Letters to the Editor

Watauga Humane Society, Animal Control Provide Valuable Services
Dear Editor:
As our country honors the valuable contributions made by animal shelters nationwide during National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week November 1 to 7, it is timely to remind the community of the valuable services the Watauga Humane Society and Animal Care and Control provide to Watauga County.

Consider the fate of homeless animals without the immediate shelter provided by Animal Care and Control, and the long-term care of the Humane Society. Stray animals as well as abandoned and surrendered pets are all provided shelter, food and necessary medical care, keeping them from becoming a menace to the community. A reduced-cost spay/neuter clinic is available to all county residents, and the Humane Society partners with our schools to provide an educational program for children on the responsibilities of pet ownership. Additionally, both offices assist pet owners in finding their lost pets.

As the Watauga Humane Society builds its new animal shelter and forges a new and stronger partnership with Animal Control, please keep in mind that community support is more important than ever. When the time is right to adopt a pet, let our shelter animals be your first choice. Consider joining the Humane Society as a member, or volunteer your time. Contribute cat and dog food to our Pet Food Drive Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, at the Boone and Blowing Rock Food Lions. Visit our shelters regularly to play with the cats and give the dogs some much-needed exercise. Donate as often as you can—even small amounts donated periodically add up to a huge contribution.

Pets are good for people! They give back as much or more than they require in care, providing love and companionship, and alleviating loneliness and even depression. National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week is a great time to help the Humane Society and Animal Care and Control to continue their invaluable contributions to our community.

Sincerely,
Rachel Jolly
Vice President, Watauga Humane Society

New Median Will Block Emergency Access to Farthing Neighborhood
On Monday October 26, a letter titled “The King Street Widening—How It Will Affect You” was hand-delivered to residents in the Farthing Street and Chestnut Drive neighborhoods. The letter, regrettably, was not signed. It brought to light many of the concerns that I and most of my neighbors have about the King Street intersection.

The letter points out that the King Street widening project includes a concrete median, at least four feet wide for the length of the project. This median will eliminate all but a right hand turn exiting from Farthing Street or Chestnut Drive. It will require residents traveling back to their homes in this neighborhood to go past these streets and turn around in the New Market area or use Tracy Circle via Hardin Street. The letter further urges residents to contact their elected officials for a remedy. While the letter addresses the inconvenience of this median (the only such median in Boone), it fails to point out other critical affects.

The Farthing/Chestnut neighborhood is a series of cul-de-sacs that connect to these streets and then to King Street as the only reasonable, safe access. All emergency services, EMS, rescue, fire and police respond to the Farthing/Chestnut neighborhood from the west. The median is designed and intended to prevent vehicles (including emergency vehicles) from crossing. This median will delay emergency response thereby posing a life safety problem.

As a 25-year resident of the Farthing/Chestnut neighborhood access to and from the area from King Street has been a challenge. At least two petitions have been sent requesting a traffic light at Farthing Street. A traffic light is the safest, most cost-effective way of resolving the issue. Another cost-effective method might be eliminating the median from the project and including a turning lane in its place.

In any case, I along with other voters would like to know if council members and all candidates for town office would support a traffic light initiative. I welcome their response.

Finally, to the person(s) who wrote the letter and all Farthing/Chestnut residents interested in supporting this initiative are invited to contact me at fandcneighbors@gmail.com to join together to further this effort.

J.F. Heffren
Boone

Boone Proposed Raw Water Intake
I have made numerous attempts to get Boone officials to respond to a key question raised at the 6/23/09 meeting in Ashe County on this project. Again, the question is focused on claims in the Boone presentation that the city would reach 80% of water capacity in 2006 and 90% in 2009, when in fact their website data showed considerably less than that in 2007 actual usage. Excerpts from a town official’s latest response is as follows:

“Every Town of Boone staff person and member of the communication team want to provide accurate information, so there has been a very thorough review of information in response to your question regarding 2006 data and whether or not Boone exceeded the 80 percent of capacity threshold. I can see how a comparison of data from the website to information in the PowerPoint would lead you to ask the question. The information for the PowerPoint presentations was based on a study conducted in 2004. Based on engineering and historical data up to that point, Boone was projected to exceed the 80 percent mark in 2006 and was projected to hit the 90 percent mark in 2009. We went deeper into the actual numbers and found that on individual days in 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2007, Boone exceeded the 2.4 million gallons maximum daily demand, which is the 80% threshold. In October 2006, Boone came very close to that threshold at 2.339 million gallons maximum daily demand. In January 2009, we had a peak use day of 2.545 million gallons maximum daily demand. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are making the appropriate revisions. The actual numbers all clearly indicate the need for additional water, and as a municipality, the town has a responsibility to provide clean water to our citizens.

