(This article first appeared in the May print edition of the Hendersonian.)
The race for the District 2 Magistrate seat has been one of the more contentious primary contests, and like others, the renewable energy debate in the county propelled a challenger to attempt to oust the incumbent.
James Franks, the challenger, said Taylor Tompkins, the incumbent, did not keep promises about putting a moratorium in place for battery energy storage systems—or in fact, he did not follow through right away after making a statement that he’d make a motion for a moratorium.
Tompkins, meanwhile, said that the moratoriums took longer than what some people may have wanted. But Tompkins responded that he has an obligation to do things the right way, while following the process which involves Kentucky Revised Statutes.
“That takes time,” Tompkins said.
As he’s been campaigning in the second district, Franks said that residents resent not just the thousands of acres of solar panels in Robards, but decisions that go back years, including the wet/dry controversy of Farmer & Frenchman and all the way back to the Tyson chicken houses decades ago.
“Everyone feels like the county wasn’t being transparent,” Franks said.
And transparency is one of the issues he’ll be working on if elected, he said.
One initiative that could assist with that, which has been echoed by other candidates, is to move fiscal court meetings to evenings when working people can attend. Franks said that can help with the transparency issue because right now the 9:30 a.m. meetings have people feeling like their voice is not heard.
Franks said he’s “100% against wind turbines.” He said if he can’t get a prohibition, he supports current recommendations that have come from planning commission staff of putting a 200 feet height limit on wind turbines and a one-mile setback from occupied structures, rivers, and wildlife and natural areas.
He said he’ll never be quiet on issues that are “harmful to our health or our property.”
But he said that it takes more than his one vote, and even if he wins the primary (which will determine the magistrate because there is no Democratic challenger in November), he won’t start his term till January. So, he’ll work todevelop relationships with other magistrates before taking office.
“It takes a majority of fiscal court to effect any change,” Franks said.
Tompkins shares that feeling, saying that if it were up to him, he would be done with any more renewable energy projects in the county.
“If it’s up to me personally, Henderson County has done its part,” he said, adding that the solar energy systems are enough. “It’s time for (renewable energy companies) to move on.”
Tompkins said that the current public hearings regarding wind energy conversion systems that are being conducted by the Henderson City-County Planning Commission will eventually lead to a recommendation of a strong ordinance or prohibition.
“The fiscal court will support that either way,” he said.
“We have to do things the right way because we have one shot of doing it right,” he said.
That means that if a lawsuit against the county were to make it to a federal judge—and the judge ruled against the county—it could allow for companies to do as they please and leave the county with little leverage.
Franks said it wasn’t just Tompkins, but also other magistrates, that didn’t follow through on promises regarding BESS moratoriums. He said he’s hired a company to make a campaign video of fiscal court meetings that show magistrates mentioning initiatives that aren’t carried out.
Regarding the renewable energy debate—and putting in place moratoriums and protections—Franks said he’s running because he believes he’s the only person who will work toward that.
“I feel like if I didn’t see this through, who would?” he said.
Tompkins said, and it’s something he’s said before, that he wasn’t on the court when the ordinances for solar energy systems were passed. After taking the District 2 seat, though, he made sure that the solar companies were following the regulations that the county had in place, which lessened the negatives of the construction, including road damage, he said.
“I feel like it would’ve been worse for sure,” he said, “if I wasn’t a pain in their side.”
Franks, a volunteer with county fire units, said another concern is volunteer fire departments. He said departments now take more runs to assist an aging population in the county as well as now arriving on scene for all vehicle accidents. Franks said he wants to set up a committee to look at having one or two volunteer firefighters always working at three strategically-placed locations. To determine the best locations, data from 911 Dispatch that shows where calls come from would need to be studied, he said.
Currently—with both fire and medical runs—“You’re at the mercy of who’s available,” he said.
He said firefighters on shift could immediately rush to the scene, and other volunteers at home could join to assist.
Franks is also the owner of Complete Restoration, a company that restores water tanks and water lines, among other work. He said his expertise in this field would allow him to discuss and give advice to Henderson County Water District Superintendent Mark Julian as the water district continues its repair work to its aging system.
“Those are the two things I can benefit the county right out of the gate,” Franks said.
Tompkins said recent discussions with fiscal court members include talks about bringing more housing to the community, and perhaps a subdivision in the county. Tompkins said that having an adequate supply of housing is necessary to recruit companies and industry to the community.
He said discussions have included partnering with a construction firm and incentivizing a development in the county. He said that’s something the county should consider pursuing with its reserve funds which is currently somewhere north of $40 million.
“It is something we can look at,” Tompkins said.
A final comment from Franks pertains to those landowners who signed leases to allow for solar panels on their property. As he’s spoken to them, Franks said they continue to ask him to help “try to get other residents to stop ‘demonizing’ them.”
Franks said that current culture is caused by the solar panels being in residents’ faces, and that demonization could have been alleviated, or lessened, had larger setbacks been put in place, which would have allowed enough space to better hide the solar panels as well as allow for better drainage of water coming off the panels.
“We have to blame our leadership at the time to allow developers to do what they did,” Franks said.
Franks and Tompkins have had some words, and Franks has publicly challenged Tompkins on issues, especially the BESS moratorium.
But Franks told the Hendersonian he’s not enemies with Tompkins.
“I think Taylor’s a great guy,” Franks said. “He just didn’t follow through on his promises. At the end of the day, that’s why (I want voters) to fire him and hire me.”
Tompkins said the county has a really good team in place with elected officials and county staff working well together and he wants to keep the momentum the county has.
“I’d like to have the opportunity to be part of the team,” he said.
