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Stop ‘stupidity’ over dam
To the Editor:
Let me get this straight. Duke Energy is going to pay Jackson County money, give us the property around the current Dillsboro Dam, build boat ramps and donate land and money for parks, but our commissioners won’t accept it. Instead, the commissioners are going to spend tons of our money for attorneys to process a condemnation suit with little chance of success. But if they win, they pay $370,000 of taxpayer’s money for the land we were going to be given for free, and give up all the other financial rewards mentioned above. What a deal.
If I were Duke, I wouldn’t bother to defend the condemnation suit. Not only would they be able to avoid doing all those nice things for Jackson County, but they would save millions. Since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has decided the dam has to go, if Jackson County wins the legal suit, will the taxpayers then have to pay for more litigation against FERC? Since it’s likely we’d lose that one just like all the others, then the taxpayers would have to pay to remove the dam. So how is this a win for the people of Jackson County?
Now, with the latest quotes in last week’s paper, the truth behind all this is revealed. The commissioners don’t think Duke is paying Jackson County enough money. All the fuss about the Dillsboro Dam seems to have just been a ploy to get back at Duke. Maybe if the commissioners had told the truth in the beginning and just negotiated (not sued) with Duke, we could have expected a better offer and a whole lot less of taxpayers’ money wasted. If the truth is that the commissioners think the current offer from Duke is not enough, how is what they’re doing now not 10 times worse? Enough already. Stop this stupidity.
Ray Trine
Cashier
Commissioners should rethink effort to save dam
To the Editor:
I have kept my opinions to myself for a good while now, but the (Dillsboro) Dam controversy has about got to me.
Whoever it was that said “ignorance abounds” must have lived in Jackson County. I believe our commissioners must have been drinking too much of that “Dam Water,” and it has gone to their brains. Don’t they understand that to keep the dam and make it operational would take millions of dollars in relicensing fees, millions to get it operational, and then what would they do with what little power they could generate – run it over Duke power lines using Duke’s equipment? I somehow don’t see that happening.
If I were in charge of Duke’s Jackson County operations, I would give Jackson County the whole mess, send them to see the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, give them one year to get it up and running and then cut their power off at the county line.
Jesse Franklin
Sylva
It’s time to fix state’s mental health system
To the Editor:
As I continue to read and hear about the mental health problems brought on by “reform.” I ask how can you not try and do something. I know from my years of experience as director (now retired) of the Smoky Mountain Center that these problems can be solved.
Providing a quality service that clearly improves lives is less costly than not providing a quality service. I know the three services of mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse can be provided effectively through a “system of services.” Private providers are good at what they do. However, they do not provide the full system necessary for the needed services. I am going to keep what could be a book short in the hope that it will be read and acted on.
I and a few select area directors could develop a concept that would save millions of dollars for every system in the state – from social services to families, schools, law enforcement and all others.
More importantly, individuals, families, churches and communities could experience improvements in daily living and thereby live better, feel better and be more supportive. I know from experience these things can be done and I believe if we are caring citizens we must care for those that need help. In doing so, most will become contributing citizens and most can live a happy, productive life. I feel not to do this is unacceptable to our great state.
I would encourage everyone to contact their legislators and encourage them to take action to develop a system of services for the three disabilities. Please feel free to use this letter for that purpose.
Hugh Moon
Sylva
Dam should go
To the Editor:
I have a message to our county commissioners. Remove the dam and save the taxpayers millions or pay at the polls.
Jim Cunningham
Dillsboro
Paper company is proud of environmental record
To the Editor:
Jackson Paper Manufacturing Co. has been a proud part of Sylva and Jackson County for many years. Our community’s highly-skilled and dedicated workforce, solid infrastructure, good business climate and quality of life all combine to make the area a great place to work and live.
