Supervisors shouldn’t rush this decision

Kevin J. Mahoney
Published: July 14, 2008

Seems like the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors is rushing the Culpeper Utility Partners decision.

Although the board has had access to the full CUP proposal for about six months, it is only recently that the citizens have seen it (and I still haven’t waded through all of it).
Hats off to the Piedmont Environmental Council for getting its viewpoint made quickly and effectively. (BOS take note).

As I understand it, the BOS feels pressured to make a decision this month to ensure that authority for an additional 1 million-gallon-per-day capacity isn’t lost in 2010. I also understand that a request to extend that authority has been made but that a response won’t be received until August at the earliest.

Seems like the bureaucracy is making the decision. So, I strongly suggest that the BOS climb into a van and trundle down to Richmond and get ’er done sooner.

Regardless of the merits (or lack thereof) of the CUP proposal, this is a very big issue — too big for the board to make such a decision themselves, regardless of how many public hearings are held. This issue needs to be decided by the residents of the town and county as a referendum on the November ballot.

Kevin J. Mahoney
Culpeper