To the Journal editor:

It has been 28 years since K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base closed its doors. Still, K.I. Sawyer is an unincorporated town with a population of 4,000.

An unincorporated town has no governance therefore has no say in the township or county it is in. K.I. Sawyer needs to incorporate with charter from the state in order to govern itself and control of revenue generated by taxes paid by the homeowner. You are part of the surrounding townships and Forsythe township is your governing body. You are paying property taxes without representation.

Your taxes are being used elsewhere and not as much here on base. When have seen a street sweeper come through your street? There are some properties that motors being replaced in driveways. The vacant properties are a blight on the neighborhood.

Just this past week a letter from the sewage and water department was distributed to all residents on base about the sewage backups that are currently occurring throughout the base.

They are trying, in this letter, to deflect the fault to the homeowner by insisting that you are causing this by flushing down the toilet; diapers, paper towels, wipes etc.

How can this be when it is happening in many homes. Yesterday I was at my daughter’s duplex on Albatross and both sides of the duplex, the basement had water backing up from using the washer.

Even after she hired a plumber last fall to rotor-rooter the lines. I spoke with neighbors around and they said they know of other neighbors with the same problem. There would be more “power” to have this looked upon by those responsible, however, you do not have a form of government to call upon, thus, you are at the mercy of Forsythe Township and their representatives. The one’s that collect your taxes

You are being represented by someone outside your community that most likely has their interest in the place they live. K.I. needs for someone residing on base to represent you when this governance is formed.

At your next meeting, bring this up and begin the process of becoming a town and not someone else’s money pit.