SAVANNAH HARBOR
Port needs to adapt as merchant ships grow
Not having knowledge about harbors or shipping, I’ve got a few questions about the Savannah harbor deepening project (“Project squanders millions” and “Every effort was made to mitigate impact,” Opinion, Dec. 25).
It seems that marginal business attributable to this expensive project must come from ships of a particular draft. They must be too deep for the old Panama Canal locks but have significantly less draft fully loaded than the maximum allowed by the new locks.
Do we think ship owners will build ships especially for Savannah forgoing the maximum size for the new locks? If not, must new business attributable to the deepening project come from ships built for the new locks but loaded light and therefore inefficient? Won’t that put Savannah at a competitive disadvantage while trying to pay off the project cost?
JEFF ATKINSON, GAINESVILLE
TRANSPORTATION
Don’t replace fuel tax with new highway tolls
I totally disagree with the idea of replacing the “outdated” tax on fuel with toll roads. The last thing we need is to spend scarce resources building toll facilities and hiring a bureaucracy to run them. There are toll authorities in New Jersey where almost all tolls collected pay for current toll workers and the retirements of past workers.
The claim is that tolls would be fair because those who drive more would pay more. Isn’t this true for the fuel tax? The more you drive, the more fuel you buy, and the more tax you pay. We do not need to slow commutes any more with having to stop and pay tolls or have an expensive electronic system. Perhaps the existing fuel tax is too low and needs to be revised.
Since heavy trucks cause a lot of wear and tear and require highways to be designed to costly standards, there may need to be a way to collect additional funds for truck use. This could possibly be incorporated into existing truck weighing sites. But please, no more tolls, especially on existing roadways.
MICHAEL MITCHELL, MARIETTA
PROPERTY RIGHTS
What gives landowner power on annexation?
Imagine my surprise when I read the article (“Battle revived over DeKalb land,” Metro, Dec. 24) that the owners of Century Center believe they get a deciding vote on what city they belong to, Chamblee or Brookhaven, even after neighborhood residents have overwhelmingly voted to become part of Chamblee. (So far, they have been successful.)
I am surprised because my wife owns business property in Brookhaven, and we are excluded from voting in such matters. It appears there is a secret net worth figure that allows owners of business property to determine the municipality they belong to. I would like to know what that secret figure is so that we might also get to choose.
JIM RULE, CHAMBLEE
