In an article titled “Big items discussed at joint meeting” in the Oct. 10 edition of the Dawson County News, mention of the city of Dawsonville acquiring an airport caught my attention. I was not aware of the need of the citizens of Dawsonville to have a place to store their private airplanes.

Mayor Eason said it would not cost the citizens any money as the FAA would cover all the costs. The FAA is a federal agency which means there will be strings attached. Will the FAA also pay for changing the light bulb after operations commence? The mayor also said that we would not like a commercial airport.

What’s wrong with a commercial airport? Our country was established on the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The ability to achieve our goals through risk-taking is a fabric embedded in our country’s history. The commercial airport would pay all the operating costs to include staffing, maintenance and associated overhead costs beyond the initial infrastructure expenditures. If this venture was not commercially viable before now, why is it now viable for a government entity?

The city of Dawsonville would assume all those costs and therefore tax the property owners to cover the costs of staffing and other associated costs. This looks like bureaucratic creep to me. After the period 2008 through 2016, I am skeptical of any public official who says something is great. This proposal follows the doubling of my county taxes and the revaluation of my property.

I am not convinced this proposed action benefits the citizens of Dawsonville.

W.K. Thacker

Dawsonville