From Meg Pokorny
Blanchardville
To the editor:
When is a public hearing not a public hearing? When the Green County Board of Adjustment advertises a public hearing on the Pinnacle factory/dairy request for a variance on the issuance of building permits without an approved township driveway permit and then announces that the public will not be allowed to speak. The more than 50 people in the audience were visibly upset by this decision, which was not explained except for a statement that it was made on the advice of the county's attorney. One wonders what he was afraid of.
The meeting was troubling in many ways. The Green County Director of Land Use and Zoning, Adam Wiegel, came out clearly on the side of Pinnacle opening with a timeline listing Pinnacle's actions to secure a driveway permit over the past two years. It included nothing from the point of view of the Sylvester Town Board, which has retained both a lawyer and an engineer to prepare a measured response to the Pinnacle driveway application out of concern that it will significantly impact the township's small roads with greatly increased milk tank and manure hauler traffic. The Board of Adjustment chair, Ted Fahey, told the Sylvester Town supervisors, all present, that he didn't expect that they would ever act on the Pinnacle's application - a disrespectful and unprofessional statement which appeared to influence the Board of Adjustment's reactions to the rebuttal later provided by Sylvester. After minimal questioning and discussion, the board determined that Pinnacle had suffered "hardship" at the hands of Sylvester Township and voted unanimously to bypass the township's driveway ordinance, with one member refusing to recuse himself despite the fact that he does business with the Friedley/Bader organization, which was the applicant for this variance.
This poorly-run "hearing" supports the widely-held perception that some members of our county board are intimidated by Pinnacle and its threat of lawsuits. Most alarmingly, it deprived the citizens of Sylvester Township of their right to justice and brought all of Green County one step closer to the environmental and economic disaster that other counties in Wisconsin are already experiencing and have warned us about. We may need some new faces at the county level; elected representatives and county employees who have the courage to protect our health and welfare no matter how big the bully or how loud his threats.
Blanchardville
To the editor:
When is a public hearing not a public hearing? When the Green County Board of Adjustment advertises a public hearing on the Pinnacle factory/dairy request for a variance on the issuance of building permits without an approved township driveway permit and then announces that the public will not be allowed to speak. The more than 50 people in the audience were visibly upset by this decision, which was not explained except for a statement that it was made on the advice of the county's attorney. One wonders what he was afraid of.
The meeting was troubling in many ways. The Green County Director of Land Use and Zoning, Adam Wiegel, came out clearly on the side of Pinnacle opening with a timeline listing Pinnacle's actions to secure a driveway permit over the past two years. It included nothing from the point of view of the Sylvester Town Board, which has retained both a lawyer and an engineer to prepare a measured response to the Pinnacle driveway application out of concern that it will significantly impact the township's small roads with greatly increased milk tank and manure hauler traffic. The Board of Adjustment chair, Ted Fahey, told the Sylvester Town supervisors, all present, that he didn't expect that they would ever act on the Pinnacle's application - a disrespectful and unprofessional statement which appeared to influence the Board of Adjustment's reactions to the rebuttal later provided by Sylvester. After minimal questioning and discussion, the board determined that Pinnacle had suffered "hardship" at the hands of Sylvester Township and voted unanimously to bypass the township's driveway ordinance, with one member refusing to recuse himself despite the fact that he does business with the Friedley/Bader organization, which was the applicant for this variance.
This poorly-run "hearing" supports the widely-held perception that some members of our county board are intimidated by Pinnacle and its threat of lawsuits. Most alarmingly, it deprived the citizens of Sylvester Township of their right to justice and brought all of Green County one step closer to the environmental and economic disaster that other counties in Wisconsin are already experiencing and have warned us about. We may need some new faces at the county level; elected representatives and county employees who have the courage to protect our health and welfare no matter how big the bully or how loud his threats.
