County commission passes EVAD ordinance

Iredell County commissioners received a round of applause Tuesday night after they unanimously approved the passage of the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts Ordinance.

For the full story, click here.

Neighbors group can't sue

A community group can raise money for its members to sue Iredell County and the McLain family over a proposed biodiesel plant site, but the group can’t be a plaintiff in the lawsuit, a University of North Carolina Chapel Hill law professor said.

If Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life, which is one of 24 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, is not registered with the N.C. Secretary of State’s Office, it has no legal standing, UNC Professor Tom Hazen said. The remaining plaintiffs in the lawsuit to reverse the Iredell County commissioner’s Aug. 7 decision to rezone 7.88 acres of land from single family residential to heavy manufacturing to accommodate the plant are individuals.

For the full story, click here.

Editorial: Is there another way?

Watching the give and take, back and forth, and attack and counter-attack between opponents of a proposed biodiesel plant, opponents of the opponents, and the Iredell County government, which approved a request to rezone farmland for the controversial plant, is starting to get interesting, boring or exciting, depending on your viewpoint.

It’s interesting to those of us who love local politics.It’s boring to those who don’t have a dog in the fight and those who have no plans on living anywhere McLain Farms, although it shouldn’t be. (Your neighborhood could be next.)

And it’s exciting, we suppose, to the lawyers who will benefit financially as the lawsuit filed by Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life and 23 other plaintiffs against the county, county commissioners and the McLain family winds its way through Iredell Superior Court.

Based on their response to the lawsuit, county officials have made it clear that they will not be intimidated by the accusations and demands of the plaintiffs. While the county may have made some procedural missteps in actions leading up to the rezoning approval, the county’s position is that the rezoning was lawful and proper.

The county’s legal fees will mount and, if county attorney Bill Pope is successful in his effort to have the lawsuit dismissed, the plaintiffs should be prepared to pay the county’s legal expenses.

Based on his assertion that the Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life exists in name only, Pope won’t be asking the Neighbors to pay up. He’ll be asking the other plaintiffs to pick up the tab.

While it might not be as exciting or entertaining, now would be a good time for all of the parties involved to take another stab at resolving this matter with a compromise that everyone can live with.

Emotions run high at meeting

People on both sides of the fray over a proposed Snow Creek Road biodiesel plant got emotional Monday night as they discussed the proposal and the tactics of a citizens’ group working to prevent it from being built.

For the full story, click here.

VIDEO: farmers meeting

Video by Bethany Fuller

County attorney: Neighbors can't sue

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life has no legal standing to sue Iredell County and McLain Farms over a proposed biodiesel plant because the citizens group does not officially exist, the county’s attorney argues in court documents.

County attorney William Pope filed a response in Iredell Superior Court last week to the lawsuit filed by Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life and 23 other plaintiffs against the McLain family, Iredell County and the Board of Commissioners.

For the full story, click here.

Farmers seek protections, benefits

As new residential and commercial developments consume more open land in Iredell County each year, some local farmers are looking for new ways to protect and preserve their livelihood.

Placing their land in Voluntary Agricultural Districts is an option more farmers are choosing. Now, county commissioners are considering an ordinance that would create Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts to give farmers even more protection and benefits.

For the full story, click here.

McLains respond to lawsuit

The proposed biodiesel plant on Snow Creek Road is a bona fide farm activity and therefore exempt from Iredell County zoning regulations, the McLain family contends in court documents.

For the full story, click here.

Letter to the Editor: Janice L. Isenhour

I am delighted that a biodiesel plant will be located in Iredell County. In my opinion, developing alternative fuels is admirable, though I'd rather solar energy be our brag.

However I believe the majority of Iredell taxpayers would rather the proposed biodiesel plant be set up in one of the many empty industrial sites around the county rather than in a residential and farming community.

It's too bad voters can't decide in a special referendum.

I urge the citizenry to speak up. I bet the "powers that be" on the county commission can be encouraged to overturn their decision.

Taxpayers should ask ourselves, "Whose fault is it that taxpayer money is going to lawyers regarding the biodiesel plant issue? Is it the homeowners trying to protect their community or is it the elected officials who made a big ol' boo-boo?"

Janice L. Isenhour
Statesville

McLain supporters criticize opponents

The heated debate over the biodiesel plant planned for Snow Creek Road flared up Monday night as neighbors struggled to reach an understanding on the controversial matter.

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Public awareness a priority for group

Regan Hill photo

By Bethany Fuller
jfuller@statesville.com

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life is trying to keep its “No Spot Zoning” message in the forefront of people’s minds.

Up and down N.C. Highway 115 and around Statesville, signs against spot-zoning with a picture of a small industrial plant are being erected, and the group is organizing 12 community meetings at local schools to discuss county zoning issues.

“Well, we are basically developing a public awareness campaign to engage more citizens in Iredell County,” said Randy Bridges, who is on the group’s leadership committee.

“We know the 7.8-acre spot on Snow Creek road is just a small part of the issue for the county. The basic thrust of our program is to reach out to several different mediums, including public forums, newsprint and the signs.”

The first meeting — at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at North Iredell Middle School — will be designed to discuss zoning issues related to the use of rural land for residential, agricultural and industrial areas.

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life was organized by a handful of Snow Creek Road residents in August after county commissioners voted 4 to 1 to rezone 7.8 acres of McLain Farms from single-family residential to heavy manufacturing for the purpose of putting a biodiesel manufacturing plant on the site.

Nearly a month later, the organization and 23 other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Iredell County, the Board of Commissioners and the McLain family to get that decision reversed.

The county is looking into changing parts of its land-use plan and zoning ordinance, Bridges said.

“We want to get the public aware of the possible changes,” he said, “and encourage them to have a voice in the new land-use plan and zoning ordinances.”

Iredell Neighbors member Harry Watt said a lot of people still think the lawsuit against the McLain family and the county is about a biodiesel plant.

“We would love to have one,” he said. “But we would like to have it in an industrial park — where it really fits.”

Watt said the public needs to influence county commissioners when it comes to controversial zoning decisions.“What we are talking about is spot-zoning for a use that is not really compatible with the surrounding areas,” Watt said.

Watt said in addition to the signs, the group sent out a letter to 1,000 nearby landowners about a week ago.

“It impacts everybody,” Watt said.

Letter to the Editor: Greg Waugh

What do other zoning boards know that Iredell’s doesn’t?

First of all, let me state that I am not against the manufacturing of biodiesel. The situation on Snow Creek Road is strictly a zoning issue.

I have gone online (as anyone can) and looked at a biodiesel magazine Web site. It lists three manufacturing facilities in North Carolina. They are: Evans Environment Energies, 2301 Industrial Park Drive, Wilson; Foothills Bio-Energies, 815-D Virginia St. SW (which I know for a fact is an industrial area), Lenoir; and Piedmont Biofuels, Industrial Drive, Pittsboro.

Another facility in South Carolina is located in the old Naval Base in Charleston.

Do you see a pattern here?

I have been to the facility in Lenoir. The nearest house is located uphill and a half mile from the driveway of the facility. And this house is in the process of being torn down. The entire facility is enclosed by a chain link fence with strands of barbed wire around the top of the fence. You need to announce your arrival and go to a call box to enter. The view from the driveway looking across the street is undeveloped industrial land. The view from the right side of the driveway is undeveloped industrial land.

