County without changes is unbalanced Editor, The Recorder,
Highland is and has always been a working community. Since the area was settled, livestock of both four-and two-footed varieties have been raised here. These fields and meadows did not clear themselves. Theres hardly a ridge anywhere in the county thats not laced with logging roads. Theyre easy to see when the snow lays just right. Our beloved Laurel Fork was completely cut over about 100 years ago, giving it the characteristics that it has today. The locals all know those nice paths up there are really old railroad grades. And of course, there have been many other business ventures over the years. The point being that the good Lord and nature are not the only forces that have shaped Highlands landscape.
Now there seems to be a growing number of new residents and landowners that think they have discovered paradise in Highland. And they are right. Its a fact that nearly everyone that knows Highland loves Highland. But they seem to think theyve arrived just in time to save it from the very people who created it. Like the well-meaning parent that would love to keep their child forever small, they want time here to stop. They will tell us that they want managed growth but in truth, they will oppose most everything. They are telling us that tourism will save us but they probably dont want you to know the exact percentage of taxable income that Highland residents earn from tourism. These folks want Highland to be a bedroom/retirement/summer community at the expense of residents who need jobs of substance, schools, homes and the infrastructure that goes with it. There are many of us that dont believe Highland has to be only a bedroom community. However, thats the only force thats been applied to it in the last several years.
This core group that is against everything has collected some more members over the windmill issue but their views are still outside the mainstream working Highlander. The only possible reason they opposed improving U.S. 250 was to help decrease the odds of attracting business and jobs. That project would have benefited every single Highlander, whether they wanted it or not. To this groups credit, Highland is becoming known in Richmond and elsewhere as the county that doesnt want anything. There are those of us that see this as an unbalanced approach to Highlands present and future. Traditionally, the average worker does not get involved in the political process. We may have to help all Highlanders find their voices.
As for the windmill project itself, I am not opposed to it. If substantial tax revenue is collected by the county then it will benefit all Highlanders. The wind resource is here and at least Mr. McBride is willing to invest in Highland. Thats more than our own Recorder did when they decided not to replace their printing press and ship the printing of this very paper out of the county.
Its hard to be against electricity since we all consume it. I found it interesting that detractors said it was only a drop in the bucket and yet these are the same kind of people that tell we should all be saving the world by recycling our aluminum cans. Any informed U.S. citizen knows we have an increasing demand for electricity. California residents have already experienced shortages and ballooning prices. The deterioration of the nations power grid caused the recent blackout in the New York area. We need more coal and nuclear generating plants and more gasoline refineries. Those will have to go in someones backyard. So it may be entirely appropriate for Highlands contribution to be clean wind power.
That said, I feel for those residents and landowners on Allegheny Mountain. They certainly are entitled to their feelings, and we should be respectful of them. I find it harder to understand anyone in Monterey or McDowell or Virginia Beach getting emotional over the issue although I would expect them to have an opinion. Several people at the public hearing mentioned their dreams in their remarks. Everyone has dreams and its natural to want to protect and pursue them. However, just by buying property in Highland does not guarantee that things wont change. Its unrealistic to try and put Highland in a vacuum. Sometimes in life, when one dream dies, you have to dream another dream. Of this I am sure.
Lastly, there was talk of the majority rule. We do not live in a true democracy but in a representative democracy. The majority rule elected these three supervisors to represent us and to do whats best for all Highlanders. I cant imagine the personal strife these officials have had to endure for all of us, not just on this issue but on everything that comes down the pike. They deserve better support than weve been giving them and they need to hear from the average working Highlander. Were still the majority, for now.
Trent Burkholder
Blue Grass, Va.
No comments have been posted. Be the first!
| 
