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Letters to the EditorsMakeover of median uses no tax funds
© St. Petersburg Times, Editor: Re: Median beautification is waste of tax money, Aug. 28 letter to the editor from Laurie Pizzo: Ms. Pizzo's letter is a good example of how people often read the first one or two paragraphs of a news story and jump to conclusions. If Ms. Pizzo had read further, she would have learned that the maintenance of the medians will be paid for by the businesses who will "adopt a median" by paying $75 per month to the county. In return, their sign, on "their" median, will be seen by people riding in more than 20,000 cars that use Spring Hill Drive every day. If Ms. Pizzo had read past stories about the Spring Hill Civic Association's Beautification Committee, she would know about people who donated money and how the committee worked to obtain a $5,000 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to buy plants, which the committee members and volunteers from the community planted themselves. They worked in the heat, in pouring rain and early mornings when everyone else was sleeping. I wasn't physically able to do the back-breaking work of Ki Hill, Carol McCarten and Collins Connor, and if the county had to pay them, their budget for the Public Works Department would have taken a terrific beating. I've lived here 21 years, and I know my taxes would go sky high if all the volunteers in this county pulled out. They save us a small fortune, and that goes for all the volunteers in the Spring Hill Garden Club, who keep the entrance to Spring Hill so beautiful. The committee could not get the support it needed to keep going back in 1998. Water was a big problem, and this year, we endured a drought of epic proportions. But the committee persevered through hour after hour of meetings, letter-writing, making posters, speeches and visiting businesses. Challenger Irrigation helped, and Ki Hill has lined up 12 businesses, so far, who will participate. Last year, the committee was finally able to bring a proposal to the county commissioners, which they accepted. I attended that hearing and it was my understanding that $80,000 was set aside as "seed money" for this project, which will pay for itself in a few years. It's a good plan that accrues monetary value to our properties and shows pride in our community.
Thanks to those who beautified medianEditor: Thank you, Spring Hill Civic Association Beautification Committee and Hernando County commissioners. My husband and I worked on the medians on two Saturdays, along with a number of concerned citizens, the Beautification Committee and the Garden Club. We planted in the pouring rain and mud. We didn't mind. We thought we were doing something worthwhile, and we were proud of what we had accomplished. As the months passed, we watched as the medians became overgrown with weeds, the plants died from lack of water and just plain neglect. I can't tell you how disheartened we were when we drove on Spring Hill Drive. We vowed, "We'll never help again!" Today, I'm glad others didn't feel the same as we did and give up. Thank you, Beautification Committee and county commissioners. I don't think you're wasting our tax money. I think it's part of what we pay taxes for. I'm only glad to see some of it coming to Spring Hill.
Rehabilitation center gave excellent service Editor: Re: Rehabilitation centers accused of negligence, Sept. 1 Hernando Times:
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From today's Hernando Times |
