LETTERS: EVEN WITH P&Z, COMMISSIONERS STILL IN CONTROL

To the editor:

I have tried to stay neutral on the power-plant issue and see all sides. The proposed site is on the farm where my grandparents lived and has been in the family since it was homesteaded. I have sentimental reasons for opposing this, but I will not let that stand in the way of good judgment. Somewhere tonight there is a power plant spewing ashes so my lights will stay lit.

I also live close to the proposed plant and paid $10,000 for a 440-foot well that I hope doesn't go dry. It would seem that if Kinder Morgan Power Co. doesn't find more water, which is unlikely, this is over anyway.

Here is how it would have worked had we had county planning and zoning: The power company and the residents make their cases to the P&Z committee. Let's say the committee makes a recommendation to the county commission that the plant be stopped. The commission could still decide to overrule the committee and give the go ahead. P&Z does not give the citizens a guarantee that what they don't want will not happen. If the commissioners choose not to issue bonds for the Kinder Morgan plant, I can promise you that this is a dead horse.

In this day and age when we read and hear how much utility profits are soaring, I want to know why Kinder Morgan needs us to foot the startup cost. I think it is to keep their own working capitol freed up. I think they should operate out of their own checkbook. Our county is not in the power-generation business but could be forced into it if Kinder Morgan fails.

DOUGLAS W. FLANNERY

Whitewater, Mo.