According to the BOCC, the Oil & Gas MOU on the table is the draft from 11-27-13.
Mr. Rick Brown of the Planning Commission expressed dissatisfaction with this MOU in the Prairie Times this week, and said that the BOCC is “rushing to judgment on an inadequately vetted MOU” and that Commissioners Rowland and Schlegal [sic] have “contempt for transparency and citizen involvement.”
I’d have to say it’s Mr. Brown showing contempt for Elbert County citizens – in particular the Elbert County citizens who have waited 3 years now while the Planning Commission played cat-and-mouse delaying games with the Oil & Gas industry.
The problems I see with the above MOU are as follows;
- Numerous references to the COGCC. COGCC regulations govern the county whether or not they’re referenced in an MOU. The multiple references affirming that fact are needless verbiage.
- Several clauses that seek to bind unknown future transferee operators to the terms of the MOU. This is a fools’ errand. Future operators will not have provided any consideration under the terms of this MOU, nor will they have made any promises under this MOU. Contractual promises made by predecessor parties without the consent and participation of successor interests, don’t control future unknown parties.
- A clause that attempts to make the MOU enforceable after the MOU expires or is terminated. This is another fool’s errand. If for some reason the MOU agreement does not survive, the language it contains won’t be enforceable. A contract that’s terminated is over.
- There are additional terms in this MOU that operationally conflict with COGCC regulations.
For these reasons, the BOCC should not attempt to make this MOU a standard instrument for application in the Oil & Gas zoning process. To do so would elevate the MOU, in effect, to a zoning regulation, while still calling it a contract. At that point, it becomes a sham contract – and a constructive zoning regulation – that would open the county to litigation with the state and operators.
Mr. Brown is on the record dismissing concerns about operational conflicts with the state – Rick Brown (4/2/2013) “Frankly at this point I don’t care what the state says.”
That opinion, in conjunction with his freshly published words disparaging the majority of the BOCC whom he serves, make him inappropriate to continue to serve Elbert County on the Planning Commission. Mr. Brown’s effect on this process has been to delay or deny Oil & Gas development interests, and he seems hardly averse to Elbert County becoming a test case in litigation about Oil & Gas local zoning law vs. the COGCC.
The Elbert County Planning Commission needs to stop pushing new regulations and start approving applications.