Bad proposal

Vote no at the county commissioners meeting on Oct. 6 over the proposed dangerous live-fire bullets over your Venus home.

Did anyone consider that this outside project could lead to a national security issue if the proposed private military camp is resold in the future to a terrorist or unfriendly group?

Would you like to have a miss-fired bullet or missile hit you? Would you enjoy armed helicopters by unknown trainees hovering over your home?

Our local police are no match for a 1,000-plus man, private or foreign army with a Y2 plus billion dollars of weapons in remote Venus.

The non-elected zoning board members made a big mistake by approving this half-a-billon dollar complex in an environmentally sensitive region with no infrastructure. Highlands County already has the Avon Park Bombing Range. This type of military project should be placed next to the bombing range where our military can monitor this group's behavior.

There are few roads, no towns, schools, housing, hospitals, police, power plants, sewers, etc. in place in the small rural community of Venus. The people of Venus live here and moved here for the quiet rural farming and natural setting.

With a proposed one-plus mile runway, a massive increase in low flying military gun ships and transport planes is a given for the Venus area if this project is approved.

The elected politicians are supposed to prevent urban sprawl. This project does the reverse by creating massive urban sprawl.

Who are our elected officials working for? Are they working for corporations outside of Highlands County trying to exploit rural communities for an easy buck who will eventually leave the taxpayers with the mess?

The roads and infrastructure needed for these adjoining proposed projects will have to be paid for by the taxpayer.

From a real estate perspective, there are thousands of unsold lots in Avon Park, Sebring and Lake Placid. The taxpayers of these existing lots do not need competition from urban sprawl. These existing communities should be built out before any new communities are proposed.

Richard Karlson
Venus rancher