JP calls colleague’s comments ‘horrifying’

District 3 Justice of the Peace Harrie Farrow was sharply critical at the Carroll County Quorum Court’s regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 18, of comments made by fellow JP Hunter Rivett at the court’s March 21 meeting.

At the March 21 meeting, Rivett responded to residents who turned out to voice their opposition to a planned wind turbine project near Green Forest.

At one point, a speaker characterized Rivett’s comments as “rude” after he criticized a previous speaker’s suggestion that residents should work together to oppose the project.

“I will respond in kind,” Rivett said. “I believe what is most rude is goons with guns, which is the government, forcing people to do or not do something. That’s what’s far more rude. What’s far more rude is the philosophy that we are all comrades in this together. That’s the same philosophy that led to gulags. Concentration camps.”

At the April 18 meeting, Farrow called Rivett’s comments “horrifying,” noting that Tuesday was Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Speaking during the portion of the meeting designated for JPs’ comments, Farrow said her son’s great-grandfather was held in a concentration camp, as was a woman who was a close family friend during Farrow’s childhood before taking her own life.

“I’m guessing, based on JP Rivett’s age, that he’s probably never met anyone who was in a concentration camp,” Farrow said. “I in fact have met many people. I think they would have been horrified by his statement.”

After the war, many concentration camp survivors did not have homes to return to, Farrow said, because their families had been killed and their homes confiscated.

“I think they would really be disturbed at the idea that being kind to your neighbors and thinking that we as a community should work together would lead to a concentration camp,” Farrow said.

Rivett, 26, appeared to indicate during Farrow’s remarks that he has met concentration camp survivors, but he did not respond to Farrow’s remarks.

Opposition continues

Residents continued to express opposition to Scout Clean Energy’s planned Nimbus project at the April 18 meeting, with several speaking against the project during the segment of the meeting designated for public comments.

Scout, based in Boulder, Colo., plans for the “Nimbus” project to expand over approximately 9,000 acres — about 14 square miles — in Carroll County, much of it along County Road 905 southeast of Green Forest.

Scout says the project could generate up to 180 megawatts of electricity at peak demand — enough to power almost 30,000 homes. Scout says it has signed lease agreements with more than 50 landowners and estimates that the 30-year project will generate more than $14 million in lease payments and $25 million in tax revenue for the county.

Among the residents who spoke against the project at the April 18 quorum court meeting were Aaron Strain, who said he moved to Carroll County from Texas and bought 20 acres of land because of the area’s natural beauty.

“The reason I moved up here is because I was really impressed with the landscape and the terrain and the beauty and just how natural — you know, it’s the Natural State, right?” Strain said.

Strain said the Nimbus project would “impede the enjoyment of my property.”

“I’m not going to enjoy the view as I was before, and I don’t see that I have any recourse,” Strain said.

Another resident who spoke during public comments was former county judge Richard Williams, who criticized an open house that Scout held on April 11 at the Berryville Community Center. Scout said the event was designed to respond to residents’ concerns about the Nimbus project but Williams criticized the format of the event, which had tables set up and presenters answering questions and providing information about different aspects of the project but did not include speakers.

“It wasn’t a town hall meeting,” Williams said. “It was separate and divide, divide and conquer is their philosophy. They didn’t answer questions.”

While quorum court members including Rivett have said the body has no authority to intervene in Scout’s plans, Williams said the quorum can adopt legislation to regulate the project. He cited legislation in Buffalo County, Nebraska, which he says regulates how far apart wind turbines can be placed.

“There is something to be done, and you ladies and gentleman can do it,” Williams said.

Scout held another open house regarding the project Monday night at the Berryville Community Center.

The next regular meeting of the Carroll County Quorum Court is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, in the courtroom of the Eastern District Courthouse in Berryville.