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Residents urge preservation of Franklin/Rankin Reservoir, frame issue as environmental justice
Summary
Two Sherylwood residents told the Adams County commissioners that the historic Franklin/Rankin Reservoir provides mature tree cover, stormwater benefits and cleaner air, and urged preservation to avoid adding pollution burdens in a highly impacted neighborhood.
Two residents of the Sherylwood neighborhood urged the Adams County Board of Commissioners to preserve the historic Franklin/Rankin Reservoir and treat the site as critical neighborhood open space and environmental justice concern.
Amanda Oldeany identified herself as a long‑term Sherylwood resident and said the reservoir site is "not just an empty lot" but one of the last pieces of mature green space in a neighborhood boxed in by highways, heavy traffic, and recent gas‑station development. She said the site’s mature trees provide shade, help clean the air, stabilize soils and absorb stormwater; replacing those trees with new landscaping would not immediately restore those services. "Community burden is a simple idea. It's not 1 problem at a time. It is everything adding up," Oldeany said.
Robin Hannon, another Sherylwood resident, praised county environmental staff and said the county had distributed air filters through a Kaiser Permanente grant to at‑risk residents. She echoed concerns about local air‑quality measures and called attention to the neighborhood’s limited park space. Hannon also raised a separate public‑health grievance about materials being distributed by the health department, saying she was "shocked to walk into the health department and see a wall of bins with all kinds of things, rubber stoppers, different pipes," and said she opposed distribution of glass pipes. Hannon urged investment in treatment and reintegration services and suggested the county could provide more beds and vocational-rehabilitation opportunities.
County staff and commissioners thanked the speakers and said staff will provide additional information to the board about public‑health programs. Commissioner O'Dorisio specifically asked staff to present a deeper explanation of harm‑reduction activities so the board and the public could understand the difference between syringe‑exchange programs and broader harm‑reduction material distribution.
The meeting record includes these comments as public comment; the board did not take formal action on the reservoir site during the session. Commissioners and staff noted existing outreach to the neighborhood and said county environmental teams will continue engagement.