Again, do you see a pattern?

I have been to the Naval Base in Charleston. It is located in, you guessed it, an industrial area. The area is enclosed with a chain link fence. There are no residences located 500 feet from the base.

Pattern, anyone?

Greg Waugh
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Marcus Troutman

The biodiesel problem is a zoning issue. I think I have a solution. The people wanting to build the plant must give the residents the amount their property will depreciate, while the county kicks in property tax incentives.

Otherwise, it should be a dead issue. Thou Shalt Not Steal; if building this plant will cost the neighbors money, the neighbors should get what they would lose at selling time. I see this and live nowhere near this area.

Marcus Troutman
Troutman

Letter to the editor: Lorrie Barker

In regard to the article printed in the Oct. 4 edition of R&L about the biodiesel facility, it is quite obvious people still don’t get the issues that surround this proposed location.

If it were 100 percent safe, which it isn’t, there would still be the concerns of our decreasing property values due to the zoning change. As all homeowners should know, owning property is supposed to be an appreciating investment, not depreciating.

Why would anyone want to put something in their community that would devalue their neighbors’ properties by thousands of dollars? Where is the love?

As for John Bonitz’s invitation for an "educational" tour of the Pittsboro biodiesel plant — is he suggesting we are uneducated?

As for our "concerns over production safety being almost laughable" please don’t patronize us. I personally don’t find anything about this topic to be a laughing matter.

I noticed one of the facilities in Pittsboro is located on Industrial Drive (does this tell you anything?) and the road the coop is on is a divided zone, half being in the Pittsboro city district and the other half unzoned.

Are either of these facilities located in R-20 (single family residential) districts? The facility Bonitz speaks of being 100 feet from a playground with offices next door doesn’t sound like a residential district.

As previously stated numerous times, we are not against biodiesel manufacturing; this is a zoning issue.

Lorrie Barker
Statesville

Letter to the editor: Randy Bridges

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life wishes to express its appreciation for the “biodiesel advocate” who was quoted in Thursday’s edition of the R&L saying our “group’s concerns over production safety was almost laughable.”

I immediately called this advocate, John Bonitz, to verify that he actually had the nerve to say something so grossly irresponsible.

He confirmed the quote as correct and proceeded into a diatribe about how misplaced our concerns were. He said if we were more open to communication, we would realize how innocuous a biodiesel plant really is.

This disregard for the hazards involved in a chemical plant is typical of the attitude we have encountered time and again from proponents of the proposed location of the facility on Snow Creek Road. These proponents include Kenneth Vaughn, Iredell County Agricultural Extension Service director, Jeff McNeely, Iredell County planning board member, and the entire planning board, as well as the Iredell County Board of Commissioners, with the notable exception of Sara Haire Tice.

I commend Commissioner Tice for standing up for what is right when she stated the 1998 R-20 rezoning on Snow Creek Road was a contract with the property owners, that this area would remain a residential community.

She was the lone commissioner who honored that commitment.

Do you find it a bit ironic that thousands of our tax dollars are being squandered to fight a battle that should never have been necessary?

The proposed operation involves a 10,000-gallon tank of methanol, which is highly explosive when exposed to the air and which was the source of four explosions and fires at biodiesel plants in 2006. An unpublicized fact is that right here in Statesville, on Aug. 30, 2006, a 10,000-square-foot building burned to the ground as a result of a methanol fire at a biodiesel plant.

Three businesses were destroyed and lives were endangered.

Thankfully, no one lost his life in that fire, as happened in an Idaho biodiesel plant on July 7, 2006.

The McLains should move the proposed plant to an industrial site where it belongs, and save everyone a lot of trouble.

Randy Bridges
Statesville

Letter to the editor: Robert Taylor

This letter is in response to Iredell County Commissioner Steve Johnson’s recent letter in the R&L.

Mr. Johnson said that I took the comment about moving back to town — that if I didn’t like the smell of the honey truck, I should move — out of context.

I didn’t take the statement out of context. I took it out of the newspaper.

Snow Creek Road has been a hot topic ever since you four county commissioners ignored our neighborhood by your votes for a chemical plant.

If this is not what you intended to say, why didn’t Mr. Johnson ask the R&L to retract your statement and then explain what he really meant to say?

And, yes, I agree that our farmers should have some concession on their behalf.

I don’t know what our country would be without the farmers; without them we would all go hungry.

The difference between farming and manufacturing are a world apart.

In farming, you plant, cultivate, and harvest your crops. Thank God that we have good farmers in Iredell County. I am sure our farmers would love to be able to manufacture corn, soybeans, wheat and oats. Especially with the rain situation this year.

But then it wouldn’t be farming, would it ?

I think Phil McLain has a good idea with biodiesel fuel and since he has plans to manufacture this product, I think it should be located in an industrial area.

Why are Mr. Johnson and his fellow commissioners against manufacturing being placed in an industrial area?

Never once have any of you four commissioners given a reason not to place this plant in an industrial area.

A lot of Iredell County citizens are really wondering just what kind of people we the public have serving us as elected county commissioners.

As far as the honey truck goes, just about everyone knows that it is a manure spreader. And a very important part of farm life

This has been going on since horse and wagon days and I’m sure it will continue. We have no problem with the honey truck driving through the Snow Creek neighborhood.

But if we look real, real close we will recognize the four men driving that honey truck through the Snow Creek neighborhood.

Robert Taylor
Statesville

Letter to the editor: Lorrie Barker

In regard to the article printed in the Oct. 4 edition of R&L about the biodiesel facility, it is quite obvious that people still don’t get the issues that surround this proposed location.

If it were 100 percent safe — which it isn’t, there would still be the concerns of our decreasing property values, due to the zoning change. As all homeowners should know — owning property is supposed to be an appreciating investment, not depreciating.

Why would anyone want to put something in their community that would devalue their neighbor’s properties by hundreds of thousands of dollars? Where is the love?

As for Mr. John Bonitz’s invitation for an "educational" tour of the Pittsboro biodiesel plant — are you suggesting that we are uneducated?

As for our "concerns over production safety being almost laughable" as quoted by Mr. Bonitz — please don’t patronize us. I personally don’t find anything about this topic as being a laughing matter.

I noticed that one of the facilities in Pittsboro is located on Industrial Dr (does this tell you anything?) and the road that the coop is on is a divided zone, half being in the Pittsboro city district, and the other half is unzoned.

Are either of your facilities located in R-20 (single family residential) districts? The facility that he speaks of being 100 ft from a playground with offices next door doesn’t sound like a residential district.

As previously stated, numerous times — we are not against biodiesel manufacturing — this is a zoning issue.

Lorrie Barker
Statesville

Neighbors add claim to lawsuit

The Iredell County Planning Department failed to provide adequate notice for the public hearing on the biodiesel plant on Snow Creek Road, according to court documents filed by opponents of the proposed plant.

For the full story, click here.

Letter to the Editor: Sheree Leach

I would like to congratulate the people responsible for rubbing the salt into the wounds of the families on Snow Creek Road.

They have succeeded in making our lives just a little bit more challenging.

Congratulations to the people who have nothing better to do than to look for any potential property violations of the opposers' of the proposed biodiesel plant may have.

