Letter: Put some thought into drainage options

Should the citizens of Carson City trust their tax dollars with an engineering firm to spend $19.5 million (give or take $10.5 million) on the gamble of flood control? At the end of the line where the collected water will drain into the Carson River, will these "pipes" be located above the banks of the Carson River to allow the water collected to dump into the river?

This is an important issue because if the river rises above these "pipes," it will render the pipes ineffective as they will not drain, but merely back up. With the money being proposed, could we build four foot wide sidewalks along King Street that could be hydraulically raised 90 degrees during a flood (to create a temporary "King River") for less money?

Remember the Mississippi River floods? Mother Nature proved to us (again) that man could only do so much to control her wrath of rain. If a repeat of the Carson floods of '97 occurs, I seriously doubt if there is anything we can do to prevent damage. We can just try to minimize it.

As much as I hate to see the federal government involved in local issues, I believe the Corps of Engineers should render its opinion as to what may be necessary to control our floods and what can be utilized to minimize damage.

Certainly, though, the citizens of Carson City should object to the "give or take $10.5 million" policy. City officials want to know if the community is getting "sticker shock." I'd say this is more like billboard shock! $10,500,000 divided by the approximate number of Carson City citizens (50,000) is $210 per citizen (including children).

Let's assume that the taxes needed to fund this extravaganza would be in the form of increased property taxes. Then, homeowners beware as this "give or take" price could well exceed $1,000 per homeowner! That's a whole lot of give or take for something that may or may not work. And you thought my hydraulic sidewalk system was stupid. I'd value an opinion by the Corps of Engineers on this project.

RUSS EPPEN

Carson City