A second attempt by representatives of the Elba Express Pipeline project to gain clearance to cross county roads was met with landowner opposition and the continued resolve by Wilkes County commissioners not to grant a permit for the crossings.

Citing an increasing degree of urgency, attorney J. David Chesnut said that his client, Elba Express Company, "needs to be in the construction of the pipeline by March or April of 2009" in order to honor its existing contracts to ship natural gas by March of 2010. He asked for the permit because the construction of the pipeline would necessitate the crossing of "certain county roads" either by boring under them or going directly through using a "cut and cover" procedure. He said, "At no time will any road be closed."

According to a letter from Chesnut to the Commission, the same request for a permit was made in February of this year and the county denied the request due to considerable local opposition and because of a pending appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authorization to proceed with the project. Further, commissioners have maintained for some two years that they can see no real benefits for Wilkes County resulting from the proposed pipeline.

The letter also threatened, "Failure of the county commission to grant the permit would result in legal action in the Federal Courts."

"I know there are some local people who are very much opposed to this," Chesnut said, "so you have to make the decision as to whether you will defend a lawsuit for the protection of a few citizens or whether you will use the same money to buy technology for the Board of Tax Assessors." He did not, however, satisfactorily explain what one had to do with the other or why "the same money" would be involved in such a choice. (Later in the meeting, Bill Steed, chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors, explained that the current delay with the tax digest had nothing to do with a need for technology.)

"There are a lot of people in this county who have spent a lot of money fighting this pipeline," Commission Chairman Sam Moore said. "If it is stopped, it will have been a monumental task that these people have undertaken. [The pipeline people] have been fought harder in Wilkes County than probably anywhere they have been fought and I don't think they expected the fight that they got," he continued.

Representing Landowners for Economic and Environmental Protection (LEEP) Debbie Bennett read a letter from the group's attorney in response to Elba's request.

"Mr. Chesnut has attempted to intimidate the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners to bow to the whims of Elba by brandishing threats of litigation ... regardless of the merits of Elba's position ...," she said. Bennett also asserted that Chesnut's call for a decision was "nothing less than extortion." Further, she pointed out that even though a federal agency is involved, "all actions to acquire land through eminent domain must take place in the Superior Courts of the county in which the land lies."

After pointing out that no provisions had been made for Elba to repay the county for any damages that might be done, that condemnation petitions would provide Elba with ingress and egress rights without limitation, and that the pipeline would provide no service to Wilkes County, Bennett read the letter's closing statement, as follows:

"On behalf of the taxpaying citizens of Wilkes County who have decided not to bow down to Elba, we respectfully request that the Board of Commissioners refuse to sign the Permit Agreement. To do so would place clouds on the title of county property, would endorse Elba's activities in attempting to illegally take overly broad and uncontrolled rights from Wilkes County property owners, and would be inconsistent with protection of public property in Wilkes County."

Moore indicated that he didn't think there had been any change in the Commission's position of not granting county road access. He did offer the chance for any other commissioner to make a motion for the permit but none responded. He also responded to Chesnut's threat of a lawsuit.

"Until our attorney tells us that we are going to have to spend money to defend ourselves, I think our position is right where it has been," he said. "And if he tells us that, we'll look at it again and determine whether it will be a burden on the taxpayers or not.

"I do not see how this has anything to do with our tax appeals," he continued. "We are going to continue to spend money to run this county just as economically and as efficiently as we can. We do run an efficient county and we're proud of that."

For lack of a motion, the request was lost, though Chesnut did say that it would be appropriate for the commissioners to reconsider at their regular January meeting.

All of the commissioners - Divenski Lee, Donna Hardy, John Howard, Jerry Stover, and Moore - were present at the meeting as well as County Administrator David Tyler, County Attorney Charles LeGette, and a dozen or so visitors and concerned citizens.

The commissioners made appointments to various boards and organizations as follows:

Wills Memorial Hospital Authority - reappointed Gerald Norman and Dr. David Kirk;

Washington-Wilkes Parks and Recreation board - appointed Ed Geddings to replace John Howard and also appointed Johnny Marshall to a one-year term and Craig Gammons to a two-year term;

Wilkes County 911 board - appointed John Howard to replace Donna Hardy;

CSRA UDC - reappointed Sam Moore.

In other business:

l Tyler reported that Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax received for the month of September amounted to $119,645.61 while Local Option Sales Tax amounted to $77,542.63 for the same month.

l Washington-Wilkes Tourism Director Ashley Barnett reported on a number of events and activities coming up in the next few weeks and months. She also reminded those in attendance to watch Washington-related commercials that are currently running on Augusta's Channel Six on weekday mornings during "Good Morning America" and "Live with Regis and Kelly."

l Patsy and Winston Bailey again brought up the continuing problem they have in their neighborhood with loud 4-wheelers near their home. They suggested a noise ordinance as a solution and asked if surrounding counties had anything like that in place. Moore said that neighboring counties do not have "noise ordinances" partly because they are so difficult to enforce and also because such a problem would ordinarily be handled as a "Disturbing the Peace" matter.

The next regular meeting of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners will be held on Thursday, January 8, 2009, at 7 p.m. in the courthouse.