We are pleased and fortunate to be able to build on the success we’ve had at Jackson Paper by establishing a new operation, Stonewall Packaging. Announced in April, the new venture will take the fluted corrugating medium being made from 100-percent recycled paper at Jackson Paper and linerboard from other manufacturers to produce corrugated sheets of cardboard.
The more than $17 million investment in Stonewall will result in the creation of 61 new jobs over the next three years. The jobs will pay an average of $39,344 not including benefits. Jackson County’s average annual wage is $27,820.
Renovations are already under way on Scotts Creek Road at the old 200,000-square-foot Chasam building, which will house the new Stonewall operation. One natural gas boiler that meets or exceeds industry standards for emissions will power the facility. Production is expected to begin there in late fall.
In Phase 2 of the Stonewall project, the company will build a new mill similar to the 139,000-square-foot Jackson Paper facility, including a wood-fired boiler and stack. The new mill, to be located on a site adjacent to Jackson Paper, will produce linerboard from 100-percent recycled cardboard. Although we may be permitted to do so, there are no plans to use any fuel source other than wood at the Stonewall mill.
Phase 2 could begin in two to three years, but is contingent on the nation’s economy and the demand for the product continuing to grow.
Jackson Paper was established in the early 1980s and purchased by the current owners in 1995, but the mill sits on an industrial site that has been home for more than a century to various manufacturers, including Mead, which operated a paper mill there for nearly 50 years. Federal rules governing the discharge of effluent resulted in closure of Mead’s Sylva operation in 1974. Subsequent owners converted the mill to the production of 100-percent recycled corrugated medium with a closed-loop water treatment system and began the work of cleaning up the site.
Since 1995, Jackson Paper has invested significantly in facility and machine upgrades at the mill and has systems in place that meet or exceed government mandates and regulations for air and water quality.
Unlike most paper mills, Jackson Paper does not use fossil fuels to fire its boiler but burns waste wood. The boiler generates steam that powers the turbine-driven paper machine and dryers, and heats the plant. A pollution control scrubber prevents wood ash from leaving the boiler.
With an annual output of more than 100,000 tons of corrugating medium, the mill is the largest producer of 100-percent recycled paper in North Carolina.
Jackson Paper diverts approximately 109,000 tons of old corrugated containers – or cardboard – from landfills annually. That’s the equivalent of 72 million boxes the size of an average microwave.
Jackson Paper’s closed-loop water system and treatment facility allows the plant to reuse the large quantities of water needed in the papermaking process, resulting in zero discharge of waste into the stream or sewer.
Many of Jackson Paper’s environmental practices have been recognized by government and business groups, both inside and outside the paper industry. Most recently, the company earned the Sustainable Forestry Initiative designation of the Forest Stewardship Council for its recycling efforts.
Jackson Paper takes very seriously its role as good and responsible stewards of our environment and our communities, and we are committed to applying those same guiding principles and practices as we move forward with the Stonewall project and creating more jobs for the people of this region.
Tim Campbell
Sylva
(Editor’s Note: Campbell is president and CEO of Jackson Paper.)
Why would tourists be attracted to dam?
To the Editor:
Thankfully, it is unlikely that everyone agrees over the outcome of the Dillsboro Dam issue. It is also astonishing that anyone is truly convinced that a condemned dam could ever become a tourist attraction. After all, why would a tourist be attracted to a condemned dam when there are superb recreational parks in many other areas for a visitor to enjoy? The tourist attraction remark is a fallacy that insults our intelligence.
Duke Energy customers will have a serious rate increase over this nonsense. That results in a negative impact on the economic conditions of the area. County representatives and commissioners really should be focusing their attention on establishing real jobs to allocate actual revenue. Rather than causing electricity bills to go sky high, it only makes sense to allow Duke to destruct a worn-out, hazardous dam. The direction this is going, surrounding counties will think of the “dam” commissioners after we begin receiving higher energy bills. Jackson County may also get to foot the bill to have this dam destroyed.
Go figure.
Sharon Solesbee
Franklin
A ‘green’ dam?
