From Dave Searles

Brodhead

To the Editor:

A barb against the City of Brodhead for not having any parks on the south side of town.  

The south side of town, south of 12th Street, includes two-thirds of the land area and two-thirds of the population of Brodhead, yet it has no parks. The north side of town that includes one-third of the land area and one-third of the population of Brodhead and includes six parks, including the dog park. It also includes the access to the service road along the Sugar River Race.  

At the very least, the city needs to establish a park in the southeast part of town between E. 6th and E 7th avenues and 15th and 17th Street and a park in the southwest part of town next to the library. As a result of not have any parks in the south side of the city, the city is grossly discriminating against south side residents.  

Applied Ecological several years ago was interested in helping develop a prairie nature preserve called Prairie Park on the land southeast part of town. They would apply for and obtain grants to purchase land and to develop the park, as well as helping to maintain it. 

A barb against Casey Jones and his gang that want to develop a housing project on the land between E. 6th and E. 7th avenues and 15th and 17th streets. This land is too low and the water table is too high for the development of housing. Until Sonny Bush used a presidential executive order do away with the Wetlands Act passed by Congress in the early 1970s, this land would still be considered wetland and a housing development would be prohibited. Housing around this land already have basement and foundation problems and any development on this land is only going to make this problem worse. The only development suitable for this land is as a park. 

A barb against big diesel pickup trucks and the idiot drivers of them that leave them idling away in a driveway, on the street or in a parking lot and blasting the exhaust and sometimes causing black smoke, while driving by bicyclists and pedestrians, polluting the air we need to breath. They pull up behind other vehicles, tailgate and rev their engines to try to force others out of the way. When they rev their engines, they can be heard halfway across town.