Dear Editor,

Living in Hartselle is a continual learning experience. When the city received funding for the new high school, is when I learned Hartselle fuzzy math. I was told by the superintendent that “We are going to build one and a half gyms.” This was a great feat in itself.

Later on I learned about fuzzy law enforcement. No parking signs were installed and people who still parked there received a phone call asking them not to park there any more. Luckily, this issue has been resolved, it only took six months after the signs were installed until the police department was allowed to write tickets.

During a city council meeting earlier this year, I remember one of our elected leaders saying the city council would not pass any ordinance that they would not enforce.

In Hartselle’s Code of Ordinances Sec. 62-5 concerns “attaching matter to utility poles or traffic signs.” Here is another perfect example of fuzzy enforcement.

Once a week two city employees will ride around and take the offending signs off the utility poles on the main roads and take them to the landfill. Some of the people who put these signs up might get a form letter and that is it.

While I admit that I do not live on one of the main streets, I do live one block south of one. If I were to go out my front door and look southeast, I would see a sign for a lawn cleaning company that has only been up for three months. If I were to look west, I would see a sign for gutters that had only been up for two months.

To   sum it up, Hartselle has an ordinance that is not enforced. No penalties- shoot- even the city will pay employees to clean up the illegally put up material. Suggestions have been made to city officials on possible cures, but we will have to wait and see what happens in the future.

Don Sanders
Hartselle