Thank goodness, folks, this election season will soon be over and we can all go back to a normal life and start complaining about the trains and rains here in the Warsaw area.
To the man who keeps spouting my name as if I'm running for office, let’s be clear: I'm just a concerned resident. Yes, I did go to a few of those city council meetings relating to our new fire station about two years ago. Here is what I learned that you would have if you had gone, too. I believe the land that was purchased for the south fire station #3 was bought and paid for by the city of Warsaw, not the trustee's office, so talk to the mayor of Warsaw and board of works from seven or eight years ago about that.
That day a few weeks ago when you went into the trustee's office without any notice to throw your weight around and demand answers, I was just leaving and heard your complaints as I walked to the door. I felt bad for those innocent women. As far as I see it, the people in that office are kind and patient.
They wait on people one on one to help them resolve their difficulties at that present time. They aren't used to a bully coming in demanding answers about what was decided by their boss and the board two or more years ago. Because you did not get involved then, why don't you put your questions in writing and submit them to the current trustee and board of advisers so they can give you some solid and accurate answers about who, what, when and how they decided to help fund the fire station? There was nothing hidden in any of those decisions because some of the concerned taxpayers and residents of Wayne Township were there as it was being discussed.
You say you own a lot more property than I do here in Wayne Township. Maybe that is true, but we live on the south side of the Norfolk Southern railway and it is blocked several times per week by trains stopped or slowly moving past. My family has lost one home here due to a fire and that I wouldn't wish on anyone.
My neighbors, including the residents of Miller’s Merry Manor and the Eisenhower elementary school had hoped – and some even prayed – that sooner or later a fire station including EMS service was going to be constructed on the south side of the railroad. Now finally those hopes and prayers have been answered thanks in a big part to the current trustee's office. The price tag was somewhere around $2.4 million from the ground up and that money came from a bond at a very low interest rate arranged by the city. The trustee's board committed approximately $70,000 annually to help cover expenses that the city budget fell short of, which does by the way fall under the trustee's jurisdiction. Now, this is all based on my memory because this was two years ago when it was a current topic. You live in the Pierceton area therefore fires and daily emergencies in our area don't concern you as they do those of us that reside here in the southern part of Wayne Township.
People writing letters to the Times-Union such as yourself confuse me and my neighbors because it sounds as if you're saying the trustee in Wayne Township has not spent enough of the tax money they have collected. Then in the next paragraph you claim they have spent too much of it on our area project. You can't have it both ways.
Another point you made was that Trump would want to rehash the deal they made two years ago with the city, but as I see it, he is very much in favor of safety and strength. He may want to spend even more tax dollars to protect us. You could run for office and make changes to things you don't agree with in the township where you hang your cap at night, but in the mean time we here on the south side of the railway are going to fight anyone and everyone "land baron or not" who wants to defund our fire and emergency protection department here in southern Wayne Township whether they're a Democrat or Republican. That much you can tell your banker.
