Up-to-date analysis of the local political landscape
Friday, April 22, 2016
Henion Family Raising Money to Take Maymead Asphalt Case to Superior Court
Randall & Carolyn Henion, who are neighbors to the Doc & Merle Watson Scenic Highway and to the Maymead asphalt plant (set down squat on that highway), are raising money through GoFundMe to appeal the Watauga Board of Adjustment's decision to reinstate Maymead's permit to make asphalt and ruin the neighborhood.
The Henions are going forward with an appeal because the Republican majority on the Watauga County Commission would not.
Shame on the three county commissioners, Blust, Hodges and Yates for disregarding their own hired lawyer's (Pokela) strong legal case against this asphalt plant and making a single family (Henions) take on the financial burden of the appeal on behalf of the county. These three commissioners obviously do not represent the thousands of county constituents that are against this illegal asphalt plant.
The commissioners have gone on about the expense of the Maymead appeal while spending our tax payer money on the legal expense of challenging the ETJ in court. Though the three of them are not lawyers, the three commissioners adamantly stated in their P.R.-spin masked as a Watuaga Democrat article that "Maymead has vested rights". Where did they get that interpretation from Pokela's presentation? Pokela tore Maymead and the Hampton's claims of "vested rights" to shreds and outlined the contradictions between their sworn testimonies and the documents supplied during the BOA hearing.
The voters in November need to seriously question where these three commissioners' priorities lie and their vision for the development of this county. They are setting dangerous precedent and need to be removed.
Went to the site and left a few $ to help in this cause. As one who has lung issues the last thing Watauga needs is more pollution sources for our air and water. Maymead is already in all our neighboring counties. That should be enough for them.
It is awful that Blust, Yates & Hodges ruled in favor of an out-of-state asphalt plant with a very dubious claim to a 2011 permit issued to someone else. Unconscionable that a Watauga County family must bear the burden of this appeal.
To Brother Doc, Maymead is everywhere government leaders fail to protect families. It's really sad that the Republicans want to industrialize the county. Very sad.
J.W. Williamson was the founding editor in 1972 of the Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, which he edited until July of 2000. He has taught college classes in Appalachian history, cultural politics, and literature, and he has lectured widely on the pop-culture history of "Appalachia" in the American consciousness. His books include Interviewing Appalachia, Southern Mountaineers in Silent Films, and Hillbillyland: What the Mountains Did to the Movies and What the Movies Did to the Mountains. He has won the Thomas Wolfe Award given by the Western North Carolina Historical Society, the Laurel Leaves Award given by the Appalachian Consortium, a special Weatherford Award given by Berea College, and the Cratis Williams-James Brown Award given by the Appalachian Studies Association.
The views expressed on WataugaWatch are solely those of J.W. Williamson or individual contributors and are not necessarily shared nor endorsed by the Watauga County Democratic Party nor by any other adults of sound mind in this or any other universe.
4 comments:
Shame on the three county commissioners, Blust, Hodges and Yates for disregarding their own hired lawyer's (Pokela) strong legal case against this asphalt plant and making a single family (Henions) take on the financial burden of the appeal on behalf of the county. These three commissioners obviously do not represent the thousands of county constituents that are against this illegal asphalt plant.
The commissioners have gone on about the expense of the Maymead appeal while spending our tax payer money on the legal expense of challenging the ETJ in court. Though the three of them are not lawyers, the three commissioners adamantly stated in their P.R.-spin masked as a Watuaga Democrat article that "Maymead has vested rights". Where did they get that interpretation from Pokela's presentation? Pokela tore Maymead and the Hampton's claims of "vested rights" to shreds and outlined the contradictions between their sworn testimonies and the documents supplied during the BOA hearing.
The voters in November need to seriously question where these three commissioners' priorities lie and their vision for the development of this county. They are setting dangerous precedent and need to be removed.
God Bless the Henions!
Went to the site and left a few $ to help in this cause. As one who has lung issues the last thing Watauga needs is more pollution sources for our air and water. Maymead is already in all our neighboring counties. That should be enough for them.
It is awful that Blust, Yates & Hodges ruled in favor of an out-of-state asphalt plant with a very dubious claim to a 2011 permit issued to someone else. Unconscionable that a Watauga County family must bear the burden of this appeal.
Vote out Blust and Yates in November.
To Brother Doc, Maymead is everywhere government leaders fail to protect families. It's really sad that the Republicans want to industrialize the county. Very sad.
Your donation means a lot!
Post a Comment