overlay some of our other data--

so maybe our Youth Risk Behavior Survey data,

which tells us about perhaps non-medical prescription

use amongst our young people.

It allows us to overlay maybe overdose data

to see whether we have hotspots within our states, tribes,

jurisdictions that we might be wanting

to look at in terms of really kind of focusing

some of our energy in prevention in those particular areas.

Prescription drug monitoring programs, or PDMPs,

are all different.

So each state set up their own PDMP

based on laws that were passed, again at the state level.

They've been passed over the course of many years,

so they weren't all developed at the same time.

And as they were evolving, the laws

that set them up in individual states also evolved.

They're housed out of different departments

in different states.

In some states, they're aligned with the Board of Pharmacy.

In other states, it can be housed somewhere else.

And so that really helps to regulate or identify

how they can be used in different states.

Unfortunately, it means that we can't say, hey,

whatever state you're in, you should go to your PDMP

and ask for this specific data.

Just because I can do that in my state

doesn't mean you can get the exact same data in your state.

So if you're a prevention practitioner

at the local level, chances are your state prevention system

has reached out to your PDMP.

And state prevention systems are still

figuring out how they can work with the PDMP in some states.

That relationship isn't always pre-identified.

In some states where PDMPs have very low funding or very small

staff, they're really limited in how much they can

work with local practitioners.

And so it's really up to the state prevention

systems to build the relationship with the PDMP

to identify how they can share data

with those local prevention practitioners.

I think PDMP staff, really, they see

the benefits of the information that they have.

And from the PDMP folks that I have talked to,

they're really interested in seeing

how they can partner with other systems like prevention

systems.

Unfortunately, it's not always up to those particular programs

to change the laws in their particular states

to make that easier and to open that door wide open

so that there's much more flow.

I think what's great about state prevention systems

and local prevention practitioners

is we want to use that data to inform our prevention

practices, and so we do have a really valid reason just

beyond regular old research to get that information.

But building that relationship and making clear

how we can support one another is really important,

and that really has to happen at the state level.

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