I was for consolidating with Hillsboro
You folks have been missing out on a good chance to help determine the future of this community.
The city of Peabody and Main Street have been holding "strategic planning" meetings since March to figure out what the city wants and needs as far as infrastructure, education, housing, economic development, and essential services are concerned.
Some of the priorities include a community building/auditorium, attracting new businesses and families, and a downtown streetscape project.
Oh, yeah, and some other things.
There have been about 25 people present (representing all 1,400 of you) at most meetings.
Last time we all decided we were in favor of school consolidation. There certainly was a great deal of discussion about this plan, and initially not everyone was in favor of it. However, in the end we agreed that consolidation is in everyone's future and we might as well just cut to the chase and go for it.
We determined that it would be best for the county and state if Peabody were to take the lead. Plans were made and a search committee was formed to contact Marion, Hillsboro, and Newton to see which district could best accommodate our junior high and high school students.
We thought we should keep Peabody Elementary open, but turn that building on North Sycamore into Marion County's largest hay barn.
If you had been there, how would you have voted? Well, we will never know will we, because you weren't there.
And now that I have your attention, you can relax. No need to get your knickers in a knot.
Of course we didn't vote to move forward on a proposal for school consolidation. But we could have. We could have set the ball in motion. Who knows what might have happened if we'd all been in favor of it, had great fiscal arguments, and had been able to convince other voters?
The point is that out of a population of 1,400-plus people there should be more than 25 of us determining what is important to the future of the community.
Are you willing to trust us because it is just too much trouble to crawl out of your La-Z-Boy and attend a meeting? Do you even know who we are?
The decisions we make will probably affect your property values and your taxes. How do you feel about that? Do you care if we decide kiss-off business recruitment and let the downtown become even more bleak?
Do you care if we decide to seek more stringent zoning ordinances, tougher nuisance regulations, or if we decide they already are too strict and everyone should just do his own thing?
Should we try to attract new young families to fill our vacant homes and increase our school population? Or should we just forget it and become an aging Baby Boomer Village? (And what will that do to your property values?)
There is another meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday night in the multi-purpose room at the grade school. Even if you haven't attended before, you should make an effort to be there. We could use some more input. You never know what great ideas might be languishing out there unspoken or unheard. And it is just plain silly for you to trust me to determine the future of this community.
Being in the auction business, we will be the last ones out of town
— SUSAN MARSHALL