To the Editor:
It is painful to read article after article in The Sylva Herald about the wrongheaded and money-spending actions of four of our five county commissioners, along with county manager Ken Westmoreland, in their years-long struggle with Duke Energy over the Dillsboro Dam.
And the latest report really hurts. Turns out that Duke has offered to pay the county an extra $225,000, in addition to the $350,000 already promised, along with the river restoration work and the water accesses that Duke previously agreed to, if the commissioners would drop their stubborn obstructionism and let the company tear down the dam. And yet our commissioners, having spent more than $250,000 of county money in failed legal challenges, have turned down this latest offer and have decided to try to get control of the dam by condemning it. What’s more, if they are successful, this means that we taxpayers will have to shell out another estimated $370,000 to cover the fair market value of the property around the dam, when Duke has already offered to give us that land in the first place. In other words, if we add up the $250,000 the commissioners have now spent, the $370,000 they might still spend, plus the $575,000 total that they have turned down from Duke, we’re talking about well over a million dollars to own an old concrete plug.
Personally, I hope the commissioners fail in their condemnation attempt because I don’t want our county going into the dam business. I don’t want us to be responsible for spending still more money to get the Dillsboro Dam back in operation, to maintain it, and to dredge out the silt that will keep on building up behind it. Some people wax poetic about the “green energy” that will come from the dam, as if the electricity it might produce has no negative consequences. But in truth the so called “green energy” produced by a dam is a contradiction in terms, because what a dam does is to back up and drown a perfectly good stretch of river, harming life in the river, the people who make their living on rivers (I’m one), as well as the people who think there’s nothing finer than to see a river flow.
There is one thing for sure that’s been “green” about the Dillsboro Dam – the green of our money that our commissioners have spent so far.
To the people who go on about the beauty of the dam, have you ever glanced upstream at what the dam backs up? We’re not talking about an attractive Cedar Cliff, Glenville, Bear, or Wolf lake. This is an ugly, deadwater trough. Now, let’s imagine the county treasure that could be there if we take out the Dillsboro Dam and turn the site into a real river park (that is, a park with a river that actually flows). Such a park would offer much pleasure to county residents and tourists alike. And connected to Dillsboro by walking routes, it would bring business to that now trainless town. If you doubt such a park would be popular, drive up N.C. 107 to East Laporte any day and see how hugely successful that river park is. Individuals, families, and tourists go there; boaters, tubers, and fishermen go there; reunions, clubs, churches, ball teams and businesses go there. My son and his friends practically grew up swimming there. A park like that at Dillsboro would be, if anything, even more attractive.
For the health of the river, for the relaxation and enjoyment of county residents, for the monetary good of Dillsboro, and for relief on the taxpayers’ wallet, I say pull out that concrete plug, flush the brown water behind it, and let the Tuckaseigee flow through Dillsboro again.
Burt Kornegay
Cullowhee
President’s plan would mean health care for all
To the Editor:
President Obama is working on an ambitious agenda item: health care reform. Some may call this “socialized medicine” and believe it goes against American principles. However, I disagree. The president’s plan is not “socialized medicine,” it is health care for all. And what it represents is good business.
Good business means reducing costs by improving efficiency of the health care “system” and investing in prevention. Studies have demonstrated that more efficient and coordinated care, rather than patchwork care, is not only superior in outcomes achieved, but also much less costly. This is because when doctors collaborate as a team, redundant services are eliminated. Other studies repeatedly show that health care costs are exponentially lowered if serious disease processes requiring expensive treatments, medicines and frequent doctor visits or hospitalizations, are prevented in the first place.
Good business also means letting patients choose whom they receive care from, rather than the other way around. The president’s plan lets patients choose their health care providers. Therefore, the fear of being assigned to a doctor you don’t like is unfounded.
