By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Darn it, babies. You've got to be kind. The writer Kurt Vonnegut made that sentiment famous several decades ago. At Tuesday's Barton County Commission meeting, Chairwoman Barb Esfeld reminded residents that being kind is also the correct way to voice opinions and concerns at public meetings, including those hosted by the Barton County Planning Commission regarding commercial solar development in the county.
"Any time we deal with a controversial issue, no matter what it is, keep in mind to be polite," she said. "There are people on both sides. I just ask people be polite to each other. I was really sad. I'm going to be honest with you guys; at the very end of the meeting, it was very rude."
Toward the end of last Thursday's planning commission meeting regarding proposed regulations for commercial solar development, members of the board and residents in attendance questioned why the board of commissioners set the expiration date of a moratorium on solar development at March 31. Zoning Administrator Judy Goreham is expected to ask again for an extension of the moratorium to June 30, and landowner Lindsey Bogner suggested the board of commissioners approve that request with no future extensions to preserve landowner rights.
"It is critically important that we get this done," she said. "I think one of the other things that will impact that timing and allow them to do the work they need to do is if we have a mediator at the meetings. Last week devolved into a conversation about a single permit request. It was completely out of line for the meeting. The regulations were on the table and they were not discussed by every person.
"There were some comments that were very cogent and on topic," Bogner continued. "There were others that were just straight-up conspiracy theories. That is not a good use of our county's time. That is not a good use of our planning commission. They are having to deal with a very controversial topic. We need the regulations, then later, we can decide on permit requests."
Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson reiterated that the proposed regulations introduced by the planning board last Thursday are for the entire county, not a single project.
"We don't even have a permit to look at and see where they're attempting to put these things," he said. "They're not going to tell us anything. Why would they? They don't even know the rules of the game they're trying to play."
Hutchinson also said last December's commission vote to extend the moratorium to March 31 instead of June 30 was not to rush the planning board, but to preserve the rights of landowners impacted by the moratorium.
"The zoning and planning board can take as long as they want to write these rules," he said. "We have no control over that at all. All we have control over is the moratorium we imposed. We were scared to death, too, when this first came up and the initial information we had is they're going to put solar panels all over Cheyenne Bottoms. No, they're not. We're going to impose a moratorium and make sure we get this right."
Hearing concerns from a citizen during Tuesday's meeting, the five commissioners again stated they had no financial interests or other conflicts of interest with any development from Acciona Energy or others. County Counselor Patrick Hoffman, who represents the board of commissioners, also explained why commissioners did not speak at the open meeting at Barton Community College.
"The planning board is separate from this board," he said. "There were commissioners that were attending the meeting as a courtesy and to gather information, but it wasn't their place to weigh in on it because that affects the work of the planning commission board. Those boards don't mix. So that's why it was not appropriate for them to comment at that point."
The Barton County Planning Commission will host another public meeting on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. in room F-30 of the Fine Arts Building at BCC. The meeting will again allow citizens to address the proposed commercial solar development regulations drafted by the planning board.