They are doing a fantastic job of wasting the taxpayers' dollars with ridiculous and petty complaints that satisfhy their own amusement.

For those who find it funny to squeal your tires and kick extra dirt on the neighboring driveway that belongs to the owners of the newly rezoned property, thanks for the extra kick in the teeth.

Congratulations to the ones who recklessly drive on the edge of my property right in front of my face. They really know how to push buttons. Some of the people involved are teenage children.

Do we really need to involve them?

Congratulations to the hunters who were permitted to use this same property to hunt on.

They succeeded in making my son's fourth birthday one we will never forget. We were really impressed with how clever they were to park their ATVs with armed men and teenage boys 15 feet from my property line and shoot doves into my yard.

Thanks for that cherished memory.

I will admit, I have lost some sleep since we opposed the plant. If that was the intended goal, it has been a success.

Not only have the ones involved affected my quality of life, but the way I see it, their own integrity has been compromised.

It seems like integrity has been the issue for the supporters, not rezoning.

With the recent complaints, it's apparent that the threatened repercussions have begun.

We were served wit ha property violation and threatened to comply or have to tear my mother's home down. We were silly to assume we could actually occupy both pre-existing dwellings on our own property.

Grow up, people. We are still neighbors. Can we at least be civilized?

Sheree Leach
Statesville

Letters to the Editor: Audrey Abshire

Please stop suggesting a biodiesel plant at the old FCX. Some people in the community have worked hard for almost 20 years to get the place cleaned up.

Now we are seeing some success, and another company is spending lots of their time and money cleaning up Burlington Industries, which is behind FCX.

You may consider us a heavy manufacturing area, but we have lots of homes all around. A lot of this moved in on us.

We don't just have school buses going by and others driving to school, we have a school with hundreds of children only a couple blocks away.

I'm glad you have researched these plants. I know it is a chemical plant and a flammable product. I know much more about cleaning up FCX. Research on FCX might be a good idea before it is suggested as a site.

You only have county commissioners to work with, who are responsible for this.

We had to work with the federal government.

I know you don't want this plant, I don't blame you, but think of other people, their property and families before you suggest another place.

Audrey Abshire
Statesville

Another opponent faces complaint

For the second time in a week, a member of the Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life received a zoning citation spurred from a complaint to the Iredell County Planning and Development Department.

In a Notice of Violation dated Sept. 13, Bryan and Sheree Leach were informed that Sheree’s mother, Dorothy Carney, was living in a home in their back yard that violates the county zoning ordinance.

For the full story, click here.

Letter to the Editor:Loraine Watt

Two recent letters have prompted me to finally write concerning the proposed biodiesel plant in Iredell County. I am a member of the group Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life (INFRL) which recently dropped the word “North” from its name.

The group believes that this issue is a county issue, not a Snow Creek Road issue or a North Iredell issue. This is a belief I have had from the beginning. I do not live in the Snow Creek Road area.

I spoke at the county commission meeting in August, expressing my objections to placing the plant in a residential area. It concerns me greatly that the county commissioners, with little thought and deliberation, rezoned a R20 residential area to heavy manufacturing. This is the area where the local residents had fought hard to get zoned R20 in 1998. The commissioners also ignored the County Land Use Plan, which states that this area is to remain residential.

I am not opposed to a biodiesel plant in Iredell County. I oppose a plant in a residential area on a narrow two-lane road where school buses, high school drivers and bicycles travel, and where the infrastructure is not in place for a chemical plant.

I have researched biodiesel plants and am in favor of them. I want such a plant located in an appropriate location, where danger can be minimized and where zoning can be respected. After all, don’t let anybody be fooled: a biodiesel plant is a chemical plant with inherent dangers.

I agree that the FCX Plant might be an appropriate location, but there are several other appropriate sites in Iredell County. This plant does not need to be located in a residential area.

I have not only expressed my objections to the location of the proposed biodiesel plant but have also committed financial resources to fight this battle.

Loraine Watt
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Cindy Reavis

We live on Snow Creek Road. We decided to raise our family there because of the beautiful countryside, friendly neighbors and because we defintely did not want to live in the city near commercial property and industrial parks.

Now it seems that it doesn't matter where you live, it could still become an industrial site.

Last month, with the planning board recommending against it and 72 neighbors there in opposition, the Iredell County Commissioners voted 4 to 1 in favor of spot zoning eight acres of land on Snow Creek Road from residential to heavy manufacturing for a biodiesel plant. Commissioner Steve Johnson stated after the vote that you should be able to do whatever you want on your land. If that's the case, why do we have zoning laws?

Phil McLain stated in a recent R&L article that he was disappointed in his neighbors. Has he ever thought that his neighbors may be disappointed in him?

Our wonderful community is not what it used to be. There is bitterness between the neighbors that has not been there for the 20 years we have lived here. I just can't see how the McLains think this is such a great idea for the community when it is already causing such strife and the facility is not even in operation yet.

Cindy Reavis
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Paul Sink

Has the editorial staff gone off the deep end? The editorial in Sunday's edition was almost threatening in nature.

I have appreciated much of the reporting on the Snow Creek controversy over the proposed biodiesel plant, but this commentary was way over the line. The lines about people living in glass houses made the hair stand up on my neck.

For your words to imply "friends in high places" and then recommend the Iredell Residents for Rural Life "be prepared to invest in bulletproof windows" makes it sound like a threat on the lives of those residents. If the R&L cannot report or comment on hot issues without sending no-so-veiled threats, perhaps the staff should let someone else cover this sort of story. If I lived on Snow Creek Road, I would be worried. My prayers are for all the residents of this area, that a peaceful resolution come in this controversial situation. It would certainly help if the editorial board would stick to factual reporting and steer away from threatening jargon.

Paul Sink
Statesville

Editorial: Playing hardball

Members of the Iredell Residents for a Rural Life, the group waging a court battle against the Iredell County commissioners and a North Iredell family that wants to build a biodiesel manufacturing plant, better get used to playing hardball.

The fledgling group got its first lesson in public relations this week after Randy Bridges, the group's de facto spokesman, was forced to start cleaning up his property off Snow Creek Road after the county planning department received an anonymous complaint about his illegal collection of junked vehicles.

When contacted by the R&L, Bridges said all the right things: His wife had been after him to get rid of the cars and he really wanted to be a good neighbor. The complaint provided some timely motivation, he added.

If you're going to put yourself on a pedestal as a champion for the environment and protector of property values, you better have your house in order. A group that claims to cherish clean groundwater and worries about the effects of pollution has to be squeaky clean or its public statements and court pleadings start to look self-serving and more than a little bit hypocritical.

The critics of this group - and it has some in powerful places - will be searching high and low for ways to damage its credibility.

There's an old saying about people living in glass houses and throwing stones. The Iredell Residents for a Rural Life should get their act together or be prepared to invest in bulletproof windows.

Bridges' cars draw complaints

A member of Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life received notification from the county planning department this week that he was in violation of the county ordinance regarding “junk cars.”

For the full story, click here.

Letter to the Editor: Patricia Perkins

I have no problem with public official’s salaries being published in the R&L, such as Mitchell Community College President Douglas Eason; I think he does a great job and is worth every penny.

