O/T Greenhouse, friends and stuff

TW

We have 55 quonset greenhouses we cover every year with plastic. Most of them are 40 X 100.

Its a big job to get it all done and a lot of expense but you never know when that killing freeze will come.

So many times in life I've seen folks move to the country mainly for less expensive real estate. Once they get there, then they want arenas, ball parks, theater, etc. Once they have enough numbers they usually get what they want, which in turn forces the taxes up, by then they have develop every square foot to increase the tax base and people numbers to pay for all of this. Sad but I've seen a lot of nice rural communities go this route.

I once hired a guy to work on the farm, a local who had gone to the city to seek his fame and fortune. While there he married a city girl. Then his grand dad left him some acerage near by. He built a house, was planning on commuting to city. This guy soon discovered my wages less his commute were quite competitive with city wages. Soon after I hired him, he and his new bride were at our house. She lamented how there was no city services like swiming pools, ball parks, libraies, etc. Finally I said, "Lady if you wish to pay the taxes, I'm certain we can have gold plated sidewalks out here, even though the houses are 1/2 mile apart. Problem is I don't think you'll get too many folks out here to agree with you." He dug his heels in and stayed, she left with 3 children. Sad, he had the nicest little spot, very private.

Then just move to their next potential big prize development. I know a family that did this 5 times in two generations, and today they are all multi millionaires. No use fighting them, just prosper from their debt. You can't live with them, any individual can get rid of his own debt, but he will never relieve himself of his share of the public debt.

NO PLACE IN THE HEART FOR US MISFITS

Let’s see if I have this right. The original Heart of the Triad (HOT) plan is now the New HOT plan. Beginning from an area of 6-8,000 acres, it grew to 18,000 acres, and now is 6-8,000 acres again even though it will still cover 18,000 acres. The “best fit” plan has three distinctive areas of development containing businesses, retirement and recreational areas, and intellectual and medical centers.

Where do we Misfits “fit” into this plan? We Misfits are comprised of citizens that have lived in the area for many generations. The Misfits have historical and emotional ties to their land and are mostly plain and simple country folks that have produced this “special place” that the HOT planners want to control. We are an impediment to the growth and development of the HOT Plan.

Clearly, the Heart of the Triad continues to have NO heart. From the beginning, it was evident that we Misfits would not have a piece in this puzzle when no local residents were selected for the HOT steering committee. Many Misfits have attended HOT meetings and HDR’s week-long “charadettes” in April, 2006. We voiced our concerns, but there were no puzzle pieces symbolic of farms and privately-owned open spaces given to us to place on their maps. Only business, park, and recreational area spaces were offered.

We Misfits are concerned how this area will be governed. Will there be elected officials that can be held accountable by the voters? I fear that an invisible layer of bureaucracy of appointed leaders will be created to manage this area. This will allow our elected officials to abdicate their accountability to the citizens. We Misfits believe we will have even less representation than we do now.

Since the Misfits and I, a fifth generation owner of a N.C. Century Farm, apparently are not a fit for the HOT Plan, what becomes of us? Would the HOT planners like for us just to fade away so they can asphalt our legacy? We could relocate to another area, build and nurture it, and someday our grandkids and great-grandkids would face this same problem as we do now. I understand that there is a large amount of uninhabited swamp land in Eastern North Carolina. In the back drawer of the HOT Steering Committee’s filing cabinet, I would not be surprised to find a puzzle piece for this.

Jimmy Morgan
Colfax

My one friend at work lives on a farm, they bale hay and everything. He is not real big, but he is strong!! For those back in the day, like pre-1900, jesus, I bet that was fun.