Promoter pulls plug, blasts commissionerBy Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
A proposed drive-through light park won’t be coming to Rowan County this holiday season after the event’s promoter surprised commissioners Tuesday by telling them he was retracting the offer.
The exchange between the promoter, Mike Miller of Miller Davis Studios, and commissioners was brief but testy.
County Attorney Jay Dees interrupted Miller’s address, and commission Chairman Carl Ford asked Miller to be seated.
“I think this is inappropriate,” Dees said as he stopped Miller, who was about a third of a way into reading a three-page statement. “I suggest you shut it down.”
Ford agreed.
Miller targeted Commission Tina Hall as the primary reason he and Mike Howard of Midwest Display had decided to retract the offer to host the light park.
“Commissioner Hall has publicly and privately, negatively and aggressively, asked for proprietary financial information, down to what our profit would be on one cup of hot cocoa,” Miller read. “We find this request to be unreasonable, and we believe that no business should ever be subjected to this kind of scrutiny.”
Miller said he and Howard had offered to provide car-count projections and pay for an independent audit.
“However, Commissioner Hall’s rationale for requesting this information stems from a comment made about whether the county could do this on its own in 2010,” Miller continued. “Apparently, it is her intention to use county employees and county funds to produce the event in future years, thereby taking funds from a Rowan County tax-paying business.”
It was at about that point that Dees interrupted. He said Miller asked for the opportunity to address the board just minutes before Tuesday’s meeting. Dees said Miller did not indicate beforehand that his remarks would be aimed at Hall, only that he was planning to retract his offer to stage the event.
Dees said that if Miller wanted to make such comments, he’d been afforded the opportunity at other times. Dees said he was at a meeting last week to discuss the light park that included both Miller and Hall. Dees said that at that meeting, Miller made none of the comments he made Tuesday.
“This was not at all what I was led to believe (Miller was going to say),” Dees told commissioners. “There are other forums available.”
Ford apologized to Hall. After the meeting, Hall said she had no idea Miller was going to say what he did.
“This is a total surprise,” she said. “I’m in shock.”
Miller provided the Post a copy of his remarks following Tuesday’s meeting. What he didn’t get the opportunity to say was no more tame than what he said.
“You have looked for every reason to either kill the project or remove Miller Davis, a Rowan County employer of more than 25, from the project,” Miller’s address continued. “For 2009, you have succeeded.
“As for Midwest Display, they are mystified by the actions of this county,” Miller’s statement continued. “In the places that they propose bringing a park of this magnitude, they are met with welcome arms. Organizers recognize the huge potential of a lighted Christmas park and they bend over backwards to assist. Here, we have been met with one obstacle after another, including a request that we purchase liability coverage in the amount of $10 million. According to Midwest, in 15 years of producing these parks across the country, they have never been asked to provide more than $1 million in coverage.”
Miller said the effects of the county’s actions would be more far-reaching. He said Midwest Display was looking to relocate its manufacturing and storage operations from Marion, Ind., to the East Coast.
“We have been lobbying hard for Midwest to locate in Rowan County and bring 20-to-50 jobs in the process,” Miller’s written statement continued. “Now, after this frustrating process, it looks as if Midwest will locate in Virginia.”
The drive-through holiday light park was proposed for Summit Corporate Center. It would have featured more than 120 animated light displays and an ice skating rink.
At a meeting with commissioners in August, Miller said the event would have lasted from Nov. 25 through Jan. 3 and generated $1.3 million in revenue for the county. He said Midwest Display would have charged $15 per car to enter the park.