I would, however, like the names and numbers for the Iredell County Board members published. I want to know who not to vote for in the next election. I would like to contact the present county board members, in regards to the recent decision to allow the biodiesel plant to open on Snow Creek Road.

How many of the board members are from North Iredell? I can tell you folks on Snow Creek that once built, there will be no attempt by the board members to monitor or attempt to regulate any hazards, odors, etc. I do not understand the mentality — or lack thereof — in allowing this. I have read in the paper that Steve Johnson feels that a person ought to do as he pleases with his property. That is a statement that if reported correctly is saying, "I don’t care about the law, particularly the zoning laws. I am for the individual rights regardless of the consequences to my neighbors, or to the group as a whole."

This is why Iredell is so backward in so many areas: laws allowing six junk cars on a person’s property; littering continues to go unrestrained by unsecured junk and trash going down the highway; lack of minimum housing standards.

In other words, it is the old Republican philosophy of "buisness first, people last." Simply put, money talks. I venture to say that Steve Johnson would not want this plant in his back yard, either. It is, however, the attitude of the entire board that seems to say, "It’s not in my yard, it’s OK." It does not seem to matter to this board that allowing things to happen by not having minimum standards and by not following the law adversely affects other folks’ property values — sometimes many thousands of dollars. I can guarantee once built, this plant will have no interference from the county board in regard to anything they want to do.

Nothing — not odor or safety or property values, nor the decreased quality of life for those living in Iredell, especially those close to this plant. I would like to see the board members’ names and numbers published. I would like them to explain their lack of backbone in regards to this issue.

Patricia Perkins
Harmony

Letter to the Editor: Steve Johnson

In response to Robert Taylor's letter in the Sept. 12 R&L, he should get his facts straight before he accuses anyone of saying anything.

I never said what Mr. Taylor accuses me of saying. What I said was "part of me says if you don't like the smell of cow manure, you should move into town, while I am sensitive to some people's concerns about their neighborhoods."

My suggestion was, we should consider an agricultural zoning district that would protect farmers and keep them profitable. Profitable farmers will remain farmers, thereby preserving farmland and slowing urban sprawl.

With subdivisions popping up in rural areas, we are receiving an increased number of complaints regarding the sights, sounds and smells of farming operations. There are many problems in a growing county -- this is one of them.

My comments made no reference to Snow Creek Road and no reference to what Mr. Taylor calls a "chemical plant." Our attention was on a countywide land use plan. My comments were made in that context.

In a later discussion with the reporter, I used the term "honey wagon" and explained it in graphic detail.

Twisting someone's words so that you can advance your argument is unethical and hinders legitimate debate. Debate on biodiesel is good. Distortion is wrong.

Commissioner Steve Johnson
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Steven Hendry

While the continuing saga of the McLain Family versus their rural neighbors over the biodiesel plant has given some odd entertainment in the R&L lately, it is apparent the situation is only going to get hotter and the parties each more entrenched.

The only winners will be the lawyers.

How about a solution? I drove by the old FCX Plant the other day. At one time, no one wanted it or would claim title to it as it was a former SuperFund site.

It has loading docks, rail access and is close to the fire department. There has to be a number of sites like the FCX Plant in Statesville that could be donated — yes, free of charge — for a period of years to get this fledgling industry off its feet.

And if it makes money, charge the McLains back the taxes and maybe some rent.

Statesville and Iredell County would get jobs, taxes and maybe a more progressive reputation that would would draw other innovative industries to the area.

The present solution is obviously not going to work.

Steven L. Hendry
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Richard Alexander

Regarding the biodiesel hoopla, I read some interesting facts in the November issue of Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off Road magazine, Page 16.

It states there are currently 148 plants producing biodiesel across the country and that number is expected to increase to 244 plants within 18 months. Or should I say to 245? It also gives other interesting facts.

I’m on the fence on this issue; I see both sides.

Richard L. Alexander
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Linda Waugh

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and repeated the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse went to the cow and again, repeated the warning. The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife, she was rushed to the hospital, but returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well. She died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.I hope this story has given you something to think about concerning the proposed bio-diesel plant on Snow Creek Road.

Linda Waugh
Statesville

How is biodiesel made?

Click here for a how-to on biodiesel production.

Letter to the Editor: Jane Reavis

Those who criticize the plan to put a biodiesel plant on Snow Creek Road do not mean to offend anyone, certainly not the farmers. We continue to value and respect these hard-working individuals. Many times they are at the mercy of the weather and are never assured a consistent paycheck or a very big one, for that matter.

Not everyone can be a farmer. It takes a strong and patient person to work in the fields from sun up to sundown. We wish the farmers well. We hope the promise of dollars from biodiesel will come to fruition.

We understand why they would be excited about growing crops for a new source of energy.

Our only objection is the proposed location of the biodiesel plant. If the site was in an area already approved for industry, we would wish them much success. The rural neighborhood they have chosen is entirely unsuited for this plant and that is our issue. The fact is that they will not consider another site.

It does not make sense to build a chemical plant in a residential neighborhood. We are very concerned about tanker trucks whizzing up and down the road right along with school buses and teenage drivers. Snow Creek Road is not wide enough to allow for a margin of error and we can only hope that an accident won’t happen. More heavy truck traffic on this road will add to this possibility. We are trying to protect all who travel this area.

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life strive for justice and a peaceful way of life.

Jane Reavis
Statesville

Plant cuts property values

Bryan and Sheree Leach’s home was a shell when they purchased it in 2005.

Bryan Leach said they had walls, but there was no kitchen, the roof leaked and it needed new insulation.

But the couple had fallen in love with 1904 farmhouse on Snow Creek Road over the Internet, so for nearly three years, Bryan Leach worked at his job at MACTEC Development Corp. in Atlanta and came to Statesville on the weekends to work on his home.

For the full story, click here.

Timeline

Jan. 29, 2007
Phil McLain files a rezoning request with the Iredell County Planning Department.

March 7
Planning Board unanimously approved the McLains plans to rezone the property for a biodiesel plant.

July 24
Original public hearing date for the Board of Commissioners. Commissioners voted to postpone until Aug. 7.

Aug. 7
Iredell County Board of Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to rezone 8-acres of McLain Farms off of Snow Creek Road from single-family residential to manufacturing.

Aug. 21
In a 4-to-1 vote, commissioners approved four findings of fact to support their rezoning decision.

Aug. 25
Two storage tanks at Foothills Bio-Energies LLC in Lenoir catch fire. The fire is still under investigation.

Sept. 5
North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life and 23 other plaintiffs file a civil complaint and petition against the McLains, county commissioners and the county.

Sept. 10
Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life accept a check for $1,250 from Rowan - Iredell Citizens for a Clean Environment.

Phil McLain responds

Both the McLain family and Iredell County officials were served with copies of the civil complaint and petition filed by local residents.

Snow Creek resident Randy Bridges said Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life — formerly North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life — received notification that all of the defendants in the civil case have been served.

The civil case was filed in Iredell County Superior Court on Sept. 5 against McLain Farms, the county and the Board of Commissioners.

The court documents ask the court to reverse the Aug. 7 decision to rezone eight acres on Snow Creek Road from single-family residential to heavy manufacturing for a biodiesel plant.

