I have lived out Funny River Road since we built our house here in 1979. We raised our four kids here. I was not aware there was any thought of a public boat launch until I saw a recent letter opposing it.<\/p>\n
The Funny River community has needed a public boat launch for more than 40 years. The letter writer wrote of “seasonal residents” claiming “all” of Funny River wanting a boat launch. She then went on to claim 97% of Funny River opposed the boat launch. (I did not know a river could have an opinion.) I suspect the number of Funny River Road residents in favor and opposed to the boat launch is in between. In Alaska, as in the nation, I doubt you could find 97% of all residents agreeing to anything.<\/p>\n
The “seasonal residents,” like the permanent locals, own property, pay taxes and have as much right to government services and consideration as anyone else.<\/p>\n
I have driven Funny River Road for 40 years. When I first moved out here it was not uncommon to drive to or from town and not see another soul. This summer, in July, I counted more than 120 vehicles going the other way on a 14-mile drive. They were practically bumper to bumper. I did not count the number of boats being towed, but it was considerable. The letter writer seemed to indicate only “seasonal people” wanted a boat launch. A fair number of the pickups I have seen hauling boats I am also used to seeing haul firewood at other times of the year. I suspect they are permanent folks. I also suspect a lot of them would like to have a local public boat launch. Not everyone is lucky or rich enough to live on the river or have a private boat launch.<\/p>\n
The letter writer wrote that if a public boat launch were put in people would drive from town and overload Funny River Road’s capacity. I do not think anyone would drive an extra 11 miles down a twisty, two-lane road to use the Funny River boat launch. There are a number of public launches on the other side of the Kenai River a lot easier to reach. That little inconvenience should lower her fears of overloading Funny River Road’s services.<\/p>\n
The letter writer writes of the quirky little bridge over Funny River. Before DOT paved Funny River Road about 18 years ago, the bridge was marked as a one-lane bridge. DOT did not widen it.<\/p>\n
Now it is marked as a narrow bridge. We were very courteous to one another, waiting patiently for oncoming traffic to clear. I still treat it as a one-lane bridge because it is so narrow and let other traffic pass. We all used to wave at each other because we were neighbors. I still do.<\/p>\n
People are going to use the river whether they can launch conveniently near their Funny River homes or have to drive to town. Putting in a public boat launch in the Funny River community would cut down a lot of the road traffic and make our quirky little bridge more convenient.<\/p>\n
Let us learn to live with and accept our neighbors and their views. We can all respectfully agree to disagree with another’s views without condemning them.<\/p>\n
I speak for myself. I am a nobody, just another Funny River Fool.<\/p>\n
— Bill Parker, Funny River<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
‘Seasonal residents’ own property, pay taxes and have as much right to government services and consideration as anyone else. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n