To the Editor:

In a recent copy of the Polk County News I noticed an article about our elected officials considering the possibility of charging higher fees for ETC to do business in Polk County.  I appreciate the fact that we have a deficit that we must address and something drastic has to be done to raise the million dollars rafting tax payback, but why do it on the backs of ETC customers?

If ETC is forced to pay higher fees to do business in Polk County it will have to be   passed on to their customers. After reading further in the story I was shocked to read that our elected General Sessions Judge, Bill Baliles, was asking the county commission to legislate this higher fee on the people of East Polk -- not in person but instead he sent a surrogate, Carl Petty. If Bill Baliles wanted to present this proposal to charge higher fees to ETC customers in East Polk, why didn't he do it in person? Why did he send another attorney to make the presentation to the county commission to raise our fees with ETC? There's something else about this that bothers me. Could this be a continuation of Bill Baliles’ past history with ETC and their phantom contaminated cable box?

The court ruling against Polk County to repay the one million dollar rafting tax is a countywide problem not just East Polk. Our county commission is going to have to be very creative in generating new tax dollars and the answer is out there if they would just vote to solve the problem, not their political future. There are county commissioners in all their wisdom (or lack of) that want to cut benefits for loyal under-paid employees who have been with the county for many years, so now we punish the loyal employees because the county commissioners may not have done their homework when they passed the rafting tax.

ETC gives tens of thousands of dollars to the Copper Basin area, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide better service and this is how we reward them? ETC provides live sports coverage of the Copper Basin teams and has a good local news program and this is how we reward them? They have good phone and internet service and this is how we reward them?

If this proposal is passed ETC, AT&T, Verizon and all of the other providers will shy away from Polk County when it is time to up-grade and make improvements because of the possibility of higher fees after the fact. This is a foolish idea by someone who didn't have the guts to do it in person but instead sent a surrogate do his dirty work.

If any elected official falls for this ridiculous, asinine  idea it would cause the people of East Polk to pay a higher fee for cable service to pay a county wide debt. If the people of East Polk don't attend the next meeting that has this fee increase of Bill Baliles on the agenda and voice your concerns about the Bill Baliles fee hike, the county commission won't know how you feel. The people of East Polk have suffered enough having to drive further to work, pay more for consumer goods and being isolated from the rest of the county by the Forest Service and the river road.

In closing I would like to challenge Bill Baliles and his fee increase on the people of East Polk to a duel of ideas man to man, face to face at the next commission meeting, no lawyers, no surrogates, just me, you and a room full of people from east Polk county. See you at the meeting.

Jack Collins

ETC/AT&T customer

Turtletown

Dear Editor,

My family and I would like to thank all the people who helped us with the Valentine Day’s cards for the troops and veterans. We did not get started as soon as we would have liked, but those we called on went above and beyond the call to help. With everyone’s help we had 1475 Valentine’s Day cards for the troops in Iraq and another 436 cards for the veterans in Murfreesboro. Thanks to all of you that helped, it meant so much: Ball Play Baptist Church, Shady Springs Baptist Church, Welcome Valley Baptist Church, South Polk Elementary, Lottie’s Diner, Angie Sanford’s Office, The Emmon’s Family, Inez Tabors.

Thank you,

Gail, Becky and Amanda Wilcoxon

Kidz X-Change Plus

To the Editor:

I would like to commend Randy Parrish on his letter to the editor and his overall concern for the future of Polk County. Randy's appreciation for its rich history and unsurpassed beauty and in his words "trying to inform his neighbors about our history and the importance of it" is in my mind cutting right to the heart of the matter. From the original inhabitance of the Cherokee Indians and the first pioneer explorers to settle the area, to industrial mining and to present day eco-tourism, Polk County does indeed have a very rich history.

