DON`T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. REALLY.
But DO listen to Ms. Donna Skoda, the Director of the Summit County Health Department. She`s the "County Sanitarian," the person whose job it is to make sure that everything is done to keep us healthy. Certainly, if there`s an advocate for clean water — it`s Ms. Skoda.
Ms. Skoda came to the Village Hall on May 21 and spoke to the community. What did she say? —— If you don`t want development in Peninsula, don`t do a sewer.
Here`s the direct quote — "It depends on what you want as a community… We have some communities that do not want development… And with that [sewers] will come development. Bath doesn`t want development, so there is no sewer plan. They don`t want it. They`ll tell you that publicly."
I actually like sewers. Grew up with them in New York. Had them in Akron. Flush and forget. I`m all in on sewers (and water!). We just replaced a water heater that started leaking from the well water. It should have lasted twice as long. It`s the price to pay for a rural community that despite having millions of park visitors has somehow managed to maintain its character. So as nice as sewers would be — I`m with Ms. Skoda.
So — who wants sewers? Not the Summit County Health Department. And not the EPA either — Mr. Dean Stoll said that at the same meeting. Here`s the straight answer — the businesses want sewers. Why? So they can expand their businesses and bring in more customers and make more money. They`ve organized a lot of efforts around town to get them too. Including a bunch of last month`s letters to YCN. They`ve even proposed (in writing) creating POPUP businesses in places where buildings won`t go. To get more customers, more businesses, more visitors, more money.
I`m OK with their pushing for this. Look at the Cavs and the Indians. Cleveland gave both teams pretty much of a free deal for Progressive Field and the Q. That`s what businesses do — they make demands to try to expand and make more money.
But WE should decide if business expansion that comes with sewers is good for our community. Just like Cleveland got to decide. How would more businesses and more visitors be good for the folks who live here? We should talk about that and decide before it`s too late. Just ask Ms. Skoda.
| Mike Kaplan |