By Natasha Dyer
For the most part, the Sept. 5 Pendleton County Commission meeting was business as usual. Small updates to ongoing projects, or nothing to update at all. That is, with two exceptions: the previously proposed moratorium on wind turbines that the commission had previously tabled, and the repair work going on at the Pendleton Community Building parking lot.
“We will always listen to the people of the county who walk into this room,” commissioner Roger Dahmer said.
And listen they did, as Scott Sommerville, a concerned citizen of Pendleton County, made a plea for the commission to reconsider the previously reported planning commission that the State Attorney General said would be required if a moratorium were to be put in place.
The concern around the room was that of more local government telling people what they can and cannot do with their privately owned property.
Sommerville placed a call on the people of Pendleton to come together to protect the beauty and unobstructed nature of the county’s mountains and skylines. He even offered fundraising ideas to help offset the cost of creating a planning commission that would lighten the burden on taxpayers.
The commission listened at length, taking in all the suggestions offered. Time will tell what the county decides to do regarding the plea of this concerned citizen.
As far as the parking lot, many residents may have noticed that it was blocked off this past week and crews were hard at work. The commission was able to put enough money into the project to do as much repair work as possible before the big events of Treasure Mountain Festival this weekend. While they were only able to do a patch job this go around, plans are in place to fully repave the area next year.
The next county commission meeting is scheduled for Sept. 19.
