Last week nearly three dozen people turned out to a Surry County Board of Commissioners meeting to voice their opposition to the construction of the proposed Fibrowatt power plant along the Yadkin River, near Elkin.

Board Chair Craig Hunter rightfully asked “Where have you been,” because the county has been courting Fibrowatt for quite some time, and a series of public meetings was held to discuss the project. It’s not been a secret. Opponents have had ample opportunity to voice their opinions, to ask questions of county and Fibrowatt officials, long before this late stage in the development.

Yesterday, they had a golden opportunity again. Fibrowatt held a public walk-in information session from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Anyone wanting to voice concerns or ask questions were free to do so. Not counting local public officials, scarcely a dozen folks showed up during the entire nine hours.

So, we echo Hunter. Where were you?

Opponents, or those who were simply curious, have no excuse now. The rather dubious claim they didn’t know about the public meetings holds even less water now — flyers announcing yesterday’s event were handed out at last week’s Commissioner’s meeting, while those opponents were present.

We don’t say this to belittle any one group. County residents should be taken seriously when they have a concern. Elected officials need to listen with an open mind when their constituents approach them.

However, there comes a point when it’s time to move on, when so-called “concerns” come off as simply people wanting to be against something for the sake of being against something.

Unless some new, and significant, information is brought to light, the time to have objected has past, and the time to move forward is now.