Letters to the Editor

To the Editor,

With this spring-like weather we are experiencing, Hill Crest Cemetery has come to my mind. For the last two years it has been neglected and ignored by City Hall. The previous administration hired a company that took care of the cemetery on a regular basis. I think they were let go by City Hall and that is when Hill Crest was neglected. Last year, some money was finally designated for a crew to come in and mow, weed eat, and blow grass off of the markers to try and get it looking better, but that money did not last long. I truly appreciate what Terry Byers has done with nothing but a very old riding mower. He can’t do all that needs to be done by himself. Many gravesites have copings or fences around them and they need a small push mower and/or weed eater to cut the grass. Since we do not have a designated caretaker for Hill Crest, it would not be feasible to buy the necessary equipment to use.

The Tour of Homes is having two tours at Hill Crest on April 12^th and 13^th. It would be an embarrassment to the Garden Club as well as Holly Springs if tourists go to Hill Crest and the grass and weeds are knee-deep. Also, shrubs need to be trimmed, especially inside the Market Street gate, suckers need to be cut that are growing around the bottom of the crepe myrtles, and limbs hanging from trees from last year’s ice storm need to be cut down. A limb could fall on someone or a vehicle. Fire ant hills need to be poisoned. The city needs to take bids from reputable lawn services to take care of Hill Crest. I wonder if there is a line item in the budget designated for Hill Crest.

Let me address the roads in Hill Crest. They need paving as well as the potholes need to be repaired. I don’t mean filling them up with gravel. It will wash out when it rains. They need to be filled in with hot mix. Let me also bring up the new road that was started during the previous administration. This was stopped by City Hall and it is now a mud hole. It needs to be finished so that there is another access road off of Maury Street for future gravesites.

Now, I would like to address the paint job at the utility department. It was not scraped prior to painting and it seems it was painted with a sprayer because there is yellow paint on the bricks. C.B. And I go out there at least twice a month to try to find out what we owe on our utility bill and I cringe looking at it. I am asking City Hall that it be scraped and repainted a color such as white. Whoever heard of yellow wrought iron or yellow lettering on the building? Was this choice of color decided by one person?

I could probably go on and on, but these are two things that are very troubling to me and I cannot address them in three minutes at a board meeting.

Marie R. McClatchy Holly Springs