February 25, 2003
DEAR EDITOR:
Some things we know are true. For instance, we know that it gets cold in Wisconsin in winter, that the Packers are much better than the Bears and that theres big trouble in the Middle East right now.
Other things we know by gut feeling are not true. Good examples of these gut feelings are that we know the earth is not flat, we have a gut feeling that working people are not getting their fair share out of this economy and we have a gut feeling not all children go to bed every night safe and with enough to eat.
In this latter category, the "If you believe this one I have a bridge for sale" category, falls a statement found on the front page of the Dec. 4 Herald Times Reporter, claiming that there are 32,000 take-offs and landings at the Manitowoc County Airport. No living person in the city of Manitowoc can honestly believe that statement.
To believe such a statement, they'd have to believe that the airport has 86.75 take-offs and landings every day of the year; thats 3.7 every hour.
The article stated that the county has to come up with $45,000 for design and engineering work for a reconstruction project and that the county has already paid $250,000 for recent repairs. In an earlier article, the Herald Times Reporter said that additional costs to county taxpayers to repair runways could be as high as $600,000.
The Herald Times Reporter reported previously that there are 35 planes stationed at the airport, and fees generated last year were approximately $43,000. It also reported that the economic impact of the airport to the county has been estimated to be $9.5 million. I fear that those who estimated the impact are the same 'bridge salesmen' who want us to believe there are 86.75 take-offs and landings every day of the year at the airport.
Why is it that the county can accept federal funds and spend its own hard-to-come-by tax money to unnecessarily help these 35 planes, while the public school district refuses federal grants to provide lunch to all public school students? The Manitowoc Public School District is one of the very few in the state which refuses to do so. It appears that 35 planes are worth much more than our most precious resource our children. Or just maybe the earth is flat after all.
Michael J. Kelley,
Manitowoc