Elected officials let the landfill happen

“Trash arrives by rail,” read the headline in Sunday’s Independent.

Does this mean we can add Big Run Landfill to our tourism sites in Kentucky?

I harbor nothing against the landfill owners or operators. They’re business professionals. I was given a tour of this facility; it appeared to be a quality operation. Employees were well versed on state and federal rules.

I harbor enmity against the elected officials who let this happen to our community. I missed the newspaper article advertising for business permits back then.

I thought my community was being watched by responsible, elected officials. We got 911 the same way — no accountability or responsibility. This isn’t meant to be comical, It’s very sad.

Voters, Bud Stevens and David Salisbury aren't responsible for this nightmare and will need voters’ help in months to come.

If the picture in Sunday’s paper had been taken with wide-angle lens, we possibly could have seen the dogwoods in bloom, robins singing and Carl Tolliver, Marvin Meredith and Nicky Smith waving at us with $1-per-ton signs for garbage.

Lose the flea market mentality. It’s about “ROI” — return on investment! What tonnage fee is Greenup County getting from its landfill operation? Will $1-per-ton in landfill revenue help bandage the mistakes, which have been made installing a rural sewer system in Boyd County?

Who is benefiting most from how the Boyd County income tax was set up?

What is Ashland Alliance doing for this community?

Why are there $254,000 long-term dollars delinquent in sewer and water revenues?

Sick to death with unaccountability from the White House to Boyd County Fiscal Court? A partial change was recently made, more to come!

Eric Brandenburg, Ashland



Landfill trucks create a hazard

I hope Mike Vossmer, regional manager of River Cities Disposal LLC, operator of Big Run Landfill, does a better job managing the rail cars than Big Run has with the trucks leaving the landfill.

Big Run has created a health hazard and unsafe driving conditions for all motorists in that area. And don't waste your time calling the local EPA — it only makes it worse by having the landfill water down the road and tracking it even farther down U.S. 60.

Bob Kazee

Rush



Fairview needs a new school board

Here we are less than two years from a failed attempt by the Fairview school board to stick it to the residents ofWestwood with a utility tax. This seems to be the board’s only agenda.

In response to a March 22 letter concerning repairs to the school, did those repairs just pop up in the last few months? Seems like repairs should be the first priority on the board’s mind. But instead a new pickup truck, a new van, a new enclosed trailer and let’s not forget the big red building next to the superintendent’s office. The big new build building behind the gym would have been sufficient. Why two buildings? The cost of the big red building would have made several repairs.

The only thing I see that has made an improvement was the renovations to the old gym. Wal-mart’s taxes helped take care of that. It appears the taxes from Wal-mart and the generous donation from David Edwards were misused.

The woman who wrote Thursday’s letter was 100 percent right: We need a new board. Tthe kids need a new board, someone to look out for their best interests, and we need an ordinance by the county that the board has to wait a certain time — five years would be good — before trying this again.

So, residents of Westwood, sign the petition, wait on election day, then go vote “no” to more taxes.

William Wellman, Westwood



Bud Stevens is doing a great job

I have been meaning to write and thank new Boyd County Judge-Executive Bud Stevens for the great job he is doing. Since he took office in January, our little county road — Felty Road — has had more work done on it than in the whole time Bill Scott was judge-executive. As taxpayers in Boyd County, it is nice to be recognized.

I also want to clear up one thing about the election: My vote for Bud Stevens was not an accident or a coincidence. My vote for Bud Stevens was a wise one.

Margie Holbrook, Ashland



What kind of jail is Greenup running?

What kind of a detention center is Greenup County running? Is it a free-for-all for some to do what they want? Is there no supervision at all?

What about an inmate who complains of severe stomach cramps for three days and is thrown in the hole so he does not infect other inmates if what he has is contagious?

Where is the supervision there? Do inmates not have any rights at all, especially when they are in jail for a non-violent offense?

The inmate was in the hole for three days before being taken to the hospital where he underwent major surgery. This is all because the jail did not care just like they did not care nor were they trying to protect society when the two inmates were left on the river bank to have sex and bring two lives into this world where the parents are not going to be able to care for them while in prison.

This inmate who was sick is our son and also a husband and a father to three children. We do not condone what he has done, and we believe he should have to do his time for the crime that he committed — but not by giving his life for it. We call this poor correctional medical supervision just like the state called the pregnancy “poor correctional supervision.” The only difference is that one life was almost lost and two lives were made while in a correctional setting, Neither should have happened.

Maybe it is time for Greenup County to be put under the microscope and just see what else crawls out of the woodwork.

Mr. and Mrs. James Sparks Sr., South Shore



A cleanup day is needed for cemetery

As a direct descendent of people buried in the Cane Creek Cemetery at Argillite. I want to publicly thank a few people: Elwood Tackett and Carl Barker along with inmates from the Greenup County Detention Center for cleaning up the cemetery, Greenup County Judge-Executive Bobby Carpenter and Jailer Jim Womack for providing transportation, county employee Glenn Reed for the actual transportation, Joe Taylor and the county road department for grading the cemetery road.

For the last few years Elwood, Carl and the work-release inmates have worked tirelessly to improve our communities by cleaning up cemeteries. I’m talking about chain saws and back-breaking labor. I’ve applauded their work all along but their work recently affected me personally. Cane Creek Cemetery is an old cemetery close to the Greenup/Carter county line. After more than 100 years of burials, sections of it have fallen into disrepair, mainly because the families of the deceased have died or moved away.

Thanks to the recent work detail, the overgrown sections have been cleared. We now have a chance to reclaim this cemetery. There is general maintenance to be done, leaf raking and mowing, etc. I propose that the families of the people buried there and the community of Cane Creek have an old fashioned work day at Cane Creek Cemetery. Bring your rakes and lawnmowers and a picnic lunch. We’ll start early, break for dinner and, with any luck, have the whole cemetery in excellent shape by the evening. If enough people show up, maybe we’ll be done by lunch.

Weather permitting, my brother and I plan to be there at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 31. Please make plans to join us. If you have any questions, contact Vicki Evans, (606) 473-1313 day or (606) 473-7148 evening.

Vicki Evans, Greenup