Dear editor:

The controversial Wapiti cell tower is being built on my sister’s property. I bring it up because there is a disconnect between how it played out and what people were told. Why was there a public hearing if the outcome was already decided? If there’s a law in place that dictates the decision coming from a U.S. District Court, why wouldn’t that be disclosed to begin with? Are we to believe the commissioners didn’t know about the reality of the federal law? They have dealt with cell towers in other parts of the county in the past.

Instead, they held a public hearing leading people on. Those people believed if enough people signed a petition, and voiced their opinions, they could prevail in stopping it from being built. There was a lot of energy, time and money spent to prevent it or move it somewhere else. I understood their unhappiness and approved of their proactive stance. I was rooting for my sister though for obvious reasons. But I think it was a fake public hearing.

I stumbled upon an interesting flow chart that I believe proves it. I was doing some research about an issue I’m fighting. I object to the survey the commissioners are pushing on their website which encourages new regulations. A section of the survey is devoted to wind and solar. This led me to the Wyoming Energy Authority website about wind energy.

The entire site was written by Tetra Tech out of Pasadena, California (think far left). The first pages address local permitting of wind energy. This WEA site outlines everything from requirements to minimum standards. On pages 82 and 83 is a flow chart in red showing what boards of county commissioners are supposed to do, labeled County Land Use Permit. The chart ends with a final decision of judicial review. Sound familiar? 

The flow chart says it all. Do these five or so steps to make your board look good. Have a fake public meeting or two, but in the end the decision will be made by someone else, just like the cell tower. What else are we not being told? Instead of the truth, what we get after the dust settles, is the spin.

The article written about the outcome of the tower in the Powell Tribune dated Dec. 19 quotes two commissioners. Commissioner Scott Mangold noted the cost the county would face if it continued fighting in court and that there was “not much light at the end of the tunnel.” 

Commission Chair Dossie Overfield in the same article said, “That’s what we have in front of us, whether we like it or not.” 

Finally, why ask questions in a survey about wind energy when the WEA already says how things are going to go?  

Margaret Lohman

Cody