We got an email from shawneemissionpost.com reader Joe Houston late last week that we thought might merit a li’l bit of community discussion. Houston wrote in inquiring about the status of the Carroll Plaza fountain at the northwest corner of 75th Street and Mission Road.

The fountain was out of commission all last year, and Public Works is in the process of repairing it in hopes that it will be back up and running by the end of May. (Public Works director Bruce McNabb said the city has purchased a new pump for the fountain, but is waiting on new waterproof lights — once the supplies come in, a contractor will complete the work).

But Houston — who was an outspoken critic of spending money to replace the chain link fence along Tomahawk Road — says he thinks the city shouldn’t be throwing funds at the Carroll Plaza fountain for a simple reason: no one uses it. With one of the city’s busiest intersections not more than 20 feet away, Carroll Plaza is an unlikely spot for a pedestrian respite, he says. Instead, the city could use the space to build a fountain that motorists could actually see.

“[My] solution to the stupid park that no one sits at or would want to sit at unless they love the smell of exhaust fumes and have no hearing: build a new one,” he wrote. “Yep, that’s right; build a brand new spanking fountain that is elevated, a waterfall type thing that when people drive by they will see it. Not a fountain that you sit around. Stop the wasted money of fixing this thing and put it in the budget for a super duper cool fountain.”

What say you, Village People?