Dear Editor:
Our local volunteer fire departments provide absolutely essential service to our community, protecting our lives and property. In a big county with a scattered population this is a very difficult task. Without their volunteer effort we would be at greater risk for catastrophic fire, and also would face much higher property insurance bills.
Our firemen currently face increasingly difficult challenges – ever more stringent training requirements, rapidly escalating costs for equipment, the necessity to spend time raising money – time they could be devoting to improving the level of service they provide.
Many people step up to the plate to donate in support of our firemen, but more do not. This voluntary support was perhaps sufficient 25 years ago, but is just not adequate in a time of rapidly increasing costs for fire departments.
I am writing in favor of the proposed $60 per year fire fee in Pocahontas County. It is a tax that will benefit all people and will hit all equally – including out of county property owners. And it is very much needed if we are to continue to receive the high level of fire protection our community now enjoys.
Gibbs Kinderman
Longtime Pocahontas Country resident and property owner now living in Monroe County near Union
Dear Editor:
In my learning more about the realities of the proposed pipelines I want to share that I feel it is time for all of us who live here and visit this area to speak out.
How come so very few of us take the time to write a Letter to the Editor?
It is a great privilege that we have here in America, that we have a local paper that upholds the voice of the citizen.
Consider sharing your thoughts here and on www.ferc.com
It is a bear to sign up, so check quick.comment.blog spot.com for help. Don’t be afraid to attend meetings and write letters to your local commissioners, etc. and express your opinion.
Most sincerely,
Neal Williams
Lewisburg
Dear Editor:
Fortunate for us our health and public safety is of primary concern to the federal government, protected by the federal government and is in the total 100 percent jurisdiction of our local authorities.
The1938 Natural Gas Act has been revised hundreds of times in 76 years with the advance of technology.
One section has remained unchanged. The untouchable power and reign of jurisdiction of local authorities in regard to the health and safety of its citizens is supreme and cannot be usurped by any agency, including the Federal Energy Regulation Commission [FERC].
Is this true?
Yes, in Virginia, Massachusetts and New York dozens of communities are choosing to uphold their existing public health laws and say no to methane transmission pipe-lines and Above Ground Facilities in their neighborhoods. Why? The known dangers of toxic emissions into the air 24/7 and permanent threat of permanent water table destruction. Diesel fumes from intense trucks in rural valleys and the lower ozone created from all meter stations.
The local power is in the hands of three groups of people in each county. Contact your local County Commission, your local county Public Board of Health and your local Emergency Planning Commission [required to have a detailed plan for a methane explosion, leak, evacuation plans, etc.] Simply request that they do their jobs.
Sincerely,
Lauren Ragland
Valley Head