Legalectric

OK, it’s time to get back to work, enough vacationing and loafing…

Photo stolen FAIR USE from the STrib.

On July 3, AT LONG LAST, the full Waseca County Board voted to join the Waseca Planning Commission, and adopted the Planning Commission’s denial of the Borglum’s four-part application for a tank course, 3 outdoor and one indoor shooting ranges and retail gun sales.

From the STrib’s article:

“I’ll be honest with you, I guess I had my head in the clouds,” Marie Borglum, Tony’s mother, said about the boisterous opposition to the project. “I knew there’d be opposition, but I didn’t know it’d be this much. And I didn’t know it’d be this aggressive.”
…
“It’s probably just us being unfamiliar with this type of process. But I guess we had our head in the gearbox and the dirt bucket too long,” she said.

They were asked at the Planning Commission hearing if they would accept approval of part of their plan, not the whole thing, and they said, EMPHATICALLY, that NO, they would not accept approval of part. So now they’ve applied for each part individually!

Here’s the full article:

Waseca County family won’t surrender on tank range

Here’s a Guest Column written by Marie Borglum and printed in the Waseca County News (yes, she’s the one who signed an Affidavit — probably written by her attorney — saying that I was a prostitute! Letter of David Gross & Affidavit of Marie Borglum):

How I caught ‘Green Fever’

Thursday, June 28, 2007

By Marie Borglum

About five years ago my youngest son developed an interest in historic military vehicles. That interest became a reality when he decided he had enough of his snowmobile and sold it on EBay, generating him a few extra dollars. My son found a gentleman who had a few vintage US military trucks for sale in Minnesota. A Deuce and Half was purchased, trailered home and became the focus of my son’s ability to “think outside the box.”

The decision was made that a search for an armored scout car, a Ferret should begin.

A few vehicles in the US were found for sale which had been imported from the United Kingdom. Too many middle men and too few choices left us wondering if we shouldn’t just take a trip to England. So a trip was booked and off to the UK my son and his best friend and partner in crime, his dad, went. A few days go by and I get a phone call that they had indeed found the-be-all-end-all armored vehicle used car lot heaven in England.

The two travelers return from their trip over the pond and I am informed that we now have to figure out how to import those six vehicles they promised to purchase. My son again does some research, and we learn that there are actually quite a few avid British armored vehicle collectors in the US who have successfully imported vehicles from the UK. I contacted one of the more progressive collectors; in fact, he has the largest private collection of various military vehicles in the United States. We are invited out to see the massive collection so we can see first hand the possibilities of our new found passion. Upon arriving at the “little tank farm,” we are introduced to the full time mechanic and manager and he opens up a couple of doors for us…literally.

Inside these doors are wall to wall, track to track, tire to tire military vehicles. There are vehicles from all over the globe, US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Poland; vehicles from World Wars I & II, Vietnam era, Korean era the Cold War and even Desert Storm. I am amazed; I have never seen so much history crammed into warehouses in my life. As the “boys” check out each and every vehicle, I find a vehicle with a nice spot to sit on. As I sat there amongst all those camouflaged and olive drab colored pieces of defense history, I began to feel … something. I felt a huge wave of emotion. Fear, excitement, dread and anticipation.

The gentleman with the collection suggested that we take another trip to a newly opened US Marine museum in Virginia. The displays were laid out in the different theaters of war; you could experience American military history through a timeline. Since I tend to be “stuck in the 70’s,” I headed for the Vietnam War exhibit.

I entered the doorway and soon found myself inside what was an actual jumbo war plane. As I walked out of the hatch, I entered an area filled with native vegetation, sandbags, uneven terrain and sounds … gunfire in the distance, bugs, drone of engines, voices speaking in both American and Vietnamese etc. It was hot and humid and jungle-like. You were in Vietnam.

A couple of gentlemen entered the room behind me. As we exited the exhibit, the two men stopped. One man said to the other “Did you feel it?” The other simply replied “Yes.” Tears started rolling down their rugged, aged and weathered faces. Not tears of sorrow, but of raw emotion not experienced since they had been in Vietnam in the 1970’s. They said the smells, the sites and the sounds were exactly as they remembered. I asked them if it was a good thing for them or if it dredged up feelings long buried and forgotten for survival.

They both replied at the same time: “It is THE best thing that ever happened to us!” There was closure. There was dignity and respect. There were no war protestors and feelings of guilt. There was just the truth of how it was and what all those men and women did to survive a war that wasn’t respected at the time.

I decided then and there that if I could bring that feeling to just one person back home, it was worth any amount of red tape and complications. After months of waiting, I get an email that two vehicles are ready to send to their new home in the U.S. Our first shipment arrived in February.

Amid protests and complaints, we parked our pride and joy armored vehicles one by one on our property. Not to ridicule, make light of, or disrespect the military; but to honor the brave men and women who stepped up the plate to defend their beliefs and the vehicles that helped them accomplish their missions.

I realize that there are veterans out there that want to forget, that take offense to us and our project. I don’t expect everyone to understand my project. I don’t expect everyone to support it. The Waseca County Planning & Zoning Board requires that I demonstrate a need for my project. Gosh that is a tough order. I cannot seem to come up with the words to validate the need for a living, hands on, touching, real life tribute to armored vehicles in Waseca County Minnesota, USA.

So, I decided to tell my story and how the idea became a reality from my heart. It is not fabricated, fiction or the loose screws in my head talking, you can make fun of it, you can print it, share it, throw darts at it, forward it or delete it as you so desire.