‘Mount Trashmore’ Could Give the Visitor’s Center a Run for its Money:Recapping Our Recent WGVA Appearances with Ted Baker

For those of you who missed our last two regular appearances on WGVA radio with Ted Baker, we thought we might re-visit what we covered by connecting two seemingly disparate issues in one post: the Visitors’ Center and leachate. Our purpose is to keep our readers thinking about the public policy priorities of our region, and, more importantly, how they ought to be determined.

Back in April, Ted talked with us about the realignment of Geneva’s elementary schools, which we viewed as a done deal, following from a flawed process, with a pre-ordained outcome orchestrated by school district officials. We had run a series of posts concerned with the objective research on the likely negative educational outcomes of realignment and the rapidly eroding public trust in the wake of shaky, shifting arguments given by the district in support of its decision.

At the close of the interview, Ted asked us about the $4 million member item that Senator Nozzolio earmarked for some as-yet-to-be-determined destination project on Geneva’s lakefront. It appeared that the project had shifted from the Chamber of Commerce’s initial proposal for enhanced offices and Visitors Center-- unveiled to the public as Building 12 of the infamous Bergmann Report-- to a true regional attraction with a direct tie-in to the lake.

Despite word from the Senator’s staff that the money had been ‘frozen’ in the midst of the State’s fiscal crisis, the City Council named a community-based planning committee to review the project ideas and bring their recommendations back to the public. What emerged was a proposed partnership with the Finger Lakes Boating Museum, a group dedicated to showcasing and in many cases, reviving the art of boatbuilding in the Finger Lakes tradition. In taking this step, the committee has clearly endorsed the policy (recommended in the Bergmann plan) of promoting Geneva as a hub of regional tourism.
While we still expect the Council to exercise due diligence in examining the feasibility, financials, and visitor projections of the Museum as proposed, we find it at least conceptually, to be a major improvement over the idea of an exclusive tower of condos. on the lakefront.

In our May appearance, we talked with Ted about the proposal of Ontario County and Casella (who leases and operates the County landfill) to construct a direct sewer line from the City’s system, through the Town of Seneca, to the landfill to pipe in leachate. Once again, concerns about transparency and accountability arose when a long lost contract between the City and Casella to treat leachate mysteriously appeared just hours before a vote on the project.

On air, we pointed out the inherent tension, if not an outright contradiction, in pursuing leachate treatment, and thus promoting the waste management industry which threatens the perception and the reality of the Finger Lakes as a major tourist region. To put it another way: promoting the growth of the County landfill would seem to inhibit the growth of tourism. Will Geneva be seen as a ‘Gateway’ to the Finger Lakes, or to the landfills?

(By the way, we believe Geneva should retire the ‘Gateway to the Finger Lakes’ slogan anyway, because it suggests that one should only pass through Geneva on the way to some other destination, but we’d prefer that it be given up in favor of something more flattering, not less!)

But, wait—maybe there’s an angle we’ve been missing here! In Virginia, the State Tourism Board does an excellent job of promoting “Mount Trashmore” as a premier destination. According to their website, “World-renowned Mount Trashmore Park is 165 acres, 60 feet high, over 800 feet long, and was created by compacting layers of solid waste and clean soil. Recognized for its environmental feat, the park features the Water Wise demonstration garden that boasts xeriscaping where you can learn how to create a beautiful garden with minimal water requirements.” There’s a picnic area, playground for the kids, basketball court, and more. They even allow fishing in the ponds!

Now perhaps we’re being unfair to Virginia. After all, you may say that they’re just making the best of a bad situation. That may be true, but there is a lesson to be learned here: A failure to set and maintain community priorities and standards can lead to the pursuit of mutually exclusive endeavors.

Either we want to protect our water, our vistas, and the wine/tourism industry they support or, we want to pursue any and all revenue sources, even if they are linked to industries that are inconsistent with our community vision. Either we want to be known as the community that understands and promotes sustainability, or we want to be the place where people send their waste so they don’t have to deal with it themselves. Either we want to be Geneva, a community that invests in its downtown-lakefront amenities, or we want to be Mount Trashmore, inviting people to fish on the land where their garbage is buried.

It’s all about good public policy and transparent, accountable decision-making. Take a listen to the radio interviews and take a moment to think about it.