Great Progress in Just Two Weeks!
Thirty-one hardy souls with the best interests of the residents, property owners and businesses of Hampshire and Hardy Counties gathered at the Yellow Spring Ruritan on the drearily rainy night of Sunday, January 7, to create the Capon Valley Coalition.
Since then, here is what we have accomplished. (We have more than 110 individuals on our rolls!)
We got organized!
- We set up a combination Web site/blog at http://caponvalleycoalition.wordpress.com [no www required]. (You can leave a comment on any posting. It’s a good way to ask questions or share information.)
- We opened an email address at caponvalleycoalition@yahoo.com.
- We created stationery to give our coalition a professional look.
A lot of you joined us!
- We collected the names, addresses and emails of more than 110 people. (That’s how you join us; just share your contact information.)
- We met with and started forming an alliance with the Piedmont Environmental Council, a well-funded and influential group in Fauquier County, Virginia, that also opposes this unnecessary power line.
We reached out to some elected officials!
- We made an initial contact with the Hampshire County Commissioners with an eye toward arranging a community meeting with the commissioners and Allegheny Power to get some answers to our questions. (Watch this space for details.)
- We contacted senior staff for Sen. Robert Byrd, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito to ask for meetings to express our concerns.
- One of our members has written a letter to the editor of The Hampshire Review, which was published on Wednesday.
We invited more people to join us
- We drafted a petition that people can sign and send to us. (We will copy them and present them in bulk to our elected representatives in the U.S. Senate and House, the West Virginia Senate and House, and the Hampshire and Hardy County Commissioners … and, of course, Allegheny Power.)
- We drew up a flyer explaining who we are, what Allegheny Power is trying to do and asking for support. We are distributing them to businesses in Hampshire and Hardy Counties. (If you can help distribute them, or if you can post one in your business, send us an email and we will arrange to deliver copies to you.)
We are planning another community meeting!
- No date. No details yet. We want to see about those meetings with our elected officials first.
We still need YOUR help!
- Sign our petition and send it to us
- Get your family and friends and neighbors to sign the petition.
- Contact your elected representatives, from the county commissioners to Sens. Byrd and Rockefeller and Rep. Capito.
- Write to Allegheny and say NO to TrAIL!