QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ASKING:

 

We have many questions we would hope the citizens of Montrose, Montrose County and customers of DMEA would join us in asking of DMEA, the County Transportation Department, Tri-State, etc.  If you choose to do so, there’s LOTS to sink your teeth into here. 

 

1)      DMEA and Tri-State admit to being urged by the county to follow the (ill-conceived and prohibitively-expensive) alignment for the long-term, un-funded regional transportation plan, for the immediate leg of their 115kv power line.  What does a public utility company's 115kv power line have to do with a proposed, un-funded, controversial County roadway that will not be built for a long time, if ever?  In other words, how does a colored line that a City or County bureaucrat has drawn on a map effect the most efficient and cost-effective route for power transmission?  Why does the County Transportation Department care where DMEA places its power lines?  If they are concerned about EM radiation (which 115kv lines tend to emit more of than higher-voltage lines), shouldn’t the County encourage DMEA to put their lines on public lands? 

 

2)      Have DMEA and Tri-State met with national legislators in order to encourage them to expedite a BLM alignment alternative?  If so, when and where?

 

3)      Why were consultants from the BLM present at the March 21, 2007, workshop when DMEA representatives told those of us present at this workshop that they had been informed by BLM that running all or most of the power line over the BLM land was not a viable option?  Why would BLM representatives even feel the need to show up under these circumstances?  Was this just County and City-sponsored window dressing?   

 

4)      Has DMEA requested of the County a permit for a different alignment, one based entirely on power transmission, in order to insulate themselves from charges they are complicit in a larger condemnation?

 

5)      Are the County Transportation Planning Commission and DMEA using the same consultants?  If so, why?  Wouldn’t DMEA want to use consultants with a fresh perspective, untainted by the conflict-of-interest inherent in already having been paid to select a “best” route? 

 

6)      Is DMEA running interference for the County, trying to soften up landowners so they will just roll over and give up if and when the County and City get serious and raise the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to effect their roadway plan? 

 

7)      Since the proposed power line route (for which DMEA has spent the money to print up pretty pictures and aerial maps of) runs across so much private land, why does DMEA ADMIT THAT THEY HAVE NEVER CALCULATED CONDEMNATION COSTS?  How can a six-week comment period be opened and closed without DMEA even having calculated the cost of condemnation or voluntary right-of-way agreements?  Are they being upfront with the community about who will absorb these costs (i.e., have they looked at how much rates will go up)?  Don’t ratepayers have a right to know how much a proposed route will increase their utility bills, relative to alternative routes? 

 

8)      Has the County placed County property affected by the transportation plan in a dead zone for re-zoning and planning purposes, under supervision of the City, in order to try to try to discourage development of such land, which development would complicate condemnation, and also to try to extort rights-of-way from the affected property owners in exchange for development rights (which they grant to unaffected property owners without concessions)?  This is a real, existing issue you need to research carefully.  You may be surprised at the results. 

 

9)      If property is placed in a dead zone, and the owner refuses to play the extortion game, how will the County fund the resulting, immediate condemnation?  Do the County and City have more money than Telluride? 

 

10)  Will property owners in the County placed in any such dead zone be allowed to vote in City elections by virtue of application of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution? 

 

11)  How many revisions has the County made to the long-term transportation plan as the result of public input?  Has any good plan, whether for a road or a war, ever been implemented without significant revisions? 

 

12)  What is Buckwheat?  What is it used for?  Does it create jobs?  What animals eat it? Why is protecting “clay-loving Buckwheat” being considered over protecting the farmers and other property owners who have made Montrose their home, some for three generations or more, and who have created the environment which suddenly is so desirable to outsiders?  Are people moving to Montrose because of the buckwheat growing on the BLM? 

 

13)  How many DMEA Directors or Executives are adversely affected by the proposed power line route?

 

The finale:

 

If DMEA is found to be part of a “long” condemnation process (which includes the transportation plan), by virtue of their never having requested alternative routes, and this results in significant damages and legal fees, will the highly-paid execs and the directors at DMEA, as a matter of morality and fairness, pledge to reimburse the utility from their personal assets for these costs rather than pushing these costs to the ratepayers?