Phil McLain, who manages the farm with his brother Michael, said his family looks forward to the outcome of the case, but they are not going to litigate it in the news media.

“We are not surprised that they done this,” he said. “They threatened that even before the county commissioners’ decision.”McLain believes the county has a good case because commissioners listened to the facts and the experts.

“I’m afraid that the neighbors and the newspaper have not gotten all the facts,” he said. “I am disappointed in my neighbors. I hope they have all considered any repercussions if this case doesn’t come out the way they wanted it to. I don’t want them to be hurt financially because of this.”

County attorney Bill Pope said he knows the county has received the papers, but he hasn’t actually seen the documents.

He expects to look over them in the next couple of days and then formulate the county’s response.

The complaint filed against the county, commissioners and the McLains accuse the county and the commissioners of not following the proper rezoning laws and procedures when the commissioners voted to change the area’s designation.

Pope oversees many of the judicial zoning hearings by administering the oath to witnesses, and helps to enter items into evidence. He was present on Aug. 7, when the board approved the rezoning request.

“I am unaware of any improprieties,” he said.

Iredell County pays Pope a retainer of $1,400 a month, plus legal fees for work done, said Debra Alford, the county’s assistant finance director.

Letter to the Editor: Robert Taylor

I have been a resident of Snow Creek Road for 27 years. This is home to my family.

We have good neighbors and friends in our community. I hope that I don’t have an enemy with Phil McLain because we disagree with the location of a biodiesel plant. In all honesty, it is a chemical plant.

I think Steve Johnson, our elected county commissioner, insulted all the Snow Creek residents with his comment in the R&L.

Mr. Johnson said if we didn’t like the smell of the honey truck, we the Snow Creek neighbors could just move back to town. What a wonderful solution to our problems on Snow Creek Road, from our elected county commissioner.

Does Mr. Johnson think that money issues are on the same level as the safety of our families and children?
Is Mr. Johnson not concerned with the devaluation of our property, and our community?

My question to Mr. Johnson is this: if this chemical plant was going into your neighborhood, would you have voted for it? I think you would have fought the location of the plant, as hard as our neighborhood is fighting against it right now.

Commissioners Johnson, Marvin Norman, Godfrey Williams and Kenneth Robertson all voted for something they really have no knowledge of. Or they just don’t care what dangers or effect it might have on our neighborhood.

These men were elected by Iredell County citizens to represent Iredell citizens. They have failed at their jobs probably because they did not represent the Snow Creek community at all.
I don’t know what the outcome of all of this will be.

I just know that in any coming elections for county commissioners there will be three votes against the four of you from my household.

Robert Taylor
Statesville

RICCE supports plant opponents

North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life received $1,250 from the Rowan-Iredell Citizens for a Clean Environment Monday night to help with legal expenses.

The North Iredell organization filed a civil complain and petition against Iredell County, the Board of Commissioners and the owners of McLain Farms to halt construction on the biodiesel plan and reverse commissioners' decision to rezone eight acres.

RICCE board member Mike Overcash said Snow Creek residents are facing the same problem it did in 1990 when it fought the state over the placement of an incinerator.

Overcash said the money was left over from $500,000 raised for that earlier battle.

Interactive: Neighbors voice concerns

Click here for a map of Snow Creek Road and the neighbors affected by the rezoning.

Letter to the Editor: Bobby Kearney

As a citizen of Iredell County, I would like to take a moment to thank my community for the warmth and love I have received over the last 14 years. I consider Statesville my home and a place with people that I admire and respect. Most recently, however, I have been embarrassed by commentary in the editorial section of the R&L.

Often times, as neighbors there are issues that we will not see eye to eye on. One such issue is the development of a biodiesel plant by a leading family in our county, the McLains.

Whether or not you agree with the introduction of this technology in rural Iredell County, hopefully you will agree that the argument should be based on facts rather than a personal attack on the integrity of this family.

The McLains are a warm, loving, generous family with values that have made our country great. They have served this community unselfishly and with the highest moral integrity and honesty. They have given their time and resources not only to our fellow North Carolinians, but also throughout our country, and the world that we share.

To suggest an impropriety regarding the McLains receiving a farm subsidy, please allow me the opportunity to share the facts. An agricultural subsidy is a financial government assistance paid to farmers to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence the cost and supply of such in an international market.

These programs date back to the 1930s and are a common practice that is by no means underhanded or illegal. In a 10-year period from 1995 to 2005, North Carolina received $2.8 billion in federal farm subsidy. Our state ranked 21st out of the 50 states. In this time frame, the McLains were ranked No. 53 of those farms that received a subsidy in our state.
Please reflect on how you would like to be treated when you find yourself involved in an unpopular position and let us strive to keep our community unique by treating our neighbors with love and respect regardless of our opinions.

Bobby P. Kearney
Statesville

Neighbors hold press conference

Sheree Leach and her family are already feeling the effect of the McLain biodiesel plant, and it hasn’t even been built yet.
Leach said she tried to get her house appraised after commissioners rezoned eight acres of land next door from single-family residential to heavy manufacturing.

For the full story, click here.

Letter to the Editor: Sheree Leach

I live in the closest house to where the future site of the biodiesel plant will be built off Snow Creek Road. It will be 500 feet from my home.

We are a middle-class family with three children. My husband and I found Statesville on the Internet when we decided to relocate two years ago. We didn't know anything about Statesville, but fell in love with Snow Creek Road. We bought our house in hopes of living the rest of our lives in a beautiful community. Well that all changed the night my back yard was rezoned for a biodiesel plant.

How does this kind of thing happen in America? Isn't this supposed to be the land of opportunity? Or does that only apply to the people who have the right connections or a large bank account.

Why are predetermined zones allowed to be changed? Aren't these zones thought out carefully and put in locations where public safety issues are considered and addressed? I'm a little confused with this decision. Did they base their decision in hopes that nothing will go terribly wrong, like recent explosions and fires at the biodiesel plant in nearby Lenoir. My children's lives are just as precious as any of the people who were involved in this decisions. Why do they not care that they are putting our lives in jeopardy?

I just want all the involved people who put my family and the other families on Snow Creek Road to know how scared we are for our future.

We are not a bunch of angry Americans who want to stop progress and prevent someone from fulfilling their dreams, but this is our future and possibly our lives we are fighting for.

I wonder if the commissioners really know or even care how much they changed our lives. We have chosen to put our home on the market in hopes that maybe someone, for whatever reason, won't mind living next to a biodiesel plant. The people who made this decision still have there peaceful homes with full property value. The families on Snow Creek Road had that taken from us with this thoughtless choice to rezone. How American is that? I would like to invite anyone involved in this decision to please contact me and help me decide which direction to go? Should we stay in our home and endanger my family's health or should I just abandon our home and just pray it sells. Please tell me how to buy a safe place to live if we can't sell the one you the commission has essentially condemned?

How do the commissioners who approved this sleep at night after making such truly thoughtless decisions? When it's not your family's quality of life a stake, I guess it would be easy.

It's obvious with such an outpouring of letters in disbelief in the recent weeks since the rezoning had been approved that we, the citizens, are not going to just give up. I personally can't. I have no choice but to fight not for just our neighborhood but for yours as well. We need everyone's help in the fight to preserve our rights.

