(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Letter to the Editor)

After attending the public comments and Parkersburg’s City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6 featuring debate on the fate of city trash collectors.

The long-winded session left me exhausted realizing that even Sisyphus worked harder in his fruitless efforts trying to roll a heavy ball (our sanitation service) up a steep hill only to have it roll back again!

Watching a favorite movie, “Field of Dreams,” with its iconic line, “If you build it they will come” made me realize the importance of creating desirable income-producing destinations in the MOV by building iconic attractions, like the all-weather aerial tramway to Fort Boreman with a lunch break at a refurbished Kokomos if only our local city and county officials could inspire and see the wisdom of pursuing unique ideas.

I am old enough to remember the “Point of View’ restaurant with its steak and lovely look at our Valley.

Having worked years for a bureaucracy, I know how difficult it is to generate change and solve complex problems.

Similar to Parkersburg’s refusal to reinstate curbside trash and recycling service. When confronted with contentious problems and change requiring additional work, thought and planning, it is always easier to simply say, “No,” give up, and pass the buck along with responsibility to a vendor, ironically, adding even more complexity and cost to a can of worms.

It seems that the wrecking ball is the city’s preferred method for solving thorny problems.

Why do recycling and our environment seem dirty words to city leaders? We do not renovate old schools, separate recyclables, clean dirty rivers, or cherish our land for future generations, with hopes to build for a future with a viable economic base!

Strange, given the desire to attract business for more employment.

Along with the tramway, extending the bicycle trails to the mall, Williamstown and North Bend makes perfect sense. With county/community cooperation it should be possible to build a network of paved trails and maybe organize a “Hills on Wheels” biking event similar to the (newspaper’s half) marathon! Who knows? Such a happening might even attract adventurous entrepreneurs!

Parkersburg has much to offer, if only local leaders had the foresight to devote the time, energy and resources to build infrastructure designed to keep our city clean with a goal to attract business and people.

Hopefully Parkersburg can learn something from this and make a dream come true!

Stanley Cole

Parkersburg