Editor:
People living in the Ranchos need a lot more traffic control.
Problem No. 1: Speeding vehicles.
Solution: Either give tickets to the offenders or raise the speed limit to 50 as that seems to be the average speed on the streets.
Problem No. 2: Roaring dirt bikes and ATVs.
Solution: Impound vehicles that are on the public streets that are not registered and/or insured.
Give tickets to the riders for breaking the law by putting the off-road vehicles on the street taking into account that many of them aren't old enough to even have a driver's license.
Benefits: Safer streets, quieter neighborhoods, and a little extra money for the county budget wouldn't hurt.
O.K. Morgan
Gardnerville Ranchos
Editor:
Now cometh the zillionaire Park Cattle Co. telling us they want us in Carson Valley to become the cattle. Thankfully the Douglas County Planning Commission nixed the plan to put 4,000 homes on a 1,373-acre parcel north of Minden and Gardnerville. But the fat lady hasn't sung her aria yet as our county commissioners still have a shot at screwing the Valley up by overriding the planning commission on Sept. 4.
Now if there is one single thing the Valley does not need right now it's more ghost-town subdivisions and more developers not paying their taxes while soaking up the few precious infrastructure dollars this county does have.
Why it seems like only yesterday, the county commissioners were selling and telling about what a windfall we were in for with the big box stores on the north end. Or was that really big box sores as small business owner after small business owner has gone extinct at an alarming rate?
Well, folks, look for the same line of bull to be presented again by the county commissioners in a clear case of big money speculators versus small government on a finite budget to stop them. The major question " which never, ever seems to get settled " is if our master plan is made out of clay or granite, for every developer/speculator that comes down Kingsbury Grade thinks it's their right to change it to suit their greedy needs.
In the case of the Park Cattle Co., the carrot is an "eco-friendly, much-needed" 1,634-acre equestrian-horse park-show facility-events center duplicating what Douglas County has already provided (At least it's not another casino). Isn't it just a little bid odd that Park wants more land for horses than they do for people?
What we voters need to do here is take the county commissioners out to the woodshed and let them know again who's boss here. It's either that or be the cattle Park takes us to be.
Steve Lang
Gardnerville
Editor:
While swimming out at Topaz Lake on the east side on Aug. 14 with my daughter, sister and nieces, our blue inner tube was swept away from our grasp by the usual 2 p.m. wind. My sister, who is by far the fastest swimmer of us all, could not quite get to the tube before it was blown out of reach.
As we gave up and started back to shore, a neighboring man from a blue and white RV with a white canopy who was camped near us, jumped into his small fishing boat without even being asked and picked up our tube as well as our neighbors raft that had suffered the same fate and brought them safely back to all of us.
I want to acknowledge this man and let him know that his act of kindness did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Celeste Pierini
Minden
Editor:
Growing up in the Bay area, I've been recycling as long as I can remember. When I was in grade school, we took our recycling down to a recycling facility and the pocket change was part of my allowance. Even my grandma got involved saving cans and glass for my sister and me to take to the recycling place. As I got older, the county started its own curbside recycling - including all seven plastics, yard waste and used clothing and fabric. Imagine my surprise coming up here and finding no good recycling solutions.
My husband and I couldn't get used to throwing everything away, so we used our old moving boxes to hold our recycling and trudged it down to the Gardnerville transfer site every few months. It got a bit tedious loading up our car to take everything, but we felt it was worth it to be able to throw away only one small garbage can of stuff each week since we've been up here..
At least a year ago we started hearing rumors that Amber Emery was trying to start curbside recycling in Douglas County and we started anxiously awaiting the start of her service. Finally, Carson Valley Recycling is open for business! Amber and Wes have been driving their truck around to collect our recycling every other trash-day for the last month and a half and we're thrilled! We sort our recycling almost the same as for the Dump and put everything in the Carson Valley Recycling bags (13 gallons or 30 gallons) - leaving the bags on the opposite side of the driveway from our garbage can. They charge $10 a month, plus the cost of bags and they collect everything you could recycle at the Dump plus a few extras. For the 13 gallon bags that we've been using, service includes four bags per pickup plus one extra bag a month.
Sorting everything has been very easy too. Amber recommends opening the 13-gallon bags into a laundry sorter and then you can just close up the bag and set it out when it's full. We've found that Rubbermaid tubs are more economical and work fine as well. Finally, no more large boxes filled with recycling and no more trying to load the car and drive down to the Dump.
Remember too that recycling is only one way to conserve resources. The three R's are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Amber has some great ways to reduce junk mail listed on her web site.
You can sign up for recycling service on the internet at www.carsonvalleyrecycling.com, by phone 267-6524, or stop in and see Amber and Wes at their office just off Airport Road. They bill quarterly and even accept PayPal payments online. And even if you decide not to use their recycling service, be sure to wave when you see their truck go by - they're working hard to make a difference in our community.
Cristina Sheikman
Minden
