Jim Holmes
Suwannee Democrat
Live Oak —
It's not too difficult to find examples of bad ideas. You know the type I'm talking about. The Edsel automobile---manufactured by the Ford Motor Company back in the late 1950s---would certainly qualify. So would the idea for "New Coke." Remember that marketing catastrophe of the mid 1980s?
Then there are ideas that are just plain stupid, like the one for an ejection seat in a helicopter. Also in that category; telling a cop you were speeding in a school zone because you didn't want to miss Happy Hour at your neighborhood tavern.
More difficult to find however, are examples of ideas that are out-an-out cockamamie! For those, you usually have to turn to government. I think the thousand dollar toilet seats the Pentagon was once purchasing would qualify.
Well, if you would like to see local government tackle a truly cockamamie idea, then I urge you to attend a county commission meeting this coming Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria at Suwannee Elementary School. For those of you who haven't been in a classroom for a while, it's the school adjacent to our public library on South US 129.
You see, that's the evening our county commission will be asked to give its blessing to a private corporation's plan to create and operate a regional landfill just a stone's throw from the heart of our community's primary commercial corridor. Making matters even worse is the fact the proposed site isn't all that far away from our city's drinking water supply. Now, if that doesn't qualify as a full-fledged, bona fide cockamamie idea, then I don't know what does! I mean it has got me seeing red.
For the record, let me assure you this proposal has no direct impact on me. In other words, I don't own property nearby and I don't live anywhere near the proposed site. Still, A LANDFILL AT LIVE OAK'S FRONT DOOR! Even if it is the best dump in the world---and I'm certain we will be given assurances that will be the case---placing it at that location is just plain nuts!
Hopefully, our commissioners will agree, but there is no guarantee that will happen, particularly since a relatively small construction debris site is already located nearby. In addition, the proposed super garbage heap---come on, let's start calling it what it really would be---would mean a new source of revenue for local government, while also helping the commission reduce its current trash disposal costs. Both are admirable objectives, BUT NOT AT THAT LOCATION! Look, Suwannee County already has enough hurtles to overcome in attracting new, desirable businesses to our community. Do we really want to add one more to the list?
If you agree with me on this, I urge you to attend the Dec. 6 meeting and let commissioners know in no uncertain terms, you think this dump idea stinks. And you can do so without having to utter a single word.
SIMPLY WEAR A WHITE SHIRT OR BLOUSE TO THE MEETING!
The group, Suwannee Yes! has come up with this concept. And I believe it is a great way to demonstrate to our commissioners, that while we support attracting clean industry to this county, this cockamamie garbage dump proposal deserves nothing but being---well---trashed.
Jim lives in Live Oak.
