Supervisors vote to reschedule hearing

By JIM TALBERT\Staff
TAZEWELL – A windmill controversy will churn for at least one more month in Tazewell County.
Supervisor Bill Wimmer moved to cancel the Dec. 1 hearing on the Ridgeline Protection ordinance and reschedule it for January. Wimmer said the people of his district had spoken and they wanted John Absher to represent them.
With that in mind, he said Absher and Jim Campbell, Jr. should have time to consider the ordinance and cast a vote on it. Campbell joined the board for its Nov. 17 meeting but Absher’s term does not start until January.
The board normally reorganizes in January and voted to do that Jan. 5 and to schedule the public hearing on the Ridgeline Protection Ordinance for Jan. 12. That meeting will be held at the middle school provided it is available and is tentatively scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m.
Wimmer said another reason for his motion was to ensure the ordinance could be acted upon. If the Dec. 1 public hearing had been held the board would have to take action on it by the end of December or it would have died.
Board Chairman Dave Anderson said he wants the ordinance acted on but he understood the need to have the two new members get up to speed on the issue. The vote was unanimous to change the hearing from Dec. 1 to Jan. 12.