“The actual numbers for all of 2009 remain to be seen, but we do know there has been a decrease from the projected numbers due to water conservation measures, peak shaving measures implemented at the water treatment plant, the passing of ordinance 05-01 (a water allocation ordinance), a water conservation rate designed so those who use more will pay more, and recent economic conditions.”

Far from showing a clear need, my opinion is that the above shows that conservation has been at work and this along with less intrusive measures (maybe one of the other 28 options) should be looked at more seriously in meeting Boone’s future water needs. The data does not support a 4.5 million gallon intake and $25 million, which more than doubles Boone’s water intake from this historic river and precious resource. The DENR scoping report also questioned the need for such a large intake.

Why did Boone not go “deeper into the numbers” and do a “very thorough review of information” prior to the bond vote instead of using data from an old and outdated study to promote this project? How thorough has the planning been for this whole project? 

At the 6/23 meeting, Boone officials admitted that the flow data used in the presentation was half what the actual flow data is at the proposed intake site. That is because the presentation number was for one day at a gauge many river miles downstream from the proposed intake site. What other data used to market this project is questionable. Perhaps the survey data showing that Boone's population would double in 50 years? How is infrastructure going to support that growth even if it was accurate? 

Those are key questions the citizens of Boone should now be asking their elected officials.

Frank Packard
Todd

Glenbridge Staff Are Professional and Pleasant
My husband has recently recuperated from knee surgery at Glenbridge. What a pleasant experience it was for him and therefore myself. There was plenty of help and concern for him and his recovery. The Physical Therapy Department was excellent. They were pleasant, professional and dedicated to his recovery. As a result, his recovery was expeditious.

All of the staff was friendly and certainly plenty of them to help with any needs that arose. I would recommend anyone to Glenbridge who has to recover from surgery.

Sincerely,
Margaret Van Dyk

Healthcare Reform Is a Threat?
Several idiotic statements have been made in the past about healthcare reform, but the latest mindless speech by Representative Virginia Foxx in Congress is a typical Republican fear-mongering lie. Representative Foxx claims the passage of the healthcare reform bill is a greater threat to American democracy “than any terrorist right now in any country.” This ridiculous assertion comes from someone who has received $193,598 in contributions and donations from health insurance and large pharmaceutical companies since January 2003. Here are some facts about our healthcare system you should be aware of:

• According to the World Health Organization, the United States ranks 37th in overall healthcare for it citizens.

• According to America’s Health Rankings, North Carolina ranks 36th in overall healthcare compared to other states.

• According to the American Journal of Public Health, 122 Americans die every day because they do not have health insurance.

That is almost 45,000 deaths per year. That is more deaths every month than we suffered during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Almost as many Americans die every month than during the entire Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Healthcare reform is a greater threat to America than any terrorist in any country? Are you kidding, Virginia?

Currently, health insurance and pharmaceutical companies are spending $1.4 million every day trying to kill healthcare reform. The reason for their opposition is clear; the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies are making windfall profits! They are making so much money, they are willing to spend over $11,000 per death every day to keep our healthcare system the way it is right now.

Gary Villeneuve
Linville

Gov. Perdue Should Not Defy Supreme Court Ruling on Inmates
Dear Governor Perdue:
I am writing to you in response to your recent decision to reverse the order of the North Carolina Supreme Court regarding the release of certain inmates. I read that you based your decision on the legal opinions of attorneys in your office. Were these the same attorneys that advised former President George W. Bush with regards to the legality of torture? Was one of your attorneys named John Woo?

I hope you realize that by defying a lawful order by the North Carolina Supreme Court, you have left yourself as well as the State of North Carolina vulnerable to massive lawsuits from the affected inmates.

I fully realize that the victims and families affected by the crimes committed by these inmates are upset by their release, but the law is the law. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the law. You were elected to follow the law, all of the laws, and not just the ones that you like or those that you agree with. You must follow the law as defined by the courts and the legislature regardless of the political implications.

I want you to know that I am a lifelong Democrat. I voted for you last year, and I worked very hard on your campaign. I have never voted for a Republican in my life, and I doubt if I ever will. Unless you completely reverse some of your early decisions, I will have no choice but to refrain from voting for anyone for governor in 2012.

Thanking you in advance for your time in reading my letter, and looking forward to reading or hearing that you have reversed your stupid decision and will allow the decision of the courts to go forward I remain.

Sincerely yours,
Barry S. Halpert

EDITOR'S NOTE: High Country Press does not verify the information in the letters to the editor submitted to the newspaper and does not endorse the positions expressed in the letters. The opinions and assertions are those of the writers alone.

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