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Letters to Editor

Be respectful, but be heard by the city council

To the editor: There’s an important piece of paper that starts out “We the people,” and for good reason. It’s a statement of our beliefs and a commitment to the common good. Our City Council seems to have lost the fact that they were elected by us to listen to our voices and act accordingly. Matt McKinney seems to have listened and read his emails and come to the conclusion the People of Webster City don’t want a splash pad that we can ill afford to build, run, maintain or provide the liability insurance that it would require. I heard an interesting anecdote from my ...

A lot of us are not happy because of the city’s wasteful spending

To the editor: I tried to get my message out to the people of Webster City at the (city) council meeting last night (Monday). I knew I was in trouble before they let me speak. The mayor, when asked why they had the power to tax the citizens even more, his reply was we’re in power and you’re not. OK, then. Taxation without any representation. They wouldn’t let me finish what I needed to say about the sad state of affairs of our out-of-control spending of the city. The mayor told me to stand down or be removed. … (Editor: The designated time to discuss the splash pad was ...

The splash pad is a troubling, unnecessary expense

To the editor: It is troubling to me that our city council who is making decisions about the financial welfare of our city are entertaining a massive expenditure to build a splash pad. Have they considered the cost each year to maintain and provide employees to oversee this recreational endeavor? The situation in our city has a very high elderly population who are trying to live in their homes and are very concerned about their property tax which just saw a substantial evaluation increase which translates to higher taxes and they are also concerned about the high cost of ...

Knowing how much water costs, I won’t pay for the splash pad

To the editor: First, I would like to request that you deny the proposed splash pad. Second, I will tell you why. 1) Ongoing cost and water usage. I have experienced two pin point water leaks at my residence. The first in November 2020 and the second in October of this year. The total to repair the leaks and access sites (I don’t have a basement) was $4,226.97. With that in mind, I know what an extra unit or two of water costs. So, to be honest, I don’t need or want to pay a portion of the water used by the splash pad that will be used by a limited number of people. 2) ...

We need to take a deeper look at our long-term needs

To the editor: I’m astounded that with the projected expenditures, we approved moving forward on a splash pad and even more by a follow up letter that said we should instead do an aquatic center. There have been offers of donations toward the splash pad, but they don’t cover even half of the projected expense or the expense for the water which is projected to increase 50% in the next two years. It would also take away income from the current pool which we will have to address if we then want to keep the pool going. The idea of an aquatic center and the money needed for that ...

Let’s not spend our resources on a splash pad

To the editor: There are expenses that our city government must undertake. Namely, those being the wastewater treatment plant, the water treatment plant and the electrical utility needs. Being on a fixed income we don’t like these expenses, but we accept them as necessary. On the other hand, there is a proposed city expense that we wish not to accept. That is the proposed splash pad for East Twin Park. Earlier, the city was advised to avoid extra expenses. Another argument is that the state of Iowa is in a serious and lingering drought. The flushing of thousands of gallons of water ...