Commissioners Hear Constituents on Ridgeline Project

By: Lydia Crawley The Parsons Advocate

The Tucker County Commission heard from members of the public on the issue of the proposed Ridgeline Power Plant facility between Davis and Thomas June 25th. The hearing was part of the Commission’s regular meeting agenda. Members of Tucker United were on hand, along with members of the general public and two of Mineral County’s Commissioners.

The Commissioners listened to comments from both opponents and supporters for over an hour during the meeting. Civility was mostly maintained with limited outbursts from members of the crowd. Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau warned a few attendees about their outbursts during the otherwise civil discourse.

Opponents to the Ridgeline Project cite pollution concerns, impacts to tourism, emergency services, schools, lack of transparency and concerns over job creation. Opponents also voiced concerns over HB 2014 and its taking of local autonomy and tax revenue.

Tucker United member and 30 year resident Katie Russell spoke on behalf of Tucker United. Russell said Tucker United is comprised of over 1,000 members made up of residents and business owners some with roots in the community going back generations.

Kelly Stadleman offered to work with Commission, as well as the Mineral County Commissioners who were on hand for the meeting, on the issues, especially regarding HB 2014. Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau said that the Commission was blindsided by the legislation, but that the Commission’s State organization has been hard at work since the day news broke on HB 2014 to fight the legislation.

Tucker United Member Shaena Crossland distributed a letter of opposition to the project and HB 2014 signed by local business owners. Chris Parque read from a prepared statement and Sarah Stoneseifer spoke about her child’s health struggles. Resident Zina Raye raised concerns over fire suppression.

Kyle Wood read a poem by Tucker County poet Cleta Long. Rosenau thanked Wood for reading the poem as he had been friends with Long.

A woman named Deana placed a gas mask on her head during her speech and asked the Commission, “Is this what you want us all to look like?”

Sandra Goss said she was most disturbed by what is not being said. Goss said that Fundamental Data has redacted a lot of information and is not being forthcoming with a lot of information on job creation and other questions the community has. She says she is most concerned about the lack of transparency the company has shown in regards to the project.

Town of Davis Council Member, Canaan State Park Board and Heart of the Highlands Board Member Jess Tucker spoke on his concerns that the County would be saddled with additional costs of infrastructure and EMS from the project. Tucker also said he was concerned about limited housing in the area for additional workers that may come into the area to work on the project. Tucker also had concerns over the burning of diesel at the site.

“The 30% of the time that they are going to be burning diesel,” Tucker said. “Right now, we can smell on a hot day, with the wind blowing the right way, we can smell the landfill in Davis. 30% of the time, we are going to smell diesel fuel burning out there. Its that close.”

Tucker County resident Gene Kelly spoke in support of the project. Like many, he felt the area needed jobs other than tourism jobs to help keep the youth in the area. Supporters said they were tired of seeing their children have to leave the area to make a living wage because they felt that they could not survive on tourism wages.

“I have three sons, guess where they all work, Morgantown, because they can’t survive here,” Kelly said.

Kelly, who said he retired from the Mt. Storm Power Plant, accused Tucker United of manipulating their claims that the plant would only bring 25 to 30 jobs to the area.

“We had twice as many mechanics, electricians, technicians, you’re manipulating that number,” Kelly said. “That’s what it takes to operate it.”

Town of Davis Mayor Al Tomson spoke on behalf of the Town in opposition to the project. Tomson spoke of the dangers of burning fossil fuels and pollution from power plants. During his comments, he directly called out Rosenau by questioning him about his mother and grandchildren in reference to the plant.

“I just want to let you know I retired after 30 years at Mt. Storm Power Station,” Rosenau said. “So there you go. You called me out directly. That’s all I’m saying.”

Resident Jake Phillips said he supports the project for the job opportunities it will bring to the communities. Phillips equated the jobs to the opportunities that Kingsford and Mt. Storm have brought to the area.

“Even if its 25 to 50 good, full paying, career jobs. If that’s 25 of them, that’s 25 families that can reside. That’s a full street in Davis, a full street in Thomas that gets paid from that one facility,” Phillips said.

Phillips addressed the concerns Tucker United voiced over light pollution from the site. He questioned whether the site would produce more light then the Rubenstein Center or night skiing at Canaan and Timberline.

Farmer Jeremy Hobb said he isn’t concerned about the project because the regulations will be strictly adhered to by the State. Hobb said the DEP will be strict in their enforcement of regulations on the site. Frustration over opposition in the County to any industry that is not tourism was voiced by Hobb and the Hydro project was referenced, especially how protest led to the end of the project.

Hobb also said that while 30% of the revenue coming back to the county from the site isn’t great, it is still “a game changer” and much needed by the area.

“I talk to everyone down in this corner of the county, my friends, relatives, there’s a lot of support for this,” Hobb said. “I thank the companies for coming to Tucker County and looking at us as a possibility for this. I thank the Commissioners for considering this as a possibility for our county. We need it. We cannot make it on tourism alone.”

Hobb addressed the fears that the project would destroy the tourism industry in the area. Hobb said he felt that the project would not have as negative effect on tourism as Tucker United has stated. Hobb also stated that the schools, EMS, Fire and the county as a whole would benefit from the 30% tax revenue that would come from the project.

Supporters such as Andy Helmick told stories about how they had to leave the state to make money, but would have much rather stayed local had good opportunities been available. Helmick also said that having good local jobs that families could work to reduce people having to commute to outside communities would also be beneficial to the county.

Rosenau said that he feels the County should work together. Rosenau said he feels that there has been too much division in the County lately and that the County has not been working together.

“We don’t work together when the Commissioners, the things that we receive: how uneducated we are, how dumb we are, how we don’t understand what the people in our county want, you should resign,” Rosenau said. “Tucker County United. I look at Tucker County United as a play on words because as you can see here tonight, it is not Tucker County United.”

Rosenau said he believes in facing the issues with the facts. He also said he listens to everyone in the county who has concerns on the issue.

“I will address the issues as they come with as much information as I have,” Rosenau said. “And I hear you all. I hear both sides.”

The Commissioners said that they had all been in multiple meetings all day. They had been accused of “not doing anything” and asked “what do you do all day?” Rosenau said had been in five meetings that day and Commissioners Davis and Knotts had each been in three that day alone.

“We have Mineral County Commissioners here. After this meeting you can ask them how we represent Tucker County on the State level,” Rosenau said.

Rosenau said that the State Senate made sure the counties got something out of HB 2014. According to Rosenau, blame for HB 2014 rests mostly with the House.

“The people you should be addressing your concerns at is our House Members,” Rosenau said. “If it weren’t for the Senate, we wouldn’t have anything. So you should be thanking them for at least getting us a small portion of the pie.”

Rosenau said that he is not happy with the bill and feels it needs amended.

“House Bill 2014 needs some work, I’ll be the first one to say that,” Rosenau said.

Rosenau closed that portion of the meeting with comments on the need to work together and the need to not criticize before thanking everyone for coming and moving onto the rest of the evening’s agenda.