Letters to the editor: 04/24/03

South River Road should be paved

To the Editor:

To the Editor: Anyone living with allergies will tell you that spring time is one of the worst times of the year.

I grew up in the country. I love the country. I used to think that dirt roads were what signified living in the country. If you paint the picture of car wheels turning slowly on a gravel road, driving along all alone, a summer breeze with the windows down... then, yes, a dirt road is lovely!

If you paint a picture of a dirt road traversed by so many cars that nothing but billowing clouds of dust so thick that you can't have your windows open, can't breath, can't see, and the dust lays on everything... then this is a different picture! South River road is currently a dust bowl.

South River Road is in the heart of Jackson County. It falls in Webster's extra-territorial jurisdiction. The river has natural beauty everywhere around it. I feel like it is a great tourist attraction for this county.

Lots of college students, tourists and residents enjoy the river. Some of the best trout flyfishing in the county is along this delayed harvest section of the river. It probably should be a wildlife reserve area. This area is an asset to the entire county. Before all the growth that found its way to this county, the dirt road was more than acceptable and quaint.

The time has come to improve South River Road. This road has too much traffic to be a dirt road! GDS disposal trucks, gravel trucks, heavy equipment, commuters going to Southwestern Community College, Western Carolina University and others all use this road day and night.

Fishermen from all over the globe use the river. Children ride bikes, people walk dogs and joggers attempt to enjoy this area. This road is what I would classify as a multi-use road. A compromise needs to be met.

The state road department has been exceptional at maintaining this road, but it is so heavily traveled they can not keep up with its demands. The road has very poor drainage. The speed limit is not enforced. I have witnessed more than five wrecks in the last two years due to these poor conditions.

Joggers and children disappear in a cloud of dust when a vehicle passes. I am amazed that no one has been ran over and left for dead. Paving the road would only change problems, I know, but I am sure it wouldn't be worse. People would still speed, but at least they might have some control.

The ideal situation would be to pave the road in conjunction to working with a Greenway or connecting the newly completed sidewalk from Webster since it is in the ETJ. A sidewalk on South River Road would be an asset for joggers, bikers, children, fishermen and the county for years to come.

I know I am not alone in working to improve this road. I feel it has been ignored too long. If this were a dead-end road, I could understand its condition. This road should not be a highway. It should be a beautiful place where all people could enjoy the river and feel safe without choking to death on clouds of dust or living in fear of being run over.

Kelly Timco

Sylva

Editor's Note: Timco is an employee in The Sylva Herald's advertising department.

Jamie Cleaveland will be missed

To the Editor:

Many people have teachers from their grade-school years who were major influences on their lives. For me, this special teacher was Jamie Cleaveland, my fifth-grade teacher at Scotts Creek Elementary.

When I was in Mr. Cleaveland's class during the 1988-89 school year, I thought he was a great teacher. Now that I am a teacher myself, I realize just how great he really was.

Mr. Cleaveland's unique teaching style allowed him to provide his students with an amazing wealth of knowledge, while allowing him to touch the lives of countless numbers of children. My sisters, my brother and I were all fortunate enough to have benefitted from his teaching style.

Most recently Mr. Cleaveland taught my brother Colin in 2001. When I would tell him stories about my days with Mr. Cleaveland, Colin would reply, "He hasn't changed a bit." I can only hope I am that kind of teacher for my own students.

On April 11, when Mr. Cleaveland passed away, the Sylva community and the world lost a true friend. I know he will be deeply missed by the folks at Scotts Creek School and Jackson County and fondly remembered by family, friends, colleagues and countless former students, including my siblings and myself. Sincerely,

Logan McGuire

Lakewood, Colo.

'Inadequate' library better than 'inconvenient' library

To the Editor:

The proposal to move the county library to Southwestern Community College is another step to "decentralize" the town of Sylva. The charm of a small town is that the facilities - shopping, newspaper office, banks, restaurants, county offices and library - are centralized and within walking distance.

Sylva has made great progress with its downtown renewal program. It is a much more attractive community than it was just 10 years ago. The commissioner's proposal to move the library from downtown to the SCC campus is a move in the wrong direction.

I am an active library user; I hold cards for the Western Carolina University library, the SCC library, and the Fontana Regional system, giving me access to both the Sylva and the Cashiers libraries. The Sylva library gets most of my business.

Numbers given in last week's Herald are instructive: the Sylva library serves 100,000 users; the SCC library serves 6,000. How can it make sense to close a facility serving 100,000 to enlarge one serving 6,000?

In response to community objections, Ms. Finley, director of the Fontana Regional Library System, has proposed a large library at SCC and a branch downtown. The library system is currently struggling with inadequate funding, having increased fees this year and started charging for rental of video and audio tapes. Having two facilities, requiring at least some duplication in holdings and staffs, would place additional financial strains on the system.

As a part-time volunteer at the Sylva facility, I have watched school children walk into the library after school. People drop by to read the newspapers, pick up tax forms, or check their e-mail on the Internet. Note that they can do this by simply walking in, often while a mother or spouse is at the dentist office, running errands or shopping. "Walk in" being the key phrase.

