Dear Commissioners Rosenau, Davis and Knotts
First, let me say I love it here in Tucker County. My husband and I came to Blackwater Falls State Park for our honeymoon in December 1976. It snowed 12 of the 14 days we were here. We were hooked. When we retired in 2004, we moved here full time. We still love to hike, bike and ski and have been quite involved with the community through our substantial donations and volunteer work. We happily live in Old Timberline, an area I believe pays a substantial amount of the county’s property taxes.
I fear that you are being very short-sighted when you say you believe the Ridgeline Project will allow you to fulfill your role as County Commissioners to bring financial stability to the county. If the Ridgeline project causes as many problems here as similar projects in other parts of the country, I believe you will lose many of the Canaan Valley and other Tucker County residents, many of the small businesses in Thomas and Davis, and many of the tourists that add so much to our economy. I believe that you are “drinking the Cool Aid” by believing big business will come in and bring great benefits to the county. Our state has a history of allowing big business to come in, only to devastate the area, and then leave. People don’t come to this area for big business; they come here for all that nature has to offer. I very much love this area, but I am very capable of moving elsewhere if what I love is no longer available here. I will not stay in an ugly area with bad air, bad water, light pollution and constant noise that is not only harmful to people, but also to plants and animals. I am not alone. Many of my friends in Timberline are here for the same reasons that I am. If conditions change, I expect many will move which will decrease property values and the amount of revenue paid to the county. I would expect that the number of tourists will also be greatly reduced. This will greatly hurt the businesses which again will continue the spiral of fewer tourists and fewer businesses (which will also reduce the area’s income). Remember what the area was like when all the trees were cut at the turn of the century and there was no reason for people to stay here. It could happen again. If you do get the huge tax windfall that you hope to get (which I doubt), I suspect that it won’t begin to make up for the tax dollars lost because of the devastation the Ridgeline Project brings. I am very worried that the quality of life that will exist here several years after the project is built will be much worse than it is today.
Please look toward the future. Envision what will happen if you lose the part-timers tax base and the large number of tourists who come to the county, not to mention the quality of life for the few who do stay. I suspect things will be fine for the time you will be in office, but think of your legacy. You frequently mention you want your children to stay in this county. Will they want to live in an area with bad water, bad air, constant noise pollution, no stars visible in the night sky and very few businesses? What we lose we are not likely to get back. I know you want what is best for the county, but are you truly considering the long-term consequences of your decision?
A very concerned Tucker County resident, Andrea “Andy” Dalton
