Letter: Put the beast to sleep

Put the beast to sleep

Matt A’Hearn’s letter (The Aspen Times, Commentary, “The Beast of Basalt,” July 16) was spot on. Today we shall be awoken again because for some reason the street needs a weekly sweeping. You cannot shut out the noise of the beast. With all windows closed and earplugs in, the high-pitched whine penetrates your skull until you start thinking dark thoughts of sabotage. Sleep deprived, you stagger through the day.

Sensible towns prohibit parking for a period of time on one side of a street a specific day of the month so that the sweeper can work at a reasonable hour.

I guess when you spend a huge sum on a street sweeper, you feel obligated to use it. How many man-broom hours could be bought with that sum? What does the street sweeper operator do in the winter when there is no snowfall to plow?

Gerry Terwilliger

Basalt