Letters to the Editor 2-12-15

Noise pollution impacts everyone
Editor:
The headline for your lead story about plane noise last week was misleading. To say, “Airport neighbors sound off on plane noise” ignores that fact that scores of concerned citizens whose homes are miles from the airport voiced their concerns at that community meeting.
Residents of Pine Mountain, McCray Road, Palomino Lakes, Dutcher Creek, and River Road expressed frustration about NorCal Skydiving’s hot-rod airplane and pilot. Even downtown Cloverdale feels the pain. We live four miles north of the airport and a mere five blocks north of Cloverdale City Hall. The peace and quiet of our home is shattered most weekends by NorCal’s distinctive backfiring engine with its relentless piercing whine.
This issue is not going away. When you report on this in the future, please do not diminish the relevance of the problem by misrepresenting its geographical scope. The noise pollution caused by Nor Cal Skydiving is in no way limited to the vicinity of the airport. The negative impact of this unacceptable nuisance resonates across the greater community of Cloverdale.
Diane Bartleson
Downtown Cloverdale
Tea sets needed for spring tea
Editor:
The History Center and Museum’s Spring Tea on the Patio is on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Tickets will go on sale on March 1. Last year we sold out quickly and so this year we are adding more tables. If anyone has tea sets, dishes, or tea pots they would like to donate or let us borrow for the tea – we would love to have them! Call the History Center at 894-2067 or email

of****@cl***************.org











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Elissa Morrash
Executive Director of the Cloverdale History Center
Project approval sends a bad message
Editor:
What a shock to read in the Feb. 5 edition of the Reveille cover page that the City of Cloverdale is now comfortable with the water situation, enough so as to approve 32 new housing units. Meanwhile, page 3 includes an ad from the city on how to cut water usage. I guess nothing trumps the city’s desire for federal and state funding, not even an ongoing water crisis. As of last week, Lake Mendocino was roughly 50 percent of capacity with mountain snow pack remain as historically low levels throughout California, and that includes Mendocino County. A recent statement from the city’s water department stated the Cloverdale city wells depend on flow from Lake Mendocino via the Russian River. In 2013 the city raised rates by 69 percent to local residents of cover the cost of repair and improvement. This help an already existing problem. Since then, residents have also sacrificed by giving up or redoing their own landscaping at considerable personal expense and inconvenience.  Local residents continue to collect rain water and gray water for going, flushing, etc. The decision to build sends a bad message to those of us who have always made the effort to conserve precious water resource. That message is, “Thanks for saving. Now we can sell it to somebody else.”
Jim Pickens
Cloverdale
Upset over project approval
Editor:
I can’t believe there is a large condominium development planned for Cloverdale. Only a few months ago, we were told that our water situation was so bad that soon we would turn on our faucets and there would be no water. We had our water bills doubled. We had to watch our lawns turn to weeds. We cut back on water use. Now, after a few weeks of rain everything is fine? Only yesterday I read in the Press Democrat that it would be several years before our drought condition would improve. Who is watching out for the residents of this community?
Matthew Glavach
Cloverdale