Gibson County, be forewarned! 

Gibson County, be forewarned!

Nothing RWE, the wind turbine company, has recently stated about pulling out of Gibson County has any teeth in it to make it so.

RWE leases and cancellation notices have been reviewed by attorneys and the consensus is RWE can pick up right where they left off without losing a step if zoning is rescinded.

Consider this: You and I can terminate an agreement and sign that same agreement two minutes later, and it is just as binding as the original. Why does RWE have their equipment that gathers wind data and other info still operating and in place, if they have pulled out? We can’t let down our vigilance in protecting the Doppler and our property rights.

Even if RWE does eventually pull out, who or what, including another turbine project, will take advantage of us? If zoning is rescinded, we have no protection from RWE or the next unsafe industry. Everyone agrees the Doppler should be protected.

Fact is, there are no state or federal laws that are in place to protect our Doppler. NOAA Weather and Sen. Braun’s office have confirmed this. I beliefe zoning, alone, is what stopped RWE in its tracks.

So why throw it out? No matter how many times the no zoning proponents say otherwise, the only proven way to protect the Doppler radar is zoning.

Indiana has given a mechanism for land use, it’s called zoning.

The APC passed the zoning ordinance 9-0 and the commissioners passed the zoning ordinance 3-0, largely because they all knew the only way to protect the Doppler is with comprehensive zoning.

With Haubstadt and Princeton and their surrounding two miles being already zoned and with many of the subdivisions in the county having their own associations and covenants, perhaps half the county is already under some type of “zoning.”

Furthermore, many of the plaintiffs suing to have the zoning ordinance thrown out, supported the passing of land use restrictions for subdivision and stormwater ordinances passed by the county, because it benefited them.

But now they would deny us the same protections because it’s not in their interest?

In your lifetime, you may never have a reason to come in contact with the zoning board, but how many times a year do you rely on the Doppler radar for the safety of your family?

I don’t always agree with the decisions that the commissioners make. If it was our commissioners’ obligation to protect the safety of our county then they had no choice but to vote for zoning and I respect their resolve in that decision.

Jean Bittner,

Haubstadt

Zoning protects rights, safety

Many of us have been blocked from posting on certain social media sites, due to our apparent difference of opinion on various county issues. These sites are really not open forums.

That being said, it is funny and disappointing to read the litany of inaccurate and absolutely false statements by those who have been granted freedom on these sites.

The federal government does not protect our Doppler Radar. Concerned citizens asked the federal government to do such a thing and they could not; this is a local government issue.

If you have been told that our safety can be protected by anything other than zoning, ask the person assuring you of this, “Did you attend any commissioners’ meetings where this was discussed? And were you present for the NOAA/NWS conference call which discussed the federal government’s limitations?”

If the answer is no, the fate of our county’s safety is being manipulated by rumors and false statements.

This is not the first time folks opposed to zoning have spoken incorrectly about county issues due to lack of knowledge. We need to make certain the truth about zoning, the protection of the Doppler Radar, and the need for safe setback distances is widely understood.

Zoning will protect your property rights from encroaching, undesirable business and maintain the safe integrity of our early warning system for severe weather.

Dr. Kent Scheller, Haubstadt