EDITOR:

City crews, we moved to a “new”office in December. When we moved in, I realized that there was no recyclable bin. So, I simply looked up the correct number and informed them. That same day, or by the next morning, a bin was delivered. Now I know half a dozen people that their first reaction would be to start complaining. That blankety blank city, Those %$@#(*& idiots, you know what I mean. Unfortunately, it seems like the latter is the accepted way to react. I disagree. We had a major snowstorm a week or so ago. Somewhere between 8 and 11 inches. We had nearly twice as much snow as Marquette. Escanaba crews don’t usually deal with that. I know a lot of you were upset that the city plows were not out as quickly as you thought they should be. The county plows were not out very early either. I drove out to Lincoln Road and it wasn’t plowed between the fairGrounds and Ludington. The only saving grace was that there was enough semi traffic to keep the snow packed. Now, I could have been all upset and call and complain to the city. But if you think about it, the city crews were not just sitting at home laughing to themselves at all of the problems “we” were having. Think about it. The plow drivers are just like us. They have to get out of their driveways and make it to work. There may be a number of reasons that keep them from getting on the road as quickly as you and I want them to be. Perhaps it is a matter of resources. That could be a truck broke down or a driver sick. We never know the whole story. We have to get across the “pile in the middle.” If it is a lot of snow, we may have to drive an extra two blocks to get too our office. Oh my! We survived. In a perfect world, the city would have enough employees and trucks to clear everybody’s road and street before any of us have to be out and about. I would like to give the city crews a thumbs up, and a big thank you. This is not to say that the next time it snows I won’t be muttering to myself because I have trouble getting down one or more of the streets.

The potholes are a completely different issue. Not so much the potholes, but the condition of a few of the streets. We will always have to deal with potholes, but some of these are nearly impossible — South 10th St., S l4th, 5th Ave. S. to name a few. I think it would be better, at this point, to return some of these streets to gravel. At least do a top layer of asphalt. You don’t need to rebuild the streets. It is the worst that I have seen and I’ve been here since 1972.

Tom Grant

Escanaba