One of Randy's major concerns is Corridor K and how it will impact the Ocoee Gorge or the historic Kimsey Mountain Highway that skirts the mountain tops of Little Frog Mountain, also known as "Kimsey Mountain".  Both of these roads have had a very unique role in history and the fate of the two roads have always been intertwined - as one rose, the other fell.   When copper was discovered in Ducktown in 1843 the "Old Copper Road" was born and used from 1853 to 1890 to haul copper ore to market. When the Civil War disrupted copper production and the mines shut down, the old cooper road fell into disrepair and with the coming of the railroad to Ducktown in 1890 both copper ore and passengers used the railroad to travel from the Copper Basin to Cleveland. When Parksville Lake was formed in 1912, a large portion of the old Copper Road was submerged under its waters and a good road was needed for the folks of Polk County. In 1916, Dr Lucius Ezel Kimsey started pushing the idea of a road across the mountain tops to connect the two sides of the county separated by the peaks of Little Frog Mountain (3342 ft). The new mountain road was finished in 1920 and served as a good road into the 1930's. In the early 1930's the old copper road was re-routed around Parksville Lake and then later paved over and became what is now known as Hwy 64 through the Ocoee Gorge. The Kimsey Highway was never paved over and is now maintained by the US forest service as an excellent forest service road.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) had been pushing for the widening of Hwy 64 to four lanes through the Ocoee Gorge. The last estimated cost of 2.3 billion dollars for roughly 12 to 14 miles of road is wasteful government spending out of control. This extravagant cost of such a short distance can only be viewed as “pork barrel” nonsense. The proposal from the 2004 environmental impact study, which has been scrapped in favor of a new study, suggested several bridges crossing the Ocoee River and a series of tunnels through the mountains north of the of the Ocoee Gorge that in this reader’s mind would only bring mass destruction to such a pristine natural area. The bureaucrats who are the proponents of this proposal believe that this new interstate-like road will bring economic prosperity to the area but in my opinion it will only serve to destroy and pollute this beautiful and natural wilderness area.

What's even more ludicrous is that the former Polk County attorney Denny Mobbs suggested running this new "highway" across the old Kimsey Mountain Road that now serves the US forest service and gives public access to the heart of the Cherokee National Forest as state forest road 68. The rationale is that this route would cost much less than the 2.3 billion and would only be a mere 680 million dollars of taxpayers money. Putting this road on the very peaks of this mountain chain would only cause all the associated pollution like oil and antifreeze runoff, discarded cigarette butts, beer and soda cans, McDonalds and Hardees fast food wrappers, blown out re-capped tire treads and all of the associated pollution that man throws by the wayside along our highways.

All of this waste will run off both sides of the mountain and into the tributaries and drain into the already recovering Ocoee River and the pristine Hiawassee River. It will also segment a huge portion of wilderness that has an abundant wildlife and black bear habitat. Is this what we want the Cherokee National Forest, Little Frog and Big Frog Mountain Wilderness to become? Just a commercialized money making tourist attraction that suits the illusion of progress? I think not. Maybe it should  remain what the Federal government intended it to be when it formed the Weeks Act in 1911 for acquisition of land by the Federal government for the protection of watersheds and to be held as national forest land for all future generations to come. Why breach a natural and protected wilderness area with a road that was never meant to go over this kind of terrain.

Instead of millions or even billions of taxpayer’s dollars being spent for what the bureaucrats see as their vision of economic prosperity this should be replaced with a little common sense. Maybe the current path of Hwy 64 could be improved at a fraction of the proposed cost.  Four or five of the tight hairpin turns can be straightened out and in some sections an extra lane can be added to pass slow moving trucks and the natural beauty of the Ocoee Gorge can be preserved without adding multiple concrete structures over the river or boring huge holes in the side of the mountain to serve as tunnels that come out the other side. Maybe, just maybe, this type of vision doesn't belong in a National Forest and nature can go on doing what it has done for thousands of years, being all inspiring by itself, man cannot trump Mother Nature nor should he try!

The entire area of Polk County is truly rich in history and has some of the most amazing natural beauty that I have ever seen. I frequently visit this area with my wife and 3 children and we hike the trails and explore the rivers and streams. We often drive off the beaten path on roads like the old Kimsey Mountain road and Ditney Mountain road that provide unbelievable vistas and venture deep into the back country of this magnificent area. During all four seasons I am amazed at how untouched by man this area really is. During these times with the family I often make all of us stop in our tracks and for one minute ask them to close their eyes and only listen to sounds that they can hear like birds singing, the winds rustling the leaves, a high flying hawk or eagle crying out his majestic call, or the sound of water tumbling over rocks in a creek. Never do you hear the sounds of an 18 wheeler in the distance or even an airplane flying overhead, only the sounds of nature, not man-made noises. There are fewer and fewer areas like this as time and so-called progress goes by and this section of the Cherokee National Forest is truly a very special place and needs to be preserved and protected at all cost.

Bruce Walters

Largo Fl

Campbell Cove propertyowner

Dear Editor,

The family of Jess Cantrell would like to thank the staff of Life Care Center of Copper Basin for taking care of our Dad. The professional care was excellent and only surpassed by the kindness and compassion he received from all of you. You truly became a part of his family. His life was easier because you were there.

Over the four years and three months he was there, we developed friendships with many of you and will cherish those forever. I was comforted knowing you were there and could be trusted to give him the best care possible.

Sincerely,

Sammie, Michael and family