Finally, good business means creating new jobs and expanding the medical infrastructure in order to serve 46 million more (currently uninsured) patients. This plan would provide equal access to affordable, quality care. It would require physicians (and other providers) to be responsible for providing care that results in good outcomes. It would require new jobs to be created to manage many patients who are not currently receiving proper health care.
Currently, 46 million Americans are uninsured, health insurance premiums are rising four times faster than wages, and medical expenses cause half of all personal bankruptcies. Medical costs are on a seemingly uphill spiral. Clearly, there is something wrong with this system. Don’t you think that an efficient, smart and accessible health care system is something we deserve?
Let’s support this effort to make affordable health care available to all of America’s people. Let’s support a system promoting coordinated and efficient health care. Let’s ensure that health care is good business, and that good practice results in good outcomes. Regardless of political affiliation, it is easy to understand that attending to the good health of our country is a sound investment in the future.
Julie Van Leuven
Webster
Meaning of ‘independence’
To the Editor:
The Fourth of July is coming up this weekend, and I’m looking forward, like many others, to a long weekend.
However, in consideration of what has been and is happening in our country right now, I believe we need to remember that we are not celebrating July 4, but instead, we are really celebrating Independence Day, which happens to be observed on July 4. We could just as easily be celebrating July 2 or Aug. 4.
For those of you a little rusty in your American history, Independence Day is the day that we recognize and celebrate as the day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress and that we declared our independence from the tyranny of England and King George III.
And just in case you have forgotten the meaning of the word “Independence,” let me give you the definition per the Encarta Word English Dictionary: independence – freedom from control; freedom from dependence on or control by another person, organization, or state.
As you can see from the definition, independence is synonymous with freedom and when we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we need to think about our freedom and what it means to be free. We also need to remember what Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan said about “freedom.” Lincoln said: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
Reagan said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Lincoln and Reagan were giving us an explicit warning about the precarious nature of “freedom.” The question is: are we listening now?
Nelson Bumgarner
Sylva
County should invest in airport, not dam
To the Editor:
It dismays me that our august county commission can afford thousands of dollars to “save” an obsolete dam for little more than sentimental reasons and cannot find $15,000 to support creating a modern airport that has outstanding value to the county for years into the future. It’s as if they are ostriches with their heads buried in the sand.
It makes me wonder who on the commission has actually visited the airport lately to see what dedicated citizens have done to improve the facilities after years of misfeasant, if not malfeasant, neglect by past commissions.
I understand that many people were unhappy with the way in which the airport was brought into existence, but for crying out loud, the past is past. It’s time to think of the future.
I am privileged to be on the e-mail list of the airport’s volunteers (at no cost to taxpayers) and have followed the efforts – physical, intellectual and financial – they have expended to provide a very adequate facility.
For example, just recently a volunteer spent his time, fuel, and equipment to cut the grass on both sides of the runway. This made night operations safer since the runway lights are now all visible to incoming and outgoing traffic. Most counties provide this service to ensure they have a modern, forward-looking facility such as this. Indeed, volunteers such as these can often be found maintaining and improving our airport.
Furthermore, the recent request was to start providing hangar space, which would be rented and put the airport on the road to being self sufficient financially. If the total cost of those hangars were to be borne by the county, that might be a reason to question the expenditure. However, that $15,000 would bring some $150,000 into the county. That could provide several jobs for people in the county. True, the $150,000 is tax money. But don’t ever believe there would be any reduction in taxes if Jackson County didn’t receive it.
Now as to the dam. There are some facts, or even estimates, that I would like to see. What is the expected life of a dam that is already almost 100 years old? How much will it cost to maintain when it starts to crumble? How much will it cost to remove it when it starts to fail? If it were to be restored to operational condition, how much would that cost? Does the county really need a new park? If so, is this where it is most needed? What is the long-range plan for parks in Jackson County, if one actually exists? Or is this just a ploy to justify the actions of the commission?
Until these and other questions are answered, no more tax dollars should be spent on this cart-before-the-horse dam fiasco.
Fran Webster
Sylva
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