Editor,
I would like to relay to you that I desire to express my appreciation publicly to Carmel Mayor James Brainard and the Carmel highway department. Mayor Brainard has a wonderful vision for a beautiful Carmel community, which we all greatly appreciate and enjoy. It just keeps getting better, as I have seen since graduating from Carmel High School in 1977 and subsequently since returning to live here and practice surgery here in 1991.
When the snow melts in the spring the only place that I’ve really noticed where there has been an accumulation of trash has been on our U.S. 31 corridor. It is significant enough that it reminds me of places that I’ve worked in (developing) countries where the accumulation of trash reflects the hopelessness in those communities.
A couple of weeks ago I sent a communication to Mayor Brainard and nicely expressed my concern about this problem. My wife and I were going to host several other physicians that were in town for a national meeting. I stated that U.S. 31 is one of the major gateways to our community and is the first impression that visitors have of our community. Realizing that it is a federal highway and is not necessarily in the domain of our Carmel highway department, I asked him about it and if there was something we, in the community, could do such as have a citizen’s trash cleanup day. We used to do that when I was a kid growing up “in the country” on 106th Street and Spring Mill Road.
Within a few hours, Mayor Brainard replied very pleasantly to my email and expressed that he had similar travel experiences and that his perspective on U.S. 31 was the same as mine. He indicated that he would see about what he could do. Subsequently, within a few days, as I was driving on U.S. 31, I noticed that the roadside drainage ditches and the medians had been thoroughly cleaned up. It looked so much better and more presentable. So, I would like to thank the mayor and the highway department. We know that Carmel is still a work in progress, but our captain of the ship is responsive to the crew and keeping a good course for us, “steady as she goes.” Thank you, mayor and your crew.
Dr. J. Scott Pittman, Carmel
