Not best option

If indeed an extension of the Florence landfill is the cheapest option, it certainly is not the community's best option. The property under consideration borders our beautiful Cypress Creek, a true community asset, which we should protect and take advantage of.

In town, Cypress Creek provides miles of canoeing, kayaking and fishing from Cox Creek Parkway to Pickwick Lake. It would be hard for real estate agents to sell this as an asset if they had to mention the course included passing directly by a malodorous and unsightly 50-year dump.

It would be close to impossible to sell homes or land across from or adjacent to this property, which right now is pristine. What responsibility do city officials have to these current homeowners and landowners as the city considers putting in a landfill across from these established neighborhoods? Financial cost is but one of the things city officials are obligated to consider.

Ecologically, the choice is obvious. Placing a dump on Cypress Creek again is akin to taking a hammer to a diamond. The choice says so much about our community and do not underestimate its importance in affecting who comes to our city or who leaves our city. Truly, can there be any worse use of this property than a landfill?

The deed is most certainly not done. A new landfill site can be obtained - that is the job of our officials. Please remember that most of the time you get what you pay for. The city can make choices that leave it with a rustbelt abandoned downtown or it can make choices that exploit the attributes of the town and continue to grow the tax base - that is the job of our officials.

The right decision was made for Court Street; the right decision was made for the RTJ Golf Trail and The Marriott; the right decision was made for the Sportsplex - these are things to be proud of. Please move our dump far, far away. If we have to spend a penny more then so be it, but I bet there is considerably cheaper underdeveloped land farther away from the city, making it well worth the effort financially as well as socially.

B.G. Frazier

Florence