Tom, My wife has a colleague who's husband works for ADOT. I'll ask him if he has a name of anyone who would be appropriate to approach regarding this. IMHO, I'd seriously consider NOT aligning withy the Sierra Club. It seems to me that they really have no friends in the govenment due to thier confrontational attitude and unwillingness to compromise on issues. Angry letters of opposition would just be thier starting point. I agree with Tom that there are more constructive ways to deal with this. JMTCW Rick Tejera Editor SACnews Saguaro Astronomy Club Phoenix, Arizona -----Original Message----- From: Tom Polakis [mailto:polakis@xxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 2:34 PM To: AZ-Observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [AZ-Observing] Vekol Rd. Rest Area Proposal George Kolb alerted the EVAC list to a story in today's Arizona Republic that is of interest to Phoenix amateur astronomers. A rest area is being considered for the Vekol Road exit on Interstate 8. The story may be found at: http://www.azcentral.com:80/news/articles/breaking/0114RestArea14.html You will notice that the story mentions the Sierra Club's opposition to the rest area on the grounds that it is located in a National Monument. Their related page on that subject is at (hope this URL works): http://arizona.sierraclub.org/pr_and_alerts/pr_and_alerts_2001/alert_12-19-0 1.asp I don't think that angry letters of opposition are the answer, but a coordinated effort it. The East Valley Astronomy Club has now reached 200 members, many of which use the site regularly. While we are surely not going to stop the project in its tracks, we can at least insist up front on reasonable lighting. As this has everything to do with Arizona and observing, perhaps this is a good forum for a brainstorm on what to think about. I'll go first. - Find out what the IDA can do for us to help. - Discuss this with Chris Luginbuhl, who almost singlehandedly set the Flagstaff lighting ordinance. - Become very familiar with Maricopa County's lighting code. - Learn exactly who in ADOT and HDR Engineering is responsible, and make a coordinated effort to pester them, not innocent bystanders. - Form a small committee from EVAC complete with a spokesperson rather than send random, emotional notes from EVAC members. I volunteer to participate, though I bet anybody would make a better spokesperson than me. - contact Julie Sherman, National Monument coordinator of the Sierra Club. Are there other viable sites, such as 7 miles to the east near the existing Table Top RV Resort? Okay, those are my first thoughts. I'm particularly interested because I have been using this site since early 1986, when I searched for a location an hour from my home. I defy you to find a better dark-sky site in any direction one hour from Phoenix. Tom --- This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list. If you wish to be removed from this list, send E-mail to: AZ-Observing-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, with the subject: unsubscribe. The list's archive is at: //www.freelists.org/archives/az-observing This is a discussion list. Please send personal inquiries directly to the message author. In other words, do not use "reply" for personal messages. Thanks. --- This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list. If you wish to be removed from this list, send E-mail to: AZ-Observing-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, with the subject: unsubscribe. The list's archive is at: //www.freelists.org/archives/az-observing This is a discussion list. Please send personal inquiries directly to the message author. In other words, do not use "reply" for personal messages. Thanks.