We need help funding our mission. If anyone can help, please contact us at our e-mail address ninfrl@yahoo.com.

Sheree Leach
Statesville

Neighbors sue county

North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life and 23 other plaintiffs filed a civil complaint and petition Wednesday seeking to nullify the Iredell County Commission’s decision to rezone eight acres of McLain Farms, which cleared the way for the construction of a controversial biodiesel plant.

For the full story, click here.

Fire Marshal looks at Lenoir plant

Iredell County Fire Marshal Lloyd Ramsey took an educational trip to Foothills Bio-Energies LLC to get an idea what a biodiesel plant required.
He said the trip was informative, but he still needs to see the plans from McLain Farms before he knows how to procede.
The Lenior Fire Chief Ken Briscoe said the fire at the Bio-Energies plant is still under investigation. He is still awaiting the lab results from the soy bean oil and chicken fat that caught on fire two weeks ago.

Letter to the Editor: Bill Pitt

At their regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 7, Iredell County commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a zoning change request for an eight-acre portion of a farm on Snow Creek Road. The request was to shift the eight acres from R-20 ( Single Family Residential) to M-2 (Heavy Manufacturing) Conditional Use, for establishing a biodiesel refinery.

The request was approved over the objections of 72 of the neighbors to the site who attended the meeting and felt that it would be safer for all concerned to locate the refinery in one of the many already established industrial parks in Iredell County, where appropriate roads and other infrastructure are already in place.

According to the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Idaho, as of January of this year, there were approximately 100 commercial scale biodiesel refineries in the United States. Within the last 12 months there have been at least three devastating fires or explosions and fires at such facilities, some involving loss of life, some completely destroying the biodiesel operation. Catastrophic fires have been set off by static electricity, by welding, by a spark from faulty wiring, among other causes.

A chance that such a fire would take place at one of every 33 refineries or better sounds like risky odds. Just imagine if we were considering which of 33 gas stations was going to blow up next.

The odds become riskier still when you consider that the closest volunteer fire department to the proposed site is Trinity, which is approximately four miles away. The nearest full time fire department is Statesville Fire Station No. 2, 12 miles away, and the nearest hazmat team is at Mooresville Station No. 3, 34 miles away.

How long would it take Trinity or either of the others to muster a properly equipped team and get it on site in the event of a fire? How much loss of life or property could result? In the event of a fire and explosion, how much hazardous material would be spilled into one of Iredell County's most important watersheds before help could arrive to control the flow of liquid pollutants?

The fact that the proposed refinery won't be manned 24/7 only increases the potential for a disaster.

Accounts of the biodiesel plant fires were entered into the public record at the commissioners' meeting, but the commissioners chose to ignore them in their decision-making process.It evidently appeared to them perfectly reasonable to locate a refinery using volatile materials in a non-industrial, remote part of the county, far removed from the safety infrastructure which could provide assistance, when it was needed.

It does not, however, appear perfectly reasonable to the neighbors to this proposed refinery, who believe that Heavy Industry should be in industrial parks , which are designed to best meet the requirements of such applications.

What were the commissioners thinking? They were thinking about the economic benefit of the few, not the safety of the many who live in the area of the proposed refinery.

If you believe that the commissioners, zoning ordinances, and the Iredell County Land Use Plan are supposed to protect the Health, Safety, and Welfare of the public, join us at North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life as we oppose this narrow and short sighted decision.

For more information, write us at NINFRL, 991 Snow Creek Road, Statesville, NC, 28625.

Bill Pitt
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Becky Mishoe

We heard about the fire in Lenoir at the site of a biodiesel plant. We weren't really surprised since we already knew of the dangers.

The owner of this facility spoke at the Iredell County Commissioner's meeting before this insane petition was approved by four of the commissioners. Sara Haire Tice was the lone common-sense board member who opposed locating a chemical plant in a rural area.

If this fire had occurred at the proposed location on Snow Creek Road, we can only imagine the catastrophic damage. What with the drought conditions and wind, the fire would have spread very easily. Would our homes still be standing?

The Lenoir plant is located in an industrial zone, not next to someone's home. And what about the firefighter who was "taking a walk" when he saw smoke and reported the fire? Was there no fire alarm system?

Oh well, the expert who testified at the Iredell board meeting said the dangers "are fairly benign" and we see how true that is. If you have been questioning what all the fuss is about, now you know.

This is just one hazard associated with a chemical plant. There are other safety issues which we tried to explain to the commissioners. The majority ,apparently, is not concerned with the impact this decision will have on the lives of many of the very citizens who helped elect them.

Please don"t stand by and allow this to happen. It is time to speak out and help preserve rural life. Our support group, North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life, is working hard. Please contact us by phone at (704) 876-4603 for more information.

It is a good feeling to stand up for a just cause.

Becky Mishoe
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Buddy Hemric

In them ol' cotton fields ... wait a minute, thar ain't no cotton fields!

All the fields around here used to be white with cotton. How come they are planted in soybeans? It's a simple fact, folks. Our good government cut out its subsidy for cotton. As long as McLain Farms was getting a check from good old Uncle Sam all these fields were planted in cotton.

According to Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Web site, McLain Beef & Grain received $399,775 of taxpayer money for growing cotton. The federal government cut this handout program. Look around folks, thar ain't no cotton! The McLains did receive $240,671 for growing soybeans.

The McLains had to find another government program to finance their operation. The 2005 Energy Bill provides that source of taxpayers money. Subtitle A section 301 provides that source. My understanding of that section says a small manufacturer of biodiesel fuel can get $1 per gallon of fuel produced, plus 10 cents per gallon tax credit. So, the McLains, who operate off the taxpayers, are jumping on this new bandwagon.

The McLains' reasoning for putting their biodiesel plant on Snow Creek Road is they could not afford to build it on an industrial site. From 1995-2005 McLain Beef & Grain received $2,242,572 from the federal government (taxpayers). With this much money, you would think they could afford a small industrial site.

Hey, I'll bet if the McLains ask our generous county commissioners, they will give them a tax incentive to build it on such a site.

The dollar figures I quote came from EWG/farms.org and the biodiesel search engine. Check it out for yourself.

Buddy Hemric
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Tammy Bridges

It is not of importance how much research into biodiesel plants and production the commissioners conducted before the meeting to decide about the rezoning. It is of no importance, really, the opinion of four men who were elected by us to represent us, the people, regarding taking a chance with our lives.

Their opinions no longer matter to me because I am still waiting for the shock and senselessness of their decision to wear off. It is not dimming.

What matters is that there are children living on that street and in those communities. There are irreplaceable lives. These are men telling me that they are willing to take a small chance with our lives in order to turn a small profit. All those involved may be willing to take a small risk because they are the ones making the profit.

Tell me, how much money is a life worth these days?

Speaking of worth: We also need to realize that the "poor farmers" who are benefiting from this plant are as far from poor as some of us are from Bill Gates rich. They are taking the money the people of the community have invested in their small parcels of land over many years, which could be used to take care of them in their elder years, and putting it into a scheme to make the wealthy farmers richer.

"We don't have the funds" usually means you do something different. You don't steamroll the majority to benefit a few. There is no argument, property values may go down. The only way to achieve highest market value is in conformity of a neighborhood. A chemical plant in the middle of hundreds of homes is not conforming. The values will go down - and dramatically - along with our quality of life. Cherished homes will become prisons.

