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Highlands Today
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Time to put security training center proposal behind us
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Published: October 22, 2009
Sometimes you just have to move on, even if it's painful. That's what the folks behind what used to be called the Eagle National Security Training Center should understand. It's looks as if they are doing just that.
No one should fault them for trying to build an operation on the more than 7,000 acres outside of Venus. That's American entrepreneurial spirit. And no one should fault the many residents in that area who opposed it. That's also part of the American way. The idea was proposed, citizens united against it and the county commission turned it down.
Developers have proposed a training center that would teach "first responders" how to handle security issues. By "first responders" we're guessing this is different than the first responders who are trained in first aid but not certified EMTs. Opponents of the center called the future students at the center "mercenaries."
The center would have been huge, with room for up to 1,000 students and promising 250 jobs. There would have been live-fire ranges and other security training offered. At one point there was going to be a control tower and a landing strip for training purposes.
It appeared at first as if the developers of the training center were going to fight the county's decision in court after commissioners voted to not approve zoning changes. On Tuesday, it still sounded that way, but the owner of the property told Highlands Today later that he wanted to sell the property.
Not everyone was against the proposed security center. Some folks saw it as a property rights issue and that a property owner should be able to develop his or her land. Others wanted economic development in that rural part of the county. They figured that many jobs and people would bring better shopping.
Opponents, of course, argued that a security center would disrupt exactly what they love about that area, and why they moved there in the first place.
All we know for sure is that a majority of people didn't want a zoning change and development in the Venus area. County commissioners agreed. Let's hope the issue is put to rest.
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