A crowd of about 70 people showed-up at the Bridgewater Community Building Tuesday evening, to partake in an organizational meeting designed to spark community support for ridding the town of drug dealers and users. Doug Miller is the spokesperson for “Take Back Bridgewater, Iowa,” an initiative he created after he became aware of an Adair County road rock pile with the word “Meth” spray painted on it, and an arrow pointing toward Bridgewater. (click on the left side of the audio bars below to hear his comments)

Miller says he can’t solve the problem alone, he needs to have volunteers and support from the community and that’s what he’s seeing since he created a Facebook page for the initiative, and especially the overwhelming support it garnered during Tuesday night’s meeting.

Miller says he never underestimates the citizens of the community that he’s lived in and worked in for most of his life.

The drug user/dealer community is not going down without a fight, though. Miller says when a central Iowa television station was in-town prior to the meeting Tuesday night, a loud train horn went off. The catch is…no train goes through or near Bridgewater. There hasn’t been railroad activity for years, because the tracks are long gone.

Miller says the horn can be heard up to five-miles away. It is loud and obnoxious, and an investigation is underway into who is setting off the siren.

He says the community will continue to find ways to fight meth and drug use. Miller said a planning committee meeting will be held within the next two weeks to put together an action plan. The next meeting will be an open session, with invitations going out to Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater and City Council members, so the committee can ask questions, not to “Put them on the hot seat.”