I read the Oct. 16 article concerning slander to the 329 Main Street site in Salisbury where the city of Salisbury, the school board and the other powers that be are so hellbent on building the new central school office building. Commissioner Craig Pierce may not be totally correct on all of his assertions concerning this property, but one thing is for sure: It is a contaminated site. It has monitoring wells that are indeed picking up ground water contamination, as I understand it, and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has not given a “no further action” on the site.
I am a private real estate investor and a general contractor, and even as a private citizen, I had to have a Phase I Environmental Study done on a commercial property I bought back in approximately 2005 before the bank would provide financing. Why would the city of Salisbury, with all of its intelligent people and engineers etc., have ever purchased this property without doing their due diligence?
To me this property is too small, has limited parking, has no room for expansion and has environmental concerns. Surely, we have a better suited property for our new multimillion school administration office somewhere in Rowan County or even in downtown Salisbury.
As to the statement that the city, school system and state have spent more than $1.3 million preparing the site and designing the building, that is blatant stupidity, plus the cost of the plans and design can be used to build elsewhere, thus reducing this cost. If it sounds like I am concerned about wasting Rowan citizens’ tax dollars on this site then I guess you can sue me for slander also.
I applaud Commissioner Pierce for looking out for all county taxpayers and trying to provide some legitimate solutions and options. But some other groups are just looking to feather their own nests at the expense of the Rowan taxpayers like me and you.
— Duke C. Brown Sr.
Salisbury

It has been almost a year since our pediatrician told us we needed to cut gluten and dairy from our kid’s diet. Looking back, I can’t believe what a difference it has made; last year we had nine ear infections between the kids, this year none. Last year we had behavior issues, this year people stop and tell me how well behaved the children are. We are a completely different (and better!) family because of a simple change in diet.
But backing up to that day I found out our diets were going to change, it didn’t seem simple. I sat in my pantry with a stack of paper bags, slowly reading all the food labels, trying to figure out what was safe, what I would need to restock, so overwhelmed. It wasn’t until I was lining those bags of food up to take to the food pantry that I realized how truly blessed I was. What would the recipients of these bags of food do if their children were on special diets? How would I feel if I had to choose between feeding my babies something that makes them sick or not feeding them at all?
In this season of food drives, please remember those with special diets. The cost is usually quite similar on the basics, and the big allergens are usually posted in bold at the bottom of the ingredient list. I usually tape my bag shut and write “gluten/dairy free” in bold on the side. Let’s help everyone to have a happy and tummy-ache free holiday season!
— Sally Bays
Salisbury

Letters endorsing candidates in the Nov. 5 municipal elections must be received in the Salisbury Post newsroom by 5 p.m., Oct. 30.