Editorial: Power plant withdrawn, but lessons, healing remain

It appears as though the citizens of Oakwood Hills will see the best possible outcome of a controversy over a proposed massive power plant in the community, but the conclusion of this fight leaves much in its wake in need of repair.

Chris Reining, who lives near the proposed site for the plant and was among leaders of the opposition, said as much in a statement after the announcement on the village's website that the plans had been shelved.

"I think now the healing process begins," Reining said.

There is much healing to be done, and there are more than a few object lessons for any developers and any communities dealing with projects so substantial that they can alter a town's character.

One of those lessons is that such massive proposals must be carefully introduced - not to help them succeed but to help them get a thorough review.

That this plant would be bad for Oakwood Hills, particularly in the location under consideration, seems an obvious point in hindsight, but it's also worth stopping to realize that the proposal never got a thorough hearing or debate.

The village leaders who tried to ensure that would happen and that the village would control the project if it went through were vilified the moment they acted to open discussion, and the zoning board tasked with objectively reviewing the project and its impact on village resources and quality of life was so embattled from its first public hearing that it had to put off discussion.

The village president, village attorney and a village trustee resigned in fear for their safety, and village operations were shut down for a month. That hardly seems the ideal way for the democratic process to work in a community.

After a heated public hearing in midsummer, then-Village President Melanie Funk emphasized that the board was "obligated" to hear the developers' proposal "just like someone who wants to build a home. Legally, it is the same process. This is just a lot larger and a lot more complex."

She was correct, and it's unfortunate that she had to leave behind 20 years of service to the village in anger and resentment for recognizing that.

It's equally unfortunate, though, that residents like Laura Gaspardo were left to simmer over what they saw as "the secrecy that shrouded this whole thing."

Given what we can see now, it seems likely this plant, a half mile away from an elementary school and hulking in the backyard of village hall, would never have passed muster of a reasoned, thoughtful debate.

But we'll never really know.

What we do know is that the huge outcry of citizens who had much to lose and little warning produced that result - and rent the fabric of a quiet, once close-knit community.

Now, yes, there is much healing to be done. And much learning, too.