Bainbridge needs power utility planning | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 9:20 am Tuesday, December 1, 2015

To the editor:

I have a limited time to write this before my generator runs out of fuel.

Every few months, I take this opportunity to silently curse the city of Bainbridge Island for failing to implement a 20-, 30- or 50-year plan to underground our utilities.

Unlike in most first-world countries, our government [and local utility] prefers to spend money on 24-hour emergency crews called in from outlying areas and yearly trimming that often weakens trees, impedes traffic and adds to the visual pollution.

The more personal irritant is that this lack of planning has caused me to spend thousands of dollars for emergency generators, alternate electrical panels, flashlights, etc. every time we’re thrown back to the Stone Age.

Almost every long-term government plan is “expensive,” but this bit of long-term planning would reap large rewards in the future.

JAMES MCNETT

Bainbridge Island