Letters to TUF

From time to time TUF receives a letter that we wish to print. If you have a letter that you want printed on our pages feel free to submit it for consideration. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of TUF.

While I was making my rounds the other morning, I stopped by H K Tire to thank the service manager, Dave, for a very nice thing he had done for my son. A few years ago, my son bought a Chrysler Sebring from a local dealer. When he brought it in to the dealer for a scheduled check up, they told him that he needed a brake job that would cost over $500. Since he had less than 20,000 miles on his car but his warranty expired for brakes, he became suspicious.

I told him to let Dave at H K Tire look at his brakes. Dave checked his brakes and, even though he knew what the dealer had said about the brakes, Dave told my son that he had at least another 10,000 miles on his brakes and didn't charge him a cent for his diagnosis. The noise he heard from his brakes was from brake dust.

This type of service and honesty has been typical of my experience with H K Tire for almost 30 years. In today's world, there aren't to many businesses that you can completely trust-particularly when it involves auto repair.

When I stopped to thank Dave this morning, he confirmed something that I heard once before and it disturbed me to no end. He told me that the Redevelopment Agency has threatened to wipe out a large portion of businesses along Rt. 27 including H K Tire. H K Tire has been an honest and reliable business with reasonable prices for Franklin residents for almost 30 years. Dave has been an honest & reliable Service Manager at H K Tire for a good part of those 30 years. Dave told me that H K has no idea where they will go if they are forced to close.

Why the hell would the Redevelopment Agency even think of getting rid of a valuable asset to Franklin like H K Tire. I've been a customer of H K Tire for almost 30 years and have always received the best deal on tires and the most superior service on their repairs. The loss of H K Tire would be a great loss to the residents of Franklin and the surrounding area.

I understand that our only hardware and building supply dealer, Frank's Building Supply, is also in danger of being shut down. It's of great benefit to Franklin and its residents to have honest businesses in their own town that they can trust and rely on instead of traveling to chain mega-stores where the sales and service personnel act like they don't want to be bothered.

What is the goal of the Redevelopment Agency? Is it to get rid of reliable businesses and replace them with more Pizza places, McDonalds, or rip-off chains? Does the Redevelopment Committee have a hidden agenda? It sure seems like they don't have the welfare of the good businesses or the residents who support these businesses in mind.

Do we need some petition drives to keep the good businesses where they are?

Raymond F. Kulberda

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