Quorum court committee meetings seldom draw a crowd, but more than 20 people showed up for the first meeting to address the effects of large projects moving into the county, a standing panel called the Large Industrial and High-impact Projects Committee.
The committee met Aug. 31, and elected Justice of the Peace Jack Deaton as chair. Other committee members include Bobby James, Gary Capcik, Matt Phillips, and Harrie Farrow.
Committee meetings do not typically hear public comments, but this meeting started with an extensive comments session. Dianna Baird started things off by commending the quorum court and saying the law calls for “a reasonable opportunity” to participate in public meetings. She suggested adding to the comments period at the start of quorum court meetings and called for an additional public comment period during deliberation of each agenda item, plus another comment period prior to adjournment. Baird also urged a town hall meeting on the most important issues.
Jim Wallace said the committee cannot proceed without clarifying its scope. He said the committee should set parameters for size, cost, and the number of employees for a project. Without establishing these criteria, the committee would not know whom to evaluate, he said.
Jack Frost and others called for adding members of the public to quorum court committees, in a non-voting capacity.
The first order of business for the committee was to set meeting times and dates. The group tentatively settled on the first and third Mondays of each month. That schedule hit an immediate snag, with Labor Day falling on the following Monday. That meeting was moved to Sept. 8, following a budget committee meeting.
Deaton reminded everyone that the full quorum court will have to make any decision on increasing public comment. He also noted that people can contact their JPs directly to bring attention to any topic.
Data centers have received a lot of public attention, and state laws now restrict the ability of local communities to ban those centers. Although state regulations open the door for data centers, Deaton said, “Our job is going to be finding a loophole.” Even if Carroll County cannot stop a data center, “We might find regulations to slow it down,” he said.
Carroll County may not face serious threats from data centers, because of limited electricity and water resources.
Capcik and James both made clear that they do not want to discourage new businesses from moving to the county.
Before adjourning, the committee members created some directions for the next meeting. They plan to review existing moratoriums on data centers and wind turbines, to see if either of those ordinances needs updating. At some point, the committee plans to invite representatives of Carroll Electric and the Carroll-Boone Water District.