*************Newsletter:
Sept. 8th, 2004*************
NEWS!!!!
El Placer Del Caribe
store and restaurant now
open: In addition
to the hotel, Tom Steddum's
establishment in Placer
is now open from 6:30
- 9:00 to serve meals.
He also has a store that
sells fresh water, beer,
sodas, Ice and other food
items. Please support
his business if you are
in the area checking up
on your property. Tom's
place is located 3 km
south of the El Placer
access road.
If you are in the area
on Mexican Independence
day (Sept. 16th), plan
on stopping in at Tom's
as he is hosting a party
for Mahahual on that day.
It will be an opportunity
to meet others in the
Mahahual community and
celebrate at the same
time.
Homes and businesses
under construction:
We would like to list
your home and any "lessons
learned" in this
part of the newsletter
if you have begun construction.
Also, if you would like
to post pictures of your
lot, please send them
to me (please do not do
a "reply all")
and I will post them on
a "property owners"
page on the Mayan Beach
Garden web site for everyone
to share. We will not
discuss anything about
your lot or construction
plans without your permission.
On that note, Mayan Beach
Garden is almost done
with our construction.
I will certainly be happy
when the piles of sand
and gravel no longer decorate
our portion of the beach
road!
Meeting with Mayor
of Mahahual and other
local officials Date:
8/31/04
Location: El Placer del
Caribe (Tom Steddum's
Hotel/Restaurant)
The meeting was organized
by Miguel Sosa who also
acted as interpreter for
those not speaking Spanish.
Attending were owners
and care takers of properties
from Rio-Indio to Ubero.
Garbage problem: The
primary purpose of the
meeting was to solicit
help in dealing with the
garbage. There are many
problems associated with
this and the leaders of
Mahahual are soliciting
help. Sanitation is part
of the quality of life
so they wanted to get
an idea of how much garbage
is being produced and
will be in the future.
Currently there is no
garbage pickup for the
beach road. There is a
gentleman in Mahahual
who has the concession
for garbage pickup but
he does not have the concession
for picking up garbage
along the beach road.
It is not even certain
that he is interested.
The city of Mahahual has
a land fill but it is
full. Neither do they
have a truck available
to pick up the garbage.
Another land fill must
be found and if the gentleman
who owns the concession
in Mahahual is not interested
then we must figure out
our own garbage pickup.
If necessary, Tom Steddum
has agreed to fix up his
trailer and haul garbage
to the land fill if and
when they get another
landfill. Garbage pickup
will require a fee which
will be established at
a later date. Recycling:
There are some recycling
programs available in
Mahahual. The school in
Mahahual has a program
where they can earn a
little money by recycling
cardboard, glass and aluminum
cans. Separating these
into separate plastic
bags and taking them to
the landfill will not
only save the environment
but help the school as
well. It is strongly recommended
that we should start recycling
immediately. Again, there
is no pickup for this,
we will have to take the
recyclables to the landfill.
Burning and composting:
The officials told
us there should be absolutely
no burning on the beach
or back by the mangroves.
That leaves most of us
in a difficult position.
If we cannot burn and
if the landfill cant take
our garbage, there is
little recourse but to
let it pile up. The question
was posed as to what to
do about the natural vegetation
like palm fronds. We were
told we should not burn
them but bury them and
let them decompose. There
was a lot of confusion
in this area about what
can and cannot be burned.
Furthermore the turtle
grass that is washed up
on the beach should be
left on the beach to help
build the beach. If this
is cleaned up and burned
it encourages beach erosion.
If it is unsightly, please
cover it up with sand
as this too will help
build the beach.
Cleaning up the paved
road from Mahahual - Ubero:
The road is being cleaned.
A machine is doing the
work but is not picking
up the little trees on
the side of the road.
They would like our help
to clean the road of the
little trees and then
maintain it. What that
means is they would like
us to donate the manpower
to clean up a section
of the road. If you are
willing to clean up a
Kilometer of the road,
you can put up a sign
that says this stretch
of road is maintained
by <name>. The road
is currently very dangerous
due to the tour buses
and the overgrowing bush
which in many places has
narrowed the road to a
single lane. Most cars
drive down the road at
100+ km an hour so you
can imagine how dangerous
this could be.
Electricity: They
can't give us any promises
to a time frame as it
is beyond their authority,
but they are getting a
petition together to see
who is currently living
here, what type of businesses
are here, what homes are
existing and what the
demand is. The information
needed is the property
address (km North of Mahahual
on the beach road), lot
numbers, names of owners
and names of businesses
if applicable. If hotels
they need to know the
number of hotel rooms
you plan to have. If you
can provide via email
this information along
with your permission,
your name will be added
to the petition.
Follow-up: On
Tuesday, Sept. 7th there
will be a follow-up meeting
at Tom's place to collect
the petition and to clear
up the confusion about
burning. A representative
from the Sian Ka'an who
better understands the
burning restriction will
hopefully be on hand to
clear up the confusion
and provide exact details.
Also, they will attempt
to get officials at the
meeting who can provide
information about Electricity
(so please respond before
then so your name can
be added). Also please
send any thoughts you
might have on any of the
above information so that
it can be shared with
the officials who will
attend.
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