Pleading, innocent ignorance and submissiveness may seem easy now, in front of a group of men in business suits who seem to have your best interest in mind - and no one else's (still trying to figure that out). It gets harder as the years go by and the audience changes.
At least, that's using the standards many of us in civilized society choose to live by. We not only treasure our own families and interests, we value all of our community. We value life over dollars, every life.

Tammy Bridges
Statesville

Lenoir plant fire fuels debate

A fire at a Lenoir biodiesel plant over the weekend has added a new layer of anxiety to several Snow Creek Road residents who are increasingly concerned about the alternative fuel production plant slated to be built in their neighborhood.

For the full story, click here.

Lenoir biodiesel plant slideshow

Click here for an audio slideshow touring a biodiesel facility in Lenoir.

Town, residents embroiled in fuel fight

Company owner Randy Dellinger said all batches begin and end in the plant laboratory.
Dellinger helped and supported an Iredell County family’s effort to build a biodiesel facility on eight acres on their farm. He spoke on behalf of McLain Farms Inc. at the Iredell County Commission meeting earlier this month.

For the full story, click here.

Letter to the Editor: Randy Bridges

Our home is very near the site of the proposed biodiesel refinery on Snow Creek Road. We still cannot believe that our good neighbors would even consider locating this facility here. We would never consider operating such a plant in a rural community, endangering people not only from toxic chemicals, but also from heavy tanker truck traffic.

And Commissioner Robertson, we are not "scared to death of chemicals." We actually know what we are talking about. We understand the importance of chemistry in our daily lives. We DO NOT understand locating a chemical processing plant in a rural community. Also, Commissioner Robertson, the chemical causing part of our concern is METHANOL, not METHANE.

By the way, thanks for telling us how easily and safely biodiesel can be made "in a high school lab." Perhaps the students can find instructions online, as is also the case with bomb-making. "Very easy stuff," according to Commissioner Robertson.

We do not believe for one second tht McLain Farms does not have the money to locate this plant in an industrial park. How could our county commissioners pretend to believe this?

Did they even question this statement by Phil McLain? Why not?

Why did only one commissioner, Sarah Haire-Tice, stand up and support the R-20 zoning which was already in place? We have many more valid concerns.

As concerned citizens, please join in the fight to reverse this irresponsible decision by OUR county commissioners. To endanger lives for financial gain is just plain WRONG! Please defend our rural quality of life! Please contact us at North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life, 991 Snow Creek Road, Statesville, NC 28625.

Randy Bridges
Statesville

Biodiesel facility clears another hurdle

Iredell County commissioners, for a second time, have voted 4 to 1 to allow a proposed biodiesel production facility to be built on Snow Creek Road in North Iredell.
“It was to make it legal,” Commissioner Ken Robertson said Wednesday, a day after the latest vote.

For the full story, click here.

Conflict revs up

Frustrated by the Iredell County Commission’s decision to rezone a parcel of farmland to accommodate a biodiesel plant, a group of neighbors is raising money for a possible court fight.
The 10 neighbors of McLain Farms, where the biodiesel plant will be built, have formed North Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life.

For the full story, click here

Letter to the Editor: Jim Mairs

How does Iredell pastureland suddenly become a trailer park for the "economically naive home buyer?" How did the Brawley School traffic jam occur? The actions of our county commission aptly demonstrated these problems at their last session, Tuesday night. After 3 hours they voted to allow an oil refinery to be built in the farmland of Northern Iredell. In their fourth hour they intrenched the stranglehold that the Troutman Utilities department has on the farmland of southern Iredell.

Over the last decade, Troutman has seized control of southern Iredell county by utilizing the county easements and right of ways to negate any resistance a property owner could hope to exert. First a sewage-line or water-line is run down a highway or creek. Now Troutman controls the development of the area with control of the water/sewer hookups. This usurpted control of the exit 42 exchange five years ago, despite an existing "Iredell County Land Use Plan" (paid for by county taxpayers). To commerate this victory, Troutman is now building the Troutman Memorial Watertower on Interstate 77 just north of exit 42, for all of to see.

One can only hope this memorial touches a nerve with our Board Chairman every time he is in a Brawley School Road traffic jam on Highway 21 between Mooresville and I-77. A jam caused by the 200 plus "economically naive home owners" in the quarter million dollar 1/3 acre lots he allowed in the so called Shiloh Farms housing development (ie. trailer park). Why should he worry about roads, isn't that the responsibility of the state? Even if he knew the State would be 10 years behind in road development, why should he foresee (if not cause) the resulting traffic tie-up in which he now sits. Perhaps our elected representative will have the time to reflect on the Troutman Memorial Watertower and remember how he was led around as if he had a ring thru his nose.

Perhaps fellow commissioners can recall where they had their thumbs.

Jim Mairs
Troutman (former Mooresville resident)

Letter to the Editor: Shawn Baugher

Is it me or is something really wrong with this county. It should not even be a question to place a biodiesel plant in a place where families live and play. It is a no brainer, and the county let it go, what is the motive, who is getting paid to pass that one? not that i am putting anyones integrety in question, but it makes you wonder. Now let's move on to questions about our Skatepark!

Shawn Baugher
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Fred Coggins

Steve Johnson, Godfrey Williams, Ken Robertson, Marvin Norman and Sara Haire-Tice were voted in by the people, and they turn their backs on them. With more than 70 people against it, only two for it, how could any people with good common sense have voted for the project on Snow Creek Road?

This is an example of why we need to elect five new commissioners as soon as possible.
The current ones work for big business and not for the people of Iredell County.

Vote for five new commissioners in the 2008 election. They won't get any worse than the present set. We need commissioners who will work for the people, not against the people.

Fred Coggins
Mooresville

Letter to the Editor: Jim Freeland

I went to the Iredell County Commission meeting last week. It was a real dog and pony show. Seventy-three people were against the proposed biodiesel plant and about five were for it.

I know we need alternate fuel, but if all the soy bean in the country were used to make biodiesel fuel, it would last about a week. It has to be subsidized at about a dollar a gallon to break even. If it were not for this subsidy, would anybody want to produce it?

Don't you just love farm subsidies?

Jim Freeland
Statesville

Neighbors mull legal action

The 500 feet between the silos and sheds on the McLain family farm and Bryan and Sheree Leach’s property is filled with freshly cut corn stalks and frustration.
Sheree and her mother, Dorothy Carney, have watched trucks go in and out of the McLain’s Snow Creek Road farm all week with the corn harvest.

For the full story, click here.

Editorial: Turning a blind eye

The folks who live on Snow Creek Road must feel like they got kicked in the teeth by Steve Johnson and Godfrey Williams, punched in the gut by Ken Robertson and run over by a bus driven by Marvin Norman.

Who can fault them? Tuesday night, a large contingent of concerned citizens went to the Iredell County commissioners to plead with their elected officials.

They wanted the commissioners to understand their neighborhood was not a good location for a proposed biodiesel plant. They were worried about their safety, their property values and overall quality of life. Who can blame them?

One commissioner, Sara Haire Tice, felt their pain and voted against a proposal to rezone an eight-acre tract of McLain Farm from single-family residential to manufacturing to accommodate the alternative fuel plant.

