Editor: Re: Water crisis? Then stop building, May 20 letter to the editor:
The comments by Joyce Beaulieu hit the nail on the head regarding water problems. However, she was off base as it related to Wal-Mart Supercenters, which have nothing to do with saving water.
There are so many ways to conserve water; here are a few for the commissioners to consider.
Put a stop to residential building. There are more than 1,000 homes being built in the area. This translates to an average family of four per home and more than 100,000 gallons of water use per household per year.
Put everyone on water restrictions of one day per week. Exclude no one. There are homes that have wells and whose owners feel they can water any time with no restrictions. Golf courses also abuse this privilege.
Place meters on all wells and this will eliminate much of the abuse. If it costs them money, then they'll use it a lot less.
Code enforcers need to patrol the areas on Saturday and Sundays, especially after 3 p.m. They'll be amazed at all the violators abusing the system. It's important that everyone is on the same page that watering one day per week is for everyone. In this way, code enforcers can easily identify abusers.
As for Wal-Mart Supercenters, they have little or no effect on the water problem. In fact, they provide a service to the community by creating jobs and having competitive goods for the community. We all benefit from this.
-- Vic Gonzalez, Spring Hill
The signs point to a proliferation of signs
Editor: Re: Revised sign ordinance takes shape, May 21 Times:
I still believe we are making a mistake by allowing more signs to be put up by people wanting to sell junk, those wanting to sell houses, and others wishing to point the way toward some event.
Looks like I will lose this one, but before I give up, a couple of points:
Commissioners say we should not be concerned about the signs being up for too long. But the question then becomes, with as many people as we have in this county making a seeming living out of garage sales (for as often as they have them), and given the sheer number of garage sales that take place every week, won't they always be "up," but more likely resemble fire ant mounds, moving from one location to another? Throw in open houses and events and you truly will have a blight on our neighborhoods.
If the signs are allowed only on private property, define private. Technically the county owns the first few feet of everyone's property for right of way purposes. After all, I can't plant anything there, but must maintain it. Plus, utility poles are usually on that strip of land, so if I can't put a sign on a utility pole, can I put it in the ground? Or in the swales? If they must be on true private property, good luck enforcing that one!
-- Vilmar Tavares, Spring Hill
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