No one can fault the Commissioners for putting the federal funds to good use in the county. But it’s mind boggling that they would risk losing millions of dollars of private sector funding. That additional investment could fund services like the Sunny Meadows County Home, which only received $150,000 of the $1 million identified in necessary funds, or upgrades for law enforcement, or the $2 million in upgrades needed to bring highspeed Internet. Private sector solar investment would pay for these needs without requiring additional tax dollars. Why are DeKalb County Commissioners willing to accept money from Uncle Sam but not from private business? 

Last year – about the same time Commissioners were finding good uses for federal dollars in the county -- they also approved a solar ordinance. The ordinance would allow reasonable solar development, on land voluntarily and temporarily leased by private property owners. The ordinance balanced development with consideration for neighbors, requiring setbacks from neighboring homes, vegetative screening and appropriate decommissioning and removal when the project ends, so the land can be returned to farming. It was a good move. The decisions made by Commissioners last year brought both the promise of federal funding and private sector investment to Dekalb County.

Now it seems Commissioners want only tax dollars and favor sending a message that private sector investment is not welcome. There is talk of changing the ordinance, making the business environment hostile to solar, chasing away private sector investment and their economic development, losing the ability to fund those critical projects. 

With their newfound hostility to a private sector solution, what services won’t be funded at Sunny Meadows? Who’s loved one will wait for care or attention due to shortages? What employment and educational opportunities will be lost for families in rural DeKalb due to poor internet service?