Election week I submitted a letter to the editor which was not printed. When I called to see why, the editor didn’t have the courtesy to return my call. I’m guessing he took offense about a reference I made about some of his good old boys he’d said ‘weren’t so bad’ in his previous column. Since then, I’ve heard of others who also had letters that didn’t get printed, so even though you follow all rules for publication it really means nothing. They get printed at the discretion of the editor. That being said I will resubmit my letter without political references. For the second time this spring the waters of Pike Lake are over the banks, sucking up the soil and sinking seawalls further into its depths. While attending the meetings on the Meijer project I found unacceptable answers concerning Meijer’s drainage and retention pond. The basic answer was that “Meijer’s engineers will see that it is done correctly”. Am I misinformed ? Doesn’t the city of Warsaw also have engineers to oversee that this is done to code or do they just approve it and hope it’s done to code? I’ve seen too many projects where engineers screwed up and WE the people pay the price. A one-acre paved parking lot (43,560 square feet) will produce roughly 27,000 gallons of runoff during a one-inch rain. A 10 acre parking lot with one inch of rain will generate over a quarter million gallons of runoff. The Meijer parcel is approximately 40 acres. This is over one million gallons of water from 1” of rain. Will their retention pond be large enough to handle three or more inches of rain at once like we’ve been getting? This runoff collects many of the various pollutants that have accumulated on the parking lot and can flush them into Pike Lake. Is this really what we want for the sake of progress? We’re not opposed to Meijer, we just want a guarantee that this water never reaches our lake. Will there be out lots at this location to be sold to other businesses like Menard’s is doing? If so, who oversees those projects? We need these questions answered. The people on Sunset Drive can’t afford a mistake by engineers or anyone else. Since the last flood our trees have been poisoned and died from the toxic waters coming through as well as foreign weeds and plants that can’t be identified taking over our lawns and flower beds. We have fisherman in large boats ignoring the idle speed/no wake rules making waves in our backyards washing even more soil into our waters. We are drowning here and no one cares. At least when Mr. Plank was mayor he forbid large boats on our lake until the water was at normal levels or they would be fined. The last vote is coming soon. Please take into consideration the amount of water already filling Pike Lake and be 100 percent sure you’ve got this vote right. Linda Berger Warsaw, via e-mail Note: I was on vacation from April 30 through May 15, so I really have no idea what Ms. Berger is talking about in the first couple of paragraphs of her letter. I never saw a political letter from her. I had no voicemail or e-mail from her upon my return. Her contention that I pick and choose what letters run in the newspaper is patently false. Furthermore, the “others” whose letters “didn’t get printed” after being properly submitted simply don’t exist. The Times-Union publishes all letters that are properly submitted in accordance with our Letters Policy. Period. Frankly, I find her comments almost amusing because one of the top criticisms I receive regarding the Times-Union is “Why do you publish all those crazy letters?” There is a simple reason. I believe strongly in the role of a small daily newspaper as a forum for local opinion – regardless of how whacky the opinion. Of course, there must be limits with regard to vulgarity, bad taste and libel, but I think overall readers will find the Times-Union letters page to be one of the most open. Gary Gerard General Manager
