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To the editor:
The best thing that has happened in Amsterdam in at least the last 50 years is the recently completed sewer project. A number of employed, two-parent families have moved into town, and that hasn't happened in decades. And we are still in the early stages of what may be a period of modest prosperity.
So, it was disheartening to recently read in this newspaper that many houses are not yet connected to the new system. The Jefferson County commissioners are understandably worried, since the loans that financed this project must be repaid with money from monthly water and sewer bills. It is even more upsetting and perplexing that not all local public officials are as concerned as the commissioners.
Amsterdam enjoyed benefits from the sewer project even before the first shovel of dirt was lifted from the ground. Local, state and federal government agencies were very complimentary that the project included part of Carroll County. They like to encourage this kind of cooperation across jurisdictions. And so it was that Amsterdam was able to afford a new police cruiser and backhoe that it would not have dreamed of owning previously.
But, to residents who question what they receive for the extra money that they pay each month, take a look at your children, take a look at the future we are leaving them. Projects like this one clean up the rivers and streams for future generations. That's worth a lot even though many of us will not be here to see it happen. I hope that we can mount a concerted effort to finish the last mile of this project. Do it for the sake of those who will live here after us.
John Rucki
Amsterdam