Dear Editor,
Maintenance – our friend Webster defines it thus: to preserve or keep in a particular state or condition; the preservation and upkeep of buildings, roads and machinery.
There are those in city and county, public and private places who do not seem to understand that definition.
In private places we cannot demand maintenance until the place becomes a public nuisance and usually by then it can only be torn down. Those places usually belong to greedy slumlords who do not maintain their rentals.
In public places, government places funded with our tax dollars, we should expect better maintenance than what we see and hear about in Billings, Montana.
We saw on the news pictures of rotting timbers at Cobb Field and being told we need to tear this down and build new. Regular maintenance would have prevented the rotten boards. They could have been replaced as they wore out.
We read in the paper about Lockwood Irrigation District needing to do much needed maintenance. I assume that means it was much overdue.
We hear about the old cast iron water lines in our town that seem to break in the cold of winter. Such lines should be on scheduled maintenance to replace a few each year instead of in an emergency during a cold winter.
My pet peeve, is Metra Park. There is the damaged block wall in the Expo Building. Had to have been hit by a piece of equipment – broke out the block and cracked the whole wall. Has been that way for a good many years. I was just there for the Home Show – still broken.
In the same building the women’s bathroom near the concession stand still sprays water so forcefully, it goes all over the smooth concrete floor, just waiting for some old lady to slip, fall and sue Yellowstone County. That one is an easy fix – turn down the water pressure.
We saw the article about how great Metra Park is doing – showing good profits with its dirty buildings. Perhaps the new GM, Stony Field, could spend a few dollars on some maintenance. Is there even a maintenance fund?
Taxpayers shouldn’t be satisfied with the mentality of – let it go to heck, then we can tax people to build new. Taxpayers are also to blame for not speaking up and demanding officials do regular maintenance before things go to hell.
Sandy Weiss
Billings
