Upshur Co. Development Authority Board: Letter to the Editor

For those who have not had a chance to review the August 20 Record Delta Letter to the Editor by the Board of Directors of the Upshur County Development Authority, I offer it HERE for your review. The Coalition's response to this will be available in Wednesday's Record Delta. Further information will be made available on this blog following the publication.

Yes...I Will be Responding

For those of you coming to this blog to find a response to the Letter to the Record-Delta Editor on Wed. Aug. 20 by the Upshur Co. Development Authority Board of Directors, you can be assured that the response is coming and should appear in next Wednesday's edition along with some new information on this blog.

And for those of you who wished that school would start back so that my time would be preooccupied with helping my students toward critical thinking, it has and I am. However, the students have only served to reinvigorate me. Plus, I have some great case study material now. I thank the Development Authority for bringing all of this back to the surface. The Coalition is re-energized.

Also, as the moderator of this blog, I have kept it a policy to let people make what remarks they wish public and available here. Both pros and cons. Even those who have stereotyped me and who don't even know me. The blog will rile some feathers, understood. But its purpose is a support mechanism for those who feel theatened by this calamity and do not have a say in it through "traditional" methods.

Recent posts are moving toward feedback name-calling between those who post (also known as Flaming). Please stick to the issues and don't use this blog as a means to call each other names. Future posts such as these will be deleted.

Still Watching, Still Waiting

The silence from the City Council has been deafening. Council or other official entities in Upshur County have been quite silent since the last council meeting. Not really sure what this means. If you talk to some people who are "in the know", this means that the silos are going to Century and Weatherford's central headquarters is staying on the CJ Martin hill (where it was always meant to be). But with all the lies and smoke & mirrors that have circulated over this issue, I am not holding my breath.

The City needs to tell us that "The Silos are not going to be in North Buckhannon". Yes, they rescinded the right-of-way across Harrison Avenue, but why won't they say..."There will be no Silos in North Buckhannon"? And make the commitment in an official statement. It would put this thing to rest.

One thing is certain. If any new vote concerning the right-of-way access to the proposed Silo site is in the future, Mayor Davidson promised in the last council meeting that he would hold a special meeting with the residents of Buckhannon before that happens.

Stay alert. Keep informed. Use this blog to relay info.

Thank you Elijah

I wanted to make Elijah Luthor's recent comment front and center. In a very thoughful, intelligent way, he has brought to the surface exactly what we are feeling. If the highest law in our country is the Supreme Court, and if the Supreme Court bases its decisions on our Constitution and Declaration of Independence then we know that the primary LAW is to protect the people. God Bless, Elijah.

- Elijah's Comment

Further Discussion Concerning The July 9 Meeting

In this blog entry I will bring up, once again, Point #3 (I want to keep jobs in West Virginia. If this cannot be resolved in 30 days we are pulling everything out) and Point #4 (But there’s no other place to put the silos). To re-review the points I discussed in my Letter to the Editor, go here. Keep in mind that these points are based on the information revealed in a non-confidential meeting on July 9, between me and Dave Thomas (councilman), Kenny Davidson (mayor), Steve Foster (Executive Dir. Upshur Co. Development Authority), Skeeter Queen (councilman), Dave Rexroad (owner of the property in question), and Rick Smith (Weatherford representative).



Point #3:

The conversation that preceded Rick Smith's "promise" to pull out Weatherford's interests was this:

• Davidson: "Your people in Houston said, 'get out of here'. What do we need to do and what's the time frame? What do we need to do to convince Houston we want you in this community?"
• Smith: "We're running out of time. We've already got $28,000 into this..."
• Thomas: "Answer Kenny's question."
• Smith: "You've got 30 days. Fifteen minutes before the meeting the Ops manager said the heck with Upshur County and get out. I said no."

It is evident, as I have said, that Weatherford's interests in Upshur County are profound and based on the gas-laden shale underground and competition. They have set up a staging area beside Shop n' Save, and as one of our blogger comments suggest (and what I've heard from others) is that they are hiring.

As of today, the 30-day "warning" "promise" "threat" (however you want to look at it) has passed. Weatherford is still here, is ramping up business and will continue to fracture the shale under Upshur County until the gas extraction is no longer feasible.

Point #4:
Those who are pushing to put these silos in N. Buckhannon have consistently made the claim that it is the ONLY place in Upshur County to put them. All Of Upshur County. Anyone with half a thought knows that the very statement is illogical. And now we have our mayor Davidson, revealing in the city council meeting of August 7, that he was told that Weatherford is looking at two other places, while also acknowledging that N. Buckhannon was still in play. He said he did not know of one of the other locations but said that the second one is in Barbour County. I have heard from those on the development board that this location is Century.

But what really is striking is that our mayor either does not know (????) or will not reveal what I have found out from State Senator Randy White. Randy White knew where the second location was: the Mike Ross owned land that has been with this argument since we first knew about the silos. Why would a state senator know something the local "leader" does not?

I want to say to Senator White, thank you for coming over to North Buckhannon, meeting with the citizens, listening to their concerns, going out to the proposed site and speaking with me at my home. These are the efforts that we, the people, expect of our elected officials and as far as I know, he's been the only one to personally visit. I do understand that Representative Hamilton is also supportive and he has our thanks as well.

I did want to direct those who wish to view it, to the Upshur County Development Authority's (the one responsible for bringing Weatherford to Buckhannon) web site. This link will take you to information on how the Authority describes the Industrial Park, a place built more than a decade ago for the purpose of bringing business like Weatherford here. You'll see that the web site says that the Park has everthing needed for a business like Weatherford available: Electric, Water, Gas, Sewer, Rail, an Airport, and a four-lane highway. Enough said.

If it Concerned You, You Would Do the Same

Discussions promoted by the recent comments on this blog go right to the heart of a troubling trend in the U.S. that, seemingly, will never have answers. Until an issue surfaces that affects you, personally, citizens will maintain a do nothing approach. I have been as guilty of this as anyone.

BUT...this issue affects me, my loved ones and my neighbors. I did not want to become involved. The City of Buckhannon and Upshur County (and the long history of events that have led to the current debacle) has forced someone to take a lead. I don't ask for your or anyone else's sympathy. I only ask that those in power do what is right. It is their responsibility to first, protect the citizens that voted them into office.

Our neighborhood has congealed in a way that makes me quite proud. My neighbors have demonstrated effort that has renewed my hope in the U.S. democratic right to assemble and protest against what is seen as unjust.

The local government has failed in its promise for transparency. This blog is the result of that neglect.

It isn't burning smoke, or rain, or water vapor, or anything else but proppant

This FIGHT has nothing to do with the value of jobs and everything to do with the lives of innocent residents in North Buckhannon. We are irrelevant ???


This video was captured on August 1, 2008 (approx. 2:30 PM). Location: Tennerton, WV.