The Smithville mayor and board of aldermen voted Monday night to overturn a June Smithville Planning Commission decision not to approve plans for a new substation on South College Street.
Alderman Gayla Hendrix first moved that action be put off until a later date, but the motion died for lack of a second.
"This is a complicated issue," Hendrix said. "I’ve had several people in the community approach me about it. I sat in on the hearing last Wednesday but I missed the ruling, and I asked for a copy of the ruling before tonight. I got Ms. Cripps’ order that she drafted, but I understand the attorneys for the city and Smithville Electric have submitted a competing order. When there are competing orders we don’t know which one the Chancellor is going to sign. Based upon that, and the fact that I would like to read the transcript of the court file from Wednesday’s hearing, I personally feel that I don’t have adequate information to go forward with a vote tonight. I need more time to study this. I make a motion that we move this to see which order the Chancellor is going to sign and then look at that order and specifically what it tells us to do and then do the research we need as far as our charter, the Smithville Electric System by-laws, and I’d like to see a site plan of this substation. I’d like to see the zoning ordinances. We need to thoroughly investigate it," said Hendrix.
City attorney Vester Parsley replied, saying that both orders specified that SES would need to take the matter to the city board. "Both of those orders specify that Smithville Electric is to come before the board. There isn’t any difference in that provision of the judge’s order," Parsley told Hendrix.
"What bothers me greatly is that we have a board in place to review this type of thing," Hendrix continued. "We appoint those folks to do that. When they said no, this is not an adequate location and don’t put it here, the Smithville Electric board went forward anyway. That concerns me. Why do we have these boards in place? Because there are checks and balances in government."
The measure was then approved on a 3-1 vote. Aldermen Josh Miller, Shawn Jacobs, and Danny Washer voted in favor of a motion by Miller to overturn the ruling, while Hendrix voted no, telling the assembly that she needed more time to look into the matter.
"I’m not voting no because I don’t believe it’s the correct place to put the substation, I am voting no because I have not had time to investigate it," Hendrix said. Alderman Jason Murphy did not attend the meeting.
"I’m voting yes because we put the (Smithville Electric System) board in there, and I respect their decision to move forward with this," said Alderman Washer.
The meeting was called after SES appealed the planning commission’s decision to the city board after Chancellor Ronald Thurman ruled last week that while the SES board of directors could not overrule the planning commission, city aldermen could.
The ruling was the result of a suit filed in chancery court on Sept. 2 by attorneys for Joe Rice, who owns a nearby subdivision. Rice’s attorneys, Sarah Cripps and Brandon Cox, brought the action against Smithville Electric System and the City of Smithville, and asked for a declaratory judgment and an injunction to prevent the construction of the substation at the planned location.
While Rice’s attorneys put forth that the planning commission voted in June to reject the plans for the station because the proposed location is inconsistent with the city’s Land Use and Transportation Plan, Jacobs, who is also a member of the Planning Commission who voted against the plans, said the reason he cast a no vote was because he had not had time to study the proposal.
"As a member of the planning commission, I know several members, including myself, voted no that night because we didn’t have enough information," Jacobs shared. "We didn’t know it was coming our way at the time. It was plopped down in front of us. We had nowhere near the information we should have had to be able to make a decision and that’s why I voted no. I know some other members said the same thing. We have had more information since then."
Mayor Jimmy Poss informed those in attendance that the sole purpose of the meeting was for the aldermen to vote to either uphold or overturn the planning commission’s decision, and that no questions or comments by the public would be allowed. During the meeting, however, Cox approached the board with a petition signed by 124 residents in the neighborhood and elsewhere in the city opposing this project and had to be warned that if he continued, police would be called to escort him from the room.
