Two items in the May 12 morning paper were concerned with Lake Atalanta Park in Rogers. I have spent a lot of time in Rogers, dating back more than a half-century when my uncle was mayor and civic leader. As an adult, I've studied Lake Atalanta's native plants and animals, especially birds.

The letter to the editor by Jane Whitlow deserves to be read by the public in Rogers and unfortunately, should give pause to taxpayers who will pay the estimated $15 million for park renovation. As she points out, the city of Rogers received public input about the road around the lake, with many having good reason to leave it open, then the City Council voted to close it.

At a public meeting about renovation, officials stacked the deck by specifically bringing in folks as invited speakers, but only those who share their views, including contractors with direct pecuniary interests already selected for projects. No contrary views were invited. This makes a sham of public input.

So these are the folks in the process of spending millions of tax dollars to make Lake Atalanta into an amusement park. Instead of doing real engineering work to deal with storm flows, natural springs long at the heart of Rogers history are being turned into unnatural waterfalls and sediment traps. This is the kind of short-sighted planning done by those who spend other people's tax money, but have only modest interest in the natural resource itself.

Joseph C. Neal

Fayetteville