Once again I take pen in hand, a little reluctantly after the opinion column several weeks ago taking letter to the editor writers to task for not being the silent many but a querulous few; oh well, we cannot all be perfect.
I first started this letter on Sept. 1 but found my subject frozen in asphalt as the diggers had gone their way, leaving an uneven patched hole in the middle of the street. My friends told me they were surprised to find they (gas company employees) had finished after weeks of what seemed to be trial and error.
Anyway, we are curious about a project that is ongoing over on Champion Street and around the corner on Fairmont Way. I have two friends living in the area, and one recently had a bad fall so I have had occasion to visit more frequently. They have been telling me about a small work crew that has been digging up and covering over the same hole almost on a daily basis, and I witnessed this while visiting the other day. The count as of Sept. 1, was same holes dug, same holes filled in, nine times.
In all of the years there have been reasons to repair or begin a project, I have never seen the same holes dug up and filled in on an almost daily basis. Would it be possible for someone from the gas company to call in a short statement about what is going on so we could put our curiosity to rest? We don't want an explosion and are afraid the pipes may burst with such constant attention.
Complaining questions I was asked, and of course do not have answers for:
Why does it take three earth movers to surround one working man in a hole?
Why does it take a three-man crew several hours to stand and have a discussion; hopefully, about the project they are supposedly working on, but then maybe there are more interesting things to discuss.
Why does it take yelling across the roads, at least two blocks away from each other, to discuss something they could have discussed while standing next to each other?
When and if they finish the project, are they going to leave the hole filled in looking like a large unfinished bump in the road?
The opinion writer was correct in saying we who write letters to the editor really don't have all the information and/or answers before we begin to write, only a curiosity that really needs to be satisfied.
By the way, Jeff Ackerman, I commend your opinion on NDOT. The article was great, and I am still laughing.
As an addendum, my friends tell me that Champion is now torn up all the way ... we would like to know what they are looking for, maybe we could help!
JEAN SULLIVAN and two friends
Carson City
