Voice of the People
Thinks Riverwalk a waste of money
Editor's note: The following letter is a response to an article on page 12 A of Sunday's Dispatch. The "you" to whom the writer refers are the officials quoted in the article.

Finally someone has gone into a little more detail about the proposed Riverwalk. Of course it would have been real nice to have taken public input into spending our tax dollars before making the decision, but that would have been the right thing to do.

You say twice in this article, in Sunday's Dispatch, "Riverwalk organizers will address the negative views of Columbus citizens involving the safety and maintenance concerns on the $1.3 million dollar project." I say again, twice you say that you will address the negative concerns of Columbus residents, but then toward the end you make this comment, "The committee will be open for constructive, positive suggestions for the program from the public."

So how do you intend to address the public's negative concerns if you are only going to accept positive input? Sounds like you're in the same mind-set as when the project was started - only listening to people who want the Riverwalk.

You state that the 80 percent matching funds is a deal too good to pass up. Well, if you had, we wouldn't be having to spend the matching 20 percent, which would be somewhere in the neighborhood of what, $266,000? So now, how is spending that much on another walking track a good deal given the state of the economy of Lowndes County? How do you save money? By spending money on a project that isn't needed.

You say the security of the walk will not be a factor because you're going to install telephones. So what happens when the vandals have cut the phone lines or torn the receivers off the phone? There are underlying reasons why so many people use the hospital walking track. First, it's start and ends at the same location. Second, people feel safe because it's wide open and visible from many residences and businesses. Last, it's right next to the hospital.

I know the person on Feb. 6 of 2001 was glad of that fact when he had a heart attack out there and is probably alive today because of the close proximity.

This isn't like the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it they will come." People want safety and security. A four mile stretch of sidewalk along the banks of an uninhabited part of the river doesn't provide either. A lot of us can envision it as another Luxapalila Creek Park.

If you're so sure that the majority of the population agrees with you, why don't you take a public opinion poll and publish the results? Again, something that should have been done prior to starting the project. But publish the true findings, not what you want them to be.

I know that none of this will change the fact that it will be built because the privileged few want it. But as long as my tax dollars are involved, I'll have an opinion. But unlike most of what I write, this opinion is not just my own. But then I listen to both pros and cons, not just to what I want to hear, as stated in your article. It's just too bad more people don't take Mr. Imes offer to voice their opinions by writing letters to the editor - especially about wasteful spending.

Randy Wilson, Columbus