Letters to the editor, Aug. 8, 2014

What good comes out of Tesla?

Why are we bending over backward to lure Tesla to come to Nevada to build its lithium ion battery plant? Companies are already getting the advantages of no personal income tax, low corporate income taxes and favorable pollution environmental rules in addition to our low priced homes and superior quality of life. Do we know how much water they will require to build and maintain their plant? Where is that water going to come from? Who will be responsible for whatever contamination is created? We seem to be “giving away the store” in order to entice prospective businesses here.

Alicia Kittess

Carson City

‘Storm of the Century’ damaged homes on Stephanie Way

To the Douglas County Manager and Board of Commissioners: If you’ve read the papers recently, you may have noticed Stephanie Way frequently mentioned in connection with the extreme damage caused by the July 20 “storm of the century.” We live on Stephanie, and the flood not only destroyed our one-acre yard, but it also caused the buyers of our home to cancel the purchase agreement. We’ve had a landscape contractor working since the 21st, and we still aren’t done.

What has not been reported is the county’s failure to adequately maintain their ditches and culverts. Since we came in 2007, sand build-up has been removed from the ditches in front of our house once, and the driveway culverts have never been cleaned. Had the county adequately performed its responsibilities, the damage, not only to our place but also to our neighbors, would have been significantly less severe.

And, unbelievably, since the flood, the county has done nothing to clean out the ditches and culverts in front of our house. There has been a very poor attempt at moving sand out of ditches up-hill, across east Valley, but the workers closed up the culverts in the process. And instead of continuing down Stephanie, they turned south down East Valley and have not been seen again. The point is, if we get a “normal” heavy rain, our yard will flood again. We’ve called the county, and the attitude is completely unconcerned.

Carl Meier

Minden