Editor, The Smithfield Times:

I want to thank Brian Carroll for his courage to stand up and call out the Board of Supervisors (“IW planner rebukes supervisors,” Oct. 2).

As a past Isle of Wight Planning Commission member, I can attest to the frustration of the members spending hours at meetings, fielding calls of support and calls of anger, and making a  conscious decision in the best interest of the county, only to have the Board of Supervisors do the opposite. You expect that once in a while, but not as a continuing trend.

Supervisor William McCarty’s assertion that he votes with more in mind than the Planning Commission does (paraphrased) is a lot of bull. We always considered the same things he mentions.

Having said that, maybe the Board of Supervisors needs to start thinking differently. Approving housing developments that drain county services is a revenue drain, not income stream. We have new schools that are already near capacity, which was poor planning at best. Blindly approving solar farms (a Board of Supervisors favorite) with construction equipment that has destroyed roads, cracked vehicle windows and chipped numerous paint jobs, including on my wife’s car, is another problem. These solar farms leave the soil unusable for many years after they come down because they are loaded with heavy metals. Not to mention the solar technology is just not there yet, the citizens are opposed, and the solar farms are about as ugly as they come. Take a ride down Mill Swamp Road into Surry County and admire miles, yes miles, of these metal jungles. 

In closing, I suggest that some of the board needs to swap positions with Planning Commision members. It seems the planners are more in tune with the citizens.

I say Brian Carroll for Board of Supervisors! Somebody has to listen to us!

 

Jim Minton

Windsor