Pocahontas commissioner addresses Highland

MONTEREY — Pocahontas County, W.Va. commissioner David Fleming told the Highland County Board of Supervisors he was sorry about the way the Pocahontas County Commission handled the recent border dispute with Highland New Wind Development. “I apologize on behalf of the Pocahontas County Commission for the manner in which we entered into this discussion,” he told supervisors Tuesday. “We could have used better tact.”

But Fleming also wanted some information, particularly about how the wind project here has been handled. Pocahontas, he said, is the only West Virginia county without a wind project under way, or under consideration. “People in Pocahontas County are very open to the idea. How do we go forward? We want to make sure that a project doesn’t get a free lunch, that we get what is due us. It comes down to precedent. This (HNWD project) is the leading project in Virginia.”

County attorney Melissa Dowd disagreed with Fleming’s use of the word. “You’ve stated Highland County is setting a precedent,” she said. “But precedent is a special word in the law. There was no statewide process to deal with wind energy (in Virginia). This board could discuss it with the developer through the zoning ordinance. Every county has a different zoning ordinance. There are counties in Virginia that do not have zoning ordinances. Patrick County has no zoning ordinance. It passed a height ordinance (to stop wind development). For this board, the only tool is the zoning ordinance. (The rules for wind turbine development were) cobbled together, tacked onto pieces of legislation and Virginia Code that applied to this. It was turned over to the State Corporation Commission, which treats it as a utility. Highland County is not setting a precedent for anybody but Highland County. Each project will be dealt with based on the facts or circumstances of that case. There is no precedent setting.”

“Ms. Dowd is factually correct and legally correct,” said supervisor Robin Sullenberger. “We are a bellwether for this kind of project. There is no real precedent. The conditional use permit sets guidelines. It’s been a contentious issue. There are those who want to impose things that are not spelled out. (In Virginia) we have the Dillon Rule. Anything the county wants to do has to be spelled out by the state, the commonwealth. Virginia is somewhat unique. My perspective is, this is the first project in Virginia. Everybody is watching this project to see what mistakes were made, what conclusions were drawn.”

“Bellwether is a fine term,” Fleming agreed. “People are watching you and they are watching us to see how we work things out. This is a bellwether project to see how border projects are handled … You are setting a precedent on how a county works with the industry, how you establish fair play. We are not setting a precedent in that sense, but we are your neighbors. The Beech Ridge project recently had a ruling (requiring) incidental take permits. An ITP will be sought … If people want this, fine. I’ll back you. But we’ll have due diligence in seeking an ITP.”

“We were told by attorneys we didn’t have the right to tell (somebody) to get an ITP,” supervisor Jerry Rexrode said.

“As a precedent setting, Highland County has an opportunity to require the ITP,” said Fleming.

“What are you asking us?” said Rexrode.

“We would require an ITP,” said Fleming. “I would expect a guarantee as to the kind of revenue we could expect even when the blades were not spinning, and a jobs guarantee. I’d have a checklist. There is some expectation this will be tax revenue generating,” he added.

County administrator Roberta Lambert explained Highland could tax the utility from 40 cents to $1.50 per $100 valuation — the range between the real estate and personal property tax rates. “The SCC will assess the value of the structure,” said Lambert, and the board will set a rate on the equipment.

“The structures are valued from $1 million to $2 million per unit; that fluctuates,” said Sullenberger, adding that the county didn’t get a written guarantee for a fixed amount from HNWD. “We have feedback from the developer that ($200,000) is a reasonable number,” he said.

“Pocahontas County has been looked at by a number of wind developers,” he added. “You are in a resource area that has accessible wind.”

Pocahontas County is 47 percent national forest, Fleming noted.

When guidelines for wind development on national forests are approved, “you will see some changes to federal lands,” said Sullenberger. “We will have to be opened up for potential projects.”

Fleming also noted Pocahontas residents want jobs, but Rexrode explained there will only be 2-3 jobs associated with the HNWD project, plus some in construction.

Fleming said the proximity of HNWD’s project to West Virginia prompted the PCC to become involved last year. He was especially concerned about the impact of the project on Camp Allegheny, a Civil War battlefield listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “It’s quite a gem for us,” he said. “Several (HNWD towers will be) visible from the eastern portion of the battlefield. We hope we can find a way to work out a solution, a mitigation, so we can have a better fence and keep it further away from the National Register site.”

“Why does it make any difference to see from the battlefield? I’ve never understood that,” said Rexrode. “I’m not saying I don’t care. But why does it make a difference? … I looked at Camp Allegheny. I’ve often said, is a dead soldier going to get up and say, ‘I don’t want to see this?’ No. I can’t see how having those two miles away or a mile away is going to hurt anything … I know it’s a pristine battlefield, but it’s rarely visited.”

“If you look at Pocahontas County tourism brochures, there has never been any promotion for Camp Allegheny,” Sullenberger agreed. “It has been ignored forever, and then this issue came up … Suddenly this project is desecrating a national treasure when the point has never been made in the past. We were surprised. Early on I invited your commissioners and they did participate. I appreciate you are doing this in a professional conciliatory manner. I am actively engage in a lot of energy related projects, not just wind. I can give you a lot of information that would be beneficial to you down the road. What do we do from here? We step on legal land mines every step we take. It’s the way things have evolved in this project. We are painfully aware we are the first.”

“For myself, I spent a lot of time in Camp Allegheny, studying history, walking around,” Fleming said. “It’s always been a place where I can go and not be surrounded by anything modern. I can go back in time. I don’t have to see anything that is man-made, I think it negatively impacts the experience … Camp Allegheny is a national site. I feel responsible to people across the nation.”