Lincoln Daily News
welcomes letters of appreciation, information and
opinion on matters pertaining to the community.
Controversial issues:
As a
community we need to be able to talk openly about
matters that affect the quality of our lives. The
most effective and least offensive manner to get
your point across is to stick to the issue
and refrain from commenting on another person's
opinion. Letters that deviate from focusing on the
issue may be rejected or edited and marked as such.
.
Submit a letter to the editor online |
You may also send your letters by e-mail to
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
or by U.S. postal mail:
Letters to the Editor
Lincoln Daily News
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
Letters must include the writer's
name, telephone number, and postal address or e-mail address (we
will not publish address or phone number information).
Lincoln Daily News reserves the right to edit letters to
reduce their size or to correct obvious errors.
Lincoln Daily News reserves the right to reject any letter for
any reason. Lincoln Daily News will publish as
many acceptable letters as space allows.
|
|
[Response to
letter from Ed Perry] To the editor:
I would like to comment on Mr. Perry's point that Lincoln Rural
Fire Protection District should renovate an existing building,
rather than build a new facility. Undoubtedly there are some
situations that merit refitting an existing structure, but the
conditions must be carefully thought out. I will give a few solid
reasons why Lincoln Rural should continue to pursue building a new
structure on the Postville property.
1. Lincoln Rural already owns the 1.5 acres on the corner of
Postville Drive and 21st Street. They purchased that property at
considerably less than its market value.
2. Lincoln Rural serves the rather large district surrounding
Lincoln, and even though there is no property or its inhabitants
more valued than another, it makes good sense to locate their
station nearest the most densely populated area of their district.
3. For the past five years, Lincoln Rural supplies an EMT to
Logan County Paramedic Association to complete the two-person crew
needed for a third-response ambulance for 911 calls. LCPA responds
to over 3,800 calls per year, and it is a daily event that
LCPA has two ambulances committed to other calls simultaneously.
This means we must have another ambulance ready for the next call.
One of LCPA's medics and Lincoln Rural's EMT stand ready to answer
that emergency. The LCPA/Lincoln Rural third-call ambulance answers
approximately 15 calls per month, and is on alert to answer 911
calls multiple hours per month, as you may be able to
imagine. This coupling of resources from the ambulance service and
fire department is fiscally responsible, helping to hold down
costs to those who use the ambulance. Otherwise LCPA would have to
keep more personnel on constant payroll. This arrangement also helps
Lincoln Rural Fire District in that it generates approximately
$15,000 per year revenue from LCPA for its services. Lincoln Rural's
decision to build next to LCPA not only solidifies that arrangement
for the future, but assures faster response time to medical
emergencies.
[to top of second column in this letter] |
4. When retrofitting an existing building, one still has an old
structure when completed. Building new is many times a better value
due to more efficient heating and cooling issues. In addition, one
can suit their specific structural needs, rather than making do.
Fire and rescue is most valuable to the infrastructure of a
community. We need to allow these public servants to possess the
best we can offer them and the people they serve.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Siltman
CEO of Logan County Paramedic Association
(Posted Nov. 6, 2006)
Click here to send a note to the editor
about this letter.
 |
