103 Maumee Dr.
Monroe, OH 45050
May 16, 2017
Dear Mr. Pink,
In 1926 my grandfather and uncle bought two small islands near the northwestern shore of Skeleton Lake. 91 years later those islands are still in the family and have provided countless memories for four generations. The first time I visited the islands I was two years old; the first time my son went he was 4 weeks old and learned to smile while he was at the island.
There are so many ways we have enjoyed summers at the lake. We have listened to the patter of raindrops on the roof and heard the waves lapping on the beach. We have seen beavers, bears, deer, a porcupine, snakes, plus endless numbers of chipmunks and squirrels roaming through the woods and sometimes in the houses. Hummingbirds have dive bombed one another at our feeders; herons have left their footprints in the sand as they were surprised and flew as our canoe gently cruised by the weeds in the water; the haunting call of a loon sang us to sleep at night; cedar waxwings have perched on a dead tree over the water; swallows and robins have built their nests under the rafters and raised their families; seagulls have chased our boats to be sure we didn’t venture too close to their nests.
We’ve had cold rainy days when we huddled under blankets by the fireside to keep warm and hot sunny days when we sat in the water to keep cool. In the daytime we have worked to maintain the property and during the evening we’ve played games together and strengthened our family ties. There have been happy times when we celebrated engagements, weddings, new babies, and children learning to swim and canoe, and times when we celebrated and remembered the lives of the first persons in our family who made it possible for us to continue to enjoy Skeleton Lake today.
The thought that a place which means so much to all our family may be changed forever by blasting from daybreak to nightfall, by the vibrations it causes, by hearing heavy trucks carrying gravel and rumbling down a road that was not designed for this type of traffic all day long, by the danger of polluting the streams feeding into the clear water of our lake fills us with great concern. Peace and tranquility will no longer exist.
My family and I strongly oppose the rezoning of property on Butler-Mill Road off Aspdin Road which would allow Lippa Pit and Quarry to begin operations and ask that this request be denied.
I leave you with two quotes. Lady Bird Johnson once said, “Natural beauty feeds the soul and lifts the heart.” And from the First Peoples who said, “The earth does not belong to us. We belong to the earth.”
Please forward this letter to other members on the Planning Commission.
Best regards,
Barbara Alder