October 04, 2008
Saturday

Say No to Proposition 1; Cast your vote for fiscal responsibility; don't buy the Beach! South Point Higgins Beach is extraordinary, it's old growth trees, eagles nest, and sandy beach are a beautiful place to visit, picnic and swim. Unfortunately it is also a public nuisance.

For every long time resident who tells idyllic stories of picnics on the beach, roasting marshmallows over a fire, and summer time swims on the sandy beach-- there are a hundred stories of drunken parties, drug use, stacks of litter and broken glass, impaired drivers racing up and down South Point Higgins Road in the wee hours of the night and not a few car wrecks. Every summer a few homeless persons camp there leaving human waste and toilet paper behind stumps and in the bushes. The troopers are reluctant to check these parties, drinking in public is not illegal and indeed, many of these drunken partiers are of legal age. They are not breaking the law until they get in their vehicles.

Will the borough provide better enforcement if they buy South Point Higgins beach? Will they manage the piles of beer bottles, cans, abandoned drug paraphernalia and other litter? Or, will the area continue as a public nuisance?

Let's say, the borough recognizes its responsibility to keep the area safe and clean and provides nighttime security patrols, trash collection and toilets. Who pays? I don't think I am alone is saying that my taxes are high enough. I would like the borough assembly (and all of our politicians for that matter) to start devising ways to spend less of the taxpayers' money not more.

Mental health trust will ultimately sell the property and the South Point Higgins beach will generate tax revenue for the borough instead of expenses. The private property owners will put a stop to the drunken parties, piles of litter and vagrant campers.

The $1.2 million asking price in another issue, we are in the midst of a nationwide economic crisis brought on largely by a balloon in real estate prices. Real estate prices are plummeting across the nation. The KGB and MHT priced the property at the peak of the real estate balloon. Is South Point Higgins beach worth the agreed purchase price? Will it be worth it in a year?

Cast your vote for fiscal responsibility; vote no on proposition one.

Barb Lander
Ketchikan, AK

About: "Resident of South Point Higgins Road."

Received October 04, 2008 - Published October 04, 2008

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