Congratulations to the election winners.
And now that the election is over, there are two important issues that have come to attention again that must be addressed: noise and our landfill.
The noise issue is crucial to our lives in Lake County because we thrive on our visitors and our quality of life here.
We also spend a lot of taxpayer”s money to attract visitors and new residents. When visitors take the time to write letters about their visits here, we shouldn”t criticize them as one local letter writer did. We should seek a reasonable way to accommodate them.
Noise doesn”t just keep you awake at night. It has physiological effects on the body that include tightening of blood vessels and other serious impacts. We do have noise ordinances for these reasons and need to enforce them.
The Lakeport Speedway runs past the usual 10 p.m. restrictions on noise in residential neighborhoods as did the blessedly now quiet concerts on the lake at Konocti harbor.
The speedway”s public address system is louder than the races themselves and should be quieter.
There is no reason the races should run past 10 p.m., especially since so many children attend and so many seniors live next door to the racetrack.
Added to the racetrack noise are the hornets-on-steroids noise of the bass boats that start before dawn, the unrestricted noise levels of our highways and various other sources.
This is not a place people can enjoy if they like peace and quiet. In fact, many of us seek campgrounds and resorts outside of Lake County or in remote parts of our county to escape the noise.
As for the landfill, current revenue is only one operating concern. What will it cost us once the landfill is full?
What will it cost to ship our waste out of the county in the future? Mendocino County has secretly used our dump for years although we probably have better screening now for non-county dumpers. They”ve run out of space in their county and we will too soon enough.
Landfills are extremely toxic and can leak out deadly poisons, including heavy metals, radioactive materials and corrosive materials.
We don”t need to invite Mendocino County”s waste. We need to reduce our own waste and make our dump last a long time. It will be cheaper in the long run.
Just say no to excessive noise and trash.
Wendy J. White
Glenhaven
