City boards set good example with tower

To the editor:

It’s great to see some local government that works well in this community. A tip-of-the-hat to the Marion City Board of Zoning Appeals for its willingness to examine the evidence in the recent communication tower hearing and then to make their ruling based on law. Another tip-of-the-hat goes to Marion City Zoning Commission as it worked after the ruling to find a path by law for the tower approval process to continue. The last tip-of-the-hat goes to the property owners who were willing to waive their legal rights in order to get this tower built.

It’s not been so great to see this situation go on for three months and find it reported that Marion County Commissioners were blaming this delay on four unnamed citizens. I think the commissioners need to give credit where credit is due. It was Commissioner Dan Holub who emphatically stated the need for a 92-foot tower to get above the courthouse when the courthouse was never in the tower’s way. It was Holub who raised public anxiety when he said the required tower would cost $60,000 more to build, but the actual cost difference was less than $6,000. It was Holub who supported the city administrator’s decision to allow the tower then said the administrator “did nothing wrong” after the Board of Zoning Appeals ruled the city administrator acted outside his authority and reversed his decision.

People throughout this county should work together much like the city zoning commission has done to address issues and not work against one another. It just might make for a more trustful and respectful community.

Roger Schwab,
Marion County Lake