These comments are restricted to Wise County. My name is Kathy Selvage and I have lived in Wise County almost my entire life. Approximately 35% or more of the county’s land mass has been permitted for surface mining. EVERY TIME ANOTHER PERMIT WAS APPROVED by DMLR/DMME, IT DESTROYED YET ANOTHER FUTURE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY by isolating permits with total disregard for the cumulative effects of our severely marred environment in both surface and water. Please visit this link and maneuver around this location for a look at just one site that I speak of. There are many. https://earth.google.com/web/search/37.01580000000,-82.77200000000
YOU CANNOT HAVE AN ECONOMY WITHOUT PLACE.
Any assistance should NOT be focused on programs or procedures that are anti-worker, riddled with corporate tax breaks, or enterprise zones.
There is a dire need for basic foundational facts that should be shared broadly with all citizens to greatly inform public participation in the future. The first several in the list is retrievable in agency offices, I believe, if the Commonwealth could assist in assimilating and delivering this information to the public through multiple mediums.
Current employment that could be encouraged and or engaged
I would never encourage public private partnerships. There could be increased public costs to cover the cost of their risk (they say) and there cannot be sufficient accountability as they like to say it’s proprietary. Just one reason. In our case, public funds will go to the same businesses who did the damage to now repair the land, and the masses of land lie in the hands of the few. It’s an economic loop of corporate welfare.
A new green economy will go much further in developing a future for SW VA than the usual public-private partnerships. LET’S GO GREEN and LEAN and build a much-needed broad foundation on which a future of economic diversity can emerge and materialize. Invest funds into projects with measurable, long term results. Stop us from spinning our economic wheels.