Carol Mosley of Brooker, Florida has been consistent and unfailing in pushing the Bradford County Board of County Commissioners for closure on the long inactive mining application from HPS II Enterprises. She is relentless with her hard questions and calling out of inaction and misinformation by a past county attorney who seemed to deliberately stall operations and mislead the Commission in his personal direction.
New faces on the Commission and county staff bring hope for rational and timely actions to end once and for all this ill-conceived and egregious threat to the Santa Fe River. HPS II has failed to up-hold any of the many promises made to a susceptible former Commission peopled by a few who were unable to see beyond quick money to the destructive consequences which were destined to follow.
OSFR initiated the resistance to this mine and organized the local advocacy which has grown and blossomed with Carol Mosley. OSFR continues in the opposition and board member Kristin Rubin attends most of the Bradford County meetings.
We appreciate her reports and the updates from Carol Mosley, HPS’ bulldog and nemesis.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Testimony of Carol Mosley to BOCC on Jan. 3, 2023
Happy New Year commissioners. I have high hopes for 2023. I trust our new staff wants to move our county forward with honesty and integrity. Proverbs 10:9 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” This is an opportunity to unburden ourselves from the cloud of deception we’ve been operating under.
County Manager Kornegay needs direction from you in order to take the necessary steps to clear the fog. He does your bidding. I believe he would appreciate knowing what unfinished business might surface as his responsibility. A reality check is in order.
Let’s examine what we know and what we don’t know. Proverbs 12:17 “Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.” We were given false witness when Sexton said we are waiting for HPS to respond to an unwritten RAI (Request for Additional Information) requested by hydrologist Schreuder in September 2019. I gave you honest evidence directly from Schreuder himself that he is finished and not waiting for anything. So what has actually happened?
In November 2019 HPS submitted their third version of the MMP (Master Mining Plan). They indicated that they hope the MMP is sufficient to proceed to the public hearing. That placed the onus for action with the county and consultant, OEC. Subcontractor Schreuder produced his review and submitted it to OEC in January 2020. OEC has since failed to produce their final report and the county has allowed three years to elapse without any action. I believe that could make the county complicit and vulnerable for legal challenges for unreasonable delay.
The only entity that has sued anyone thus far is HPS. They were awarded lawyers fees from both Alachua and Union counties for minor Records Requests violations. Our county could certainly be vulnerable to a Records Request lawsuit and the vulnerability only mounts over time.
In order to make decisions about proceeding forward, Mr. Kornegay and Mr. Komando cannot act on false information told to us by Sexton. They need to know the truth so they can deal with reality.
What reality check do we need in order to move forward? We need to know why our consultant OEC failed to complete the contract by submitting a final review once Schreuder produced his in January 2020. We need to know what HPS intends for Bradford County. There are really only two options available. Do they want to proceed to the hearing or do they want to withdraw their application? Three years of complete inaction is certainly considered unreasonable delay on someone’s part. Whose?
What is the best option? If HPS withdraws their application we can have a clean slate for 2023. You could discuss, as a commission, having Mr. Kornegay look into our situation and give us a reality report at our next meeting.
From Philipians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Thank you.
