Luther Board Reschedules Meeting to June 17

It’s been quite an emotional roller coaster! Is everyone hanging in there? The Luther Board of Trustees opened its Tuesday, June 9, meeting to a capacity crowd, only to announce it would adjourn and reschedule the monthly meeting to Wednesday, June 17, due to occupancy issues and a question about the open meetings law. The crowd turned out to speak about a data center zoning application filed last week by Beltline Energy, over a year after they first brought their plans to the town.

Next steps? Look for the agenda to be reposted for venue information.

Disappointed? Yes. Angry? That was apparent when the crowd angrily yelled. Some were supportive. Those folks are never as loud.

I don’t have much else to report. I have a lot to say, but we are all saying A LOT! Holding public meetings and preparing for them are a lot harder than they look. They cannot easily be changed after they are posted. Sure. We can all say that this particular regular board meeting should have been held at the Luther school auditorium or community building. And with the passion over this issue, and online threats of violence, decisions had to be made. And the decision-makers made decisions in accordance with meeting laws, safety concerns, public accommodation, and the need to make a livestream happen.

Next week’s meeting will be the rescheduled regular June meeting, with a full agenda, including decisions on the budget and other items of business, in addition to data center-related items. While Beltline’s application will be discussed at the June meeting, and many folks want to speak about it, there are also public hearings scheduled next month with more opportunities for public comment.