NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — As a resident and tax payer in the city of Gravette, I find your decision to pursue the annexation of Hiwasse a poor decision. The residents of Hiwasse wanted nothing to do with Gravette until Bella Vista wanted to annex. I do not think my tax dollars should be used to support a community that only used Gravette as a buffer against another city.

I can drive to anycorner of our town and find roads that need repair. I can show you places where sidewalks don’t exist or are in such disrepair that they are unsafe to walk on. Every day when I walk with my granddaughter in the evening, I see people driving well over the 25 mph speed limit on residential streets, and I see very little police presence to slow them down. I think you should worry about our citizens beforewe worry about a community that didn’t want us in the first place.

If you think our city is as good as it needs to be and we have excess resources to support Hiwasse, then lower our taxes and water bills and give our townspeople a break. I also can’t think of one benefit we would gain from this.

To coin a phrase: Leave Hiwasse alone!

Larry Green Gravette

Opinion, Pages 6 on 04/11/2012