Letters, April 29, 2015

Appreciation for great volunteers

I want to openly express my appreciation for the many volunteers who participated in tree-planting and cleanup events at Marion Reservoir this past weekend. I was truly amazed, grateful and proud.

I was amazed at the achievement of the 27 Pea?body-Burns High School students and faculty who hand-dug and planted more than 750 trees! Above that, their camaraderie and enthusiasm made for a fun day. Peabody Proud!

I am grateful for the individuals, families and groups who hiked through mud, rocks and brush in pursuit of bottles, bags and endless bait container lids. It?s not a glamorous job, but a job well done in the endless battle against litter.

I was proud to be part of a community that dedicates time and resources toward their public lands. The recruitment, funding and organization of an army of volunteers is no small feat and it did not go unnoticed.

Too often the Corps of Engineers becomes a faceless agency, and it is through events like these we establish and reaffirm relationships with our community. On behalf of the reservoir staff: Thank-you for the opportunity, and thank-you for the help!

Melissa Bean

Chief park ranger

Marion Reservoir

 

Website tip for county taxpayers

After spending more than five minutes on the Marion County website looking for the link to pay my property tax online, I decided to call the appraisers office for further instruction.

I was told Jeannine Bate?man is aware of the inconvenience, but I have a feeling she needs more feedback from the taxpayers before she?s willing to make the link appear on the homepage?like it most obviously should have been in the first place. Sigh….

To find the link is really pretty simple, but not very apparent. From the home page, hover over ?Elected Offices,? find ?Treasurer? and, ignoring the subjects underneath that heading, just click on the heading itself.

The link is a logo at the bottom of that page, below Jeannine Bateman?s email address.

Hope this helps.

Kell Hawkins

Marion

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