How many decades will it be before there are sidewalks extending to SCC? Even if sidewalks were available, how many citizens will be willing to walk 4 miles from downtown to a library?

Ms. Finley was quoted as saying that the Sylva library is "...the saddest library in the system. It's so far behind, and the citizens of Jackson County deserve something more."

I submit that it's better to have an accessible, downtown library that is inadequate than one that is better stocked but inconvenient to use. After all, if one needs more resources, the very extensive library at WCU is available, and no more inconvenient for most of the citizens of Jackson County than one at SCC would be.

Carlton Bostic

Glenville

Barking dogs should not be exempt

To the Editor:

The people of Jackson County need to be informed about the proposed changes to the noise ordinance. Apparently there is some misunderstanding on the issue since some people who attended the meetings still believe the entire noise ordinance is going to be lifted.

This is not true. If the county commissioners adopt the proposal, there will be no way other than filing a lawsuit to address barking dogs. According to the proposal, dogs will be allowed to bark 24 hours a day, seven days a week since pets have been proposed to be exempt.

If you feel the proposed noise ordinance should include barking dogs, I urge you to contact your county commissioners. They can be reached at 586-7580.

Barbara Lynne Sheehan

Balsam

Poll the people about moving library

To the Editor:

Considering it is the responsibilities of the county commissioner to represent the wishes of the citizens of the county, either conduct a poll around a proposed new library location or put the issue on the ballot for referendum vote in November.

May the taxpaying citizens of Jackson County have their way.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Lee

Sylva

Leave library on Main Street

To the Editor:

A public library is a vital, important part of daily life in any community, especially in a small rural community like Sylva. The public library is no less important than the police, fire, water, public works or any other municipal service department we'd never consider living without.

The recent suggestion to move the Jackson County Public Library to Southwestern Community College is just as baffling as the bizarre logic at work in "Alice in Wonderland." After all, where is the logic of moving our public library to an already existing college library? How would that benefit the citizens of Sylva who regularly utilize the services of the public library?

What's needed on Main Street, Sylva, is a fully-functioning public library such as our current one that families, children and the elderly can patronize without having to find public transportation to get to. Anything less than a fully functional public library on Main Street would leave this wonderful community sore and impoverished.

It's your public library, Sylva. Keep it on Main Street!

Frank Gray

Sylva

Parking spaces are for customers

To the Editor:

I would like to echo Lee Ewart's letter last week regarding the parking situation in downtown Sylva. Being an employee of a downtown business and a customer, I realize the lack of parking in our downtown.

As an employee, I'm not too concerned. As a customer, I am very concerned. If I am not meeting someone or have a specific need to be downtown, I'll go around the block twice; if I cannot find a space, I go elsewhere.

I believe it is unfair of any employee to park in the prime spaces allocated for customers. Each parking place has a monetary value to every business. If that parking space is filled because an employee is working their four- or eight-hour shift, an enormous amount of money is lost.

Anywhere I have ever worked - whether downtown, at the mall, in an office building, at the hospital - I was told where I could park and where I was not to park, including my job in downtown Sylva. Where I was to park was always away from the entrance to the building, which, yes, required a little bit of a walk.

Employees and business owners are there to provide services to the customer, not our employees. Customers are the reason we get to go to work and have an income; therefore, prime parking is reserved for the customer, not the employee.

I have a hard time believing that any business owner downtown does not set the rules up front regarding parking with their employees. Yet, I see on a daily basis employees using prime spaces for their work day parking.

It's time we all work together to support each other instead of just ourselves. The responsibility is on each one of us to make a decision that enhances customer relations, i.e. parking outside of the downtown area. And if that doesn't work, maybe business owners will make those choices for their employees. And if that doesn't work maybe local law enforcement can write tickets that cost us $20 instead of $5, actually ticketing people who park over two hours in a space.

When my meter has run out in downtown Asheville, I get a ticket, period. No begging, nice talk or whining will get you out of it either. Now I make sure I put enough in the meter or get back to my car in time.

It's a shame we have to rely on rules and laws to make us do things that actually support ourselves in the long run. If that's what it takes to make sure parking spaces are reserved for the customer, then I say go for it. Our downtown businesses are important to me and I want to do whatever is necessary to support the independent business owner.

I, for one, will be sticking to the two-hour limit as a customer and parking in the places my boss has told me I am allowed to park as an employee. What will you do?

Sheryl Rudd Kuhn

Sylva

County should fund domestic violence officers

To the Editor:

recently the first Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) in Western North Carolina was established.

We need to maintain our lead in fighting violence and not fall backwards by losing two of the most valuable players on the team. I urge the county commissioners to remove as much of the politics as they can from this issue and replace it with compassion for the victims of these terrible crimes. I urge the Jackson County commissioners to fund these two positions.

Sandy Frazier

Director of Development,

Housing and Community Outreach

REACH of Jackson County

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