Northpinellas: Commissioners live up to water rules

When I first saw the headline and read the first three or four paragraphs of the article, I thought I was going to read how the Pinellas County commissioners were practicing the "do as I say, not as I do" approach to governing by passing rules to cut county water use and not living up to those rules.

But since I am a veteran reader of the Times, I knew that the truth was probably buried deep in the story. Sure enough, as I read I discovered that the majority of the commissioners had water usage well below the 8,000 gallons per month average.

In fact, if you remove Susan Latvala's excessive water use caused by leakage (a problem that can happen to anyone), the average usage by the entire board is less than 6,250 gallons per month. Again, this is below the 8,000 gallons per month average.

But the Times didn't stop there. The Times took potshots at individual commissioners, including John Morroni (a favorite target for the Times) by stating his "water usage lately has gone in the wrong direction -- up." Of course, deeper in the article, it stated that his bill had increased a whopping 250 gallons, to 6,000 gallons. Again, well below the average usage of 8,000 gallons.

Based on the facts, the headline should have been: County commissioners setting example for water usage, but then the Times isn't big on facts. I look forward to this fall and winter when the days get shorter and the Times runs an article with the headline: The sun arrives late for work -- leaves early.
-- David Manning, Dunedin

Drugstore will not beautify corner

To the city commissioners and mayor of Belleair Bluffs:

I was very disturbed by the April 23 Times article, Businesses protest being pushed aside, about the Belleair Bluffs City Commission considering a zoning change to allow Walgreens to take over another corner, tearing down a strip shopping center and forcing out long-standing businesses serving our community.

Granted, the vacant Mobil station is an eyesore. (But) what sets Belleair Bluffs apart from other cities in Florida is the flavor of its businesses. Making room for another corner drugstore at the expense of several viable businesses will only serve to make Belleair Bluffs like any other Florida town.

I like Walgreens; I shop there. But I wouldn't want Walgreens to be the demise of six local businesses.

If your main goal is to beautify the corner, I applaud you. It would be great to create a nice green space as Largo did at the southwest corner of West Bay Drive and Seminole Boulevard.

So please consider other options toward this end. Condemn the old Mobil gas station and have it removed. If you are tight for money with your new Community Center going up, then you could contact local civic organizations to provide labor to get the corner landscaped. One of your beloved firefighters has an irrigation company. Perhaps the Rotary Club will donate some plants. You don't know until you ask.

We all want a beautiful community. A corner Walgreens is not beautification. It's the "same old, same old." Do not cave in to the corporate dollars. Be creative! We need to preserve the flavor of our community and not allow it to look like a corporate takeover.
-- Marla Russell, Harbor Bluffs

Do we need one on every corner?

Just what Pinellas County needs -- another 14,000-square-foot drugstore in Belleair Bluffs. Pretty soon there will be a drugstore on every corner in the county.
-- J.J. Garden, Indian Shores

Public works show refinery tastes

Re: Hideous pipes across East Bay Drive in Largo and Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park.

Is this an oil field in Oklahoma? Do we live in a refinery? I can't imagine that anyone thinks that these pipes are aesthetically pleasing or, for that matter, show a forward-thinking public works administration.

All over the country we bury phone lines and cable lines. We are trying to remove billboards from the roadside. Water and sewer pipes have been underground for centuries. Why did the city planners allow this?
-- Tom Atwell, Largo

Saltwater plus cars equals rust

Re: Clearwater could pipe water from gulf, April 26 letter from Steven D. Wenner, Redington Shores.

The letter writer suggests piping saltwater from the gulf for the Clearwater Beach roundabout fountain to save freshwater.

I guess Mr. Wenner's car is already a rust-bucket, so he won't mind having a nice saltwater "carwash" when he drives around the fountain with a nice gulf breeze blowing!
-- Mark Hepburn, Clearwater

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