To the Editor:

Whilst going to pay our respects for a loved one, our family was nearly killed near the funeral home in Potsdam on Cedar Street and Main Street

Despite our careful observation of the traffic on Cedar Street, three pick-up trucks sped towards us with no sign of relenting.

We saved one another by pushing ourselves backwards, stumbling on the curb. Later on, our friends parked on Main Street to get to the Seymour Funeral Home. Alas, their experience was the same except it was a construction vehicle and several cars that had come so fast that they could not be seen in the distance.

Our friends (who are also residents) told us that everyone in town recognized this infamous intersection and how it has been brought to the attention of the Village of Potsdam’s officials repeatedly for a decade. We listened and were shocked to hear of the fatal crash into the home next to Seymour’s demolishing the front living room.

We were incredulous in hearing about the speeding trucks that had ripped the nearby fire hydrant from the ground as well as the underground drains and water lines. Another truck leveled a row of trees and another destroyed a front porch.

We were shown the Village’s solution, a fluorescent green new fire hydrant replacing the old one. We don’t think a speeding truck demolished a corner of a home because it failed to see the fire hydrant. Do you? We recognize red tape, and budgets and following the proper channels as norms. We do love to go to such a welcoming funeral home and we’ll consider the location now as well.

It is absolutely shameful and morally wrong for the mayor, the village administrator, the village board, the village trustees to turn their backs. They are guilty of such negligence in caring for people’s lives that there is no excuse.

These same people competed a study in 2006 for the village comprehensive plan to make this a 4-way intersection immediately, we are told. This, in our opinions is inexcusable. We come together to grieve the loss of loved ones. To us, going to a funeral should not place our lives at risk.

Mrs. Alice Snyder and Family

Potsdam