I would like to comment on the Oct. 12 Local View column, “City loses much by turning Hartley into park,” by Dan Mundt, and the Oct. 13 news story, “Storm damage slows work on winter trails,” by News Tribune reporter Peter Passi.
I totally agreed with Mundt about not turning Hartley into a park in the first place, including cutting down a lot of trees, only to have a windstorm hit and lose more trees. To get Hartley and Lester parks back on track will require sizable dollars.
The story reported that “Gov. Mark Dayton declared the windstorm an emergency, making the city eligible to recoup up to 75 percent of the costs it incurs clearing trails, according to Wayne Parson, Duluth’s finance director.”
But counting on this is not realistic. Look at what happened to that bonding bill during 2016 legislative session. It didn’t happen.
The Duluth Cross-Country Ski Club and the Duluth Drift-Toppers snowmobile club are concerned the work won’t get work done by the time snow flies. I will be the first to say no one counted on the windstorm or power outages. We do have to deal with the aftermath, so things will get cleaned up.
Could the city of Duluth think twice when they add another park? Hartley has a wonderful nature center used for the education of young and old.
Leona E. Krieg
Duluth
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