We find it incredible, really, that the other commissioners could take this action in the face of such overwhelming opposition by the people this operation will impact the most.

What's the purpose of having zoning ordinances, which are designed to protect residents from dangerous industrial operations, if the very people elected to serve the people are so willing to turn a blind eye to what the people want?

County Commission approves rezoning request

Seventy-two residents stood in opposition to a proposed biodiesel facility on McLain Farm off Snow Creek Road at the Iredell County Commission meeting Tuesday night.
After listening to their constituents’ concerns, the commissioners voted 4 to 1, with Commissioner Sara Haire Tice dissenting, to approve a rezoning request that will allow the property owners to produce alternative fuel at the site. The property had been zoned for single-family residential before commissioners approved a change to manufacturing.

For the full story, click here.

Editorial: A horrible location for a terrific idea

Opponents of the McLain family's proposal to produce biodiesel fuel on their farm off Snow Creek Road have made a good case that Iredell County commissioners should give great weight to tonight as they consider the McLain's rezoning request.

The McLains must have the property rezoned in order to begin refining the alternative fuel.
Phil McLain has been a good salesman for the project. The refinery, he claims, will create a new market for local farmers and make the community more self-sufficient as it reduces our dependence on foreign oil.

As any good pitch man would do, Mr. McLain has stressed the positives of this proposal while downplaying the downside and potential risk to the Snow Creek community.

His neighbors have been happy to fill in the gaps. And they have made some valid points: hazardous, flammable materials will be introduced into their neighborhood in large quantities, tanker-truck traffic will increase and, more than likely, property values will decline.

It would be easy to characterize their opposition as the "not in my back yard" type. But that would be wrong.

In our view, a biodiesel refinery is not suitable for anyone's back yard.

Commissioners should only approve this rezoning request if they are willing to allow a similar rezoning in their own neighborhoods.

A biodiesel refinery would fit right in among the quarter-million homes in Dogwood Estates, wouldn't it?

Letter to the Editor: Lois Tomlin

Northern Iredell County is a beautiful part of Iredell County. The majority of the people who live in this area take pride in their property and many have had their land handed down to them from their families for generations.

The proposed bio-diesel refinery on Snow Creek Road would be detrimental to the people who live in this area and to the value of their property. This is heavy-manufacturing business that should be in an industrial zone, not in a rural residential, agricultural community.

With this refinery would come more trucks, farm equipment, storage tanks and traffic in the area. The traffic congestion would not be limited to Snow Creek Road. There are buses with school children that travel in this area and this refinery would only increase the danger for their daily commute to school.

All of the citizens of Iredell County should be concerned about this refinery since the McLains have farm land all over the county so the Snow Creek community will not be the only ones affected.

We all know that one day how you treated your neighbor will be more important than how much money you made.

I feel that it is the duty of the Iredell County Zoning Board and the Iredell County Commission to make the right decision for the Snow Creek community and all the citizens of North Iredell County by not allowing this biodiesel refinery in our neighborhood.

Lois Tomlin
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Tammy Bridges

There is an air of humility surrounding the proposed zoning change on Snow Creek Road for the purpose of a bio-diesel plant. It is as though it is being pursued for the good of the county and mankind as opposed to one family's pocketbook.

Iredell County has plenty of commercial property zoned for industrial use available without destroying one of the few beautiful North Iredell residential areas remaining. To read the news articles, you'd think those pursuing this change cared about the community and weren’t going to make a dime. That's preposterous!

It just so happens that building on land they already own would cut overhead quite drastically. How can someone claim to care so much about helping everyone else when they blatantly have no regard for their own neighbors? What about the toddler who will be playing along the same driveway where the tankers are coming and going?

I'm definitely for growth, capitalism, and, of course, helping the farmers, but to what extent? If we so desperately need a biodiesel plant, let's put one somewhere that would make sense! A site for an industry takes time and diligence to find and investigate. It doesn't just happen to be one's own land in a residential neighborhood where people have purchased land hoping to raise their children and enjoy their grandchildren.

Even those who look over the dangers of 6,000 gallons of methane right in the middle of a residential neighborhood by comparing them to a small propane tank must know what risks it poses and how it will destroy this community. For anyone looking in, it makes no sense whatsoever. It really removes a lot of trust for our local government in protecting our property values and what we've worked our entire lives to save.

Do the numbers of those who might "benefit" outnumber those who will suffer every single day with the worry and danger of living right next door to a plant that produces highly flammable fuel? Isn't there another site already in the works in Statesville in an industrial area? Those who are for this change must be mighty relieved that it won't be across the street from their own property. In my opinion, this is how the destruction of communities must begin.

Tammy Bridges
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Jane Burris

The purpose of zoning is to regulate the use of land. Rezoning changes this use from its original designation (as in the case on Snow Creek Road ) to a drastically different use. If property can be rezoned so easily and is not in the best interest of surrounding property owners, then what is the point of having zoning ordinances in the first place? I would never build a house in an area zoned for industry. Why should industry be allowed to encroach on a residential community?

Just because the proposed biodiesel fuel plant is connected to farming does not mean it is not dangerous to operate, with families living as close as 200 feet away. There are caustic chemicals involved as well as toxic fumes. The volunteer fire departments are not equipped to handle a potential disaster, including explosions and fire in this type of facility. In the event of a chemical spill, groundwater contamination is likely.

Another factor to consider is declining property values. Would you want to buy a home near a biodiesel fuel plant? In 1999 when there was a request to rezone Snow Creek Road to R-20 (by the same petitioners) the plea was in the name of protecting property values. Where is the concern for their neighbors' property values now?

If you think this issue does not concern you, remember, if it can happen in our neighborhood, it can happen in yours. I urge you to attend the Iredell County Commission meeting at 7 p.m. today in the old courthouse and help keep heavy manufacturing where it belongs.

Jane Burris
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Randy Bridges

Your front-page article in Monday's edition on the McLains' proposed biodiesel refinery on Snow Creek Road was a great promotional piece, if you like heavy industry in your front yard. According to my calculations, approximately 50 column inches were devoted to supporting this heavy- manufacturing process in our quiet residential and agricultural neighborhood. Only about nine column inches referred to the damage, disruption and danger this would create for members of our community and visitors to our area.

Phil McLain was quoted as saying that "the hearing was delayed" when, in fact, that can only be decided by the county board of commissioners. That decision was not made until Tuesday at the 7 p.m. commissioners meeting, not prior to the print deadline for your Monday edition.

Although we had a sizable crowd of opponents in attendance, several others failed to attend the meeting due to the misinformation printed in the R&L. The news and editorial staffs of your paper owe it to the citizens of Iredell County and Statesville to check their information rather than to gratuitously print someone’s inaccurate remarks as fact.

The issue now is scheduled to be heard at the Aug. 7 commissioners meeting. I encourage all who are opposed to this "loose gun" approach to rezoning to please attend this hearing.

The proposed M-2 heavy manufacturing zoning is referred to in the Iredell County Land Use Plan as "designed to accommodate all but the most obnoxious industries."

Wouldn't you agree that this type of facility can rightly only be located in an industrial zone?
I trust that cooler heads will prevail when our county commissioners make the decision at their next meeting.

Randy Bridges
Statesville