After receiving an ultimatum from the Surry County Board of Commissioners and losing the support of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce, Fibrowatt executives are now making several visits to the county.

“We’ve gained a lot of visibility in recent weeks,” said Terry Walmsley, Fibrowatt vice president of environmental and public affairs.

Over the past few weeks, Walmsley and other company employees have visited county commissioners, Yadkin Valley Chamber officials, Elkin commissioners, Rotarians, and others.

The week before last, Fibrowatt executives met with Surry County Commissioners Paul Johnson and Jim Harrell Jr. Johnson said it was a good meeting. Harrell believes the company has a long way to go to develop a good relationship with community members.

On April 12, Walmsley and a representative from Sampson County attended the Elkin Town Board of Commissioners meeting. Mayor Lestine Hutchens said the men did not speak during the meeting at all, and instead came to talk to commissioners individually after the meeting had recessed.

“No public comments. No anything (during the meeting) ... It surprised me when they did not speak,” Hutchens remarked.

The mayor said the town of Elkin had not taken any stance on Fibrowatt. But she said, “I think we feel like we’ve taken the brunt of the people who are against Fibrowatt without really being able to do anything in making decisions ... We’ve got some great concerns on our board.”

She said the town received some criticism when it agreed to sell water to the county at the site, but she pointed out that the lines would also cover other areas of the eastern side of the county.

Of the Fibrowatt controversy, she said, “It’s taking the attention away from so many good things going on.”

This week Walmsley and another representative visited the Wednesday morning meeting of the Surry Sunrise Rotary Club in Mount Airy to give a 15-minute presentation. Walmsley used the time for a question and answer session rather than a speech.

Richard Loftis, a member of the club, said, “I thought they did a great job. It sounds like they’ll be great corporate citizens.”

Loftis said he thinks most of the negative comments about Fibrowatt are coming from Elkin, where the plant would be based. He said, “I’ve heard nothing negative at all (in Mount Airy).”

He said he understands why no one would want to live next to an industrial facility, but he said, “Change is constant.”

Loftis pointed out that the Wal-Mart in Mount Airy caused controversy because residents of the area didn’t want it put there.

After hearing the comments from the Fibrowatt executives, Loftis said, “Personally, I got the feeling they had nothing to hide ... And we didn’t hold back. We asked straightforward questions, and they gave straightforward answers.”

Jan Critz, vice president of Surry County Economic Development Partnership, said Fibrowatt contacted her, so she invited them to speak at her Rotary club.

“I thought it went really well. It was pretty upbeat and positive,” she said.

Both Loftis and Critz said they believe company representatives will be meeting with other Rotary clubs and civic organizations in the future.

Walmsley said, “Our hope is that we’ll get an opportunity to go to other meetings ... We’re trying to do what we can to reach out. The problem is it has taken a long time to get to the next step in the process.”

Walmsley said a lot of the meeting with officials and holding forums took place early on in the process. He said it has taken longer than expected for Fibrowatt to negotiate a power purchase agreement with energy companies. He said they thought that they would be able to answer most questions about the safety of the plant through the air permitting process, but it is taking a long time to reach that point.

“Everyone would have seen how restrictive things are ... Modern plants cannot be built unless they are demonstrated to be safe,” said Walmsley.

When the company applies for permitting, Walmsley said it would go through a public comment period, and a public hearing would be held. He expected this to happen a lot earlier.

The vice president said he would like to meet with Dr. Bill Blackley and some other opponents of Fibrowatt in the future. But he will be careful about how the meetings take place.

“I don’t think any good is going to come from a lot of barking at each other,” Walmsley said.

Several people in the area have accused Fibrowatt of not responding to their questions, but Walmsley said, “Things I think we’ve dealt with in a lot of cases.”

He suggests people visit the company’s blog site, www.thestraightpoop.org, to get more information about the company and a better understanding of plant regulations. Other resources are www.fibrowattuse.com and www.fibrominncap.org.

He said the company was still pursuing the site in Surry County, but that a lot of variables would go into play before a final decision was made to come here.

“In the end, our commitment is to meet the needs of a variety of groups,” Walmsley remarked.

If the company does come here, he said it would probably be around three years after a power purchase agreement is signed before the plant would be in operation. He said the company hopes to be nearing the end of negotiations on the agreement.

Fibrowatt is a company that turns chicken litter into a power source. The company has proposed to build a plant in Elkin. The Surry County Board of Commissioners approved initial incentives for this project, but at a recent meeting they voted to not give incentives unless the company makes a serious effort to address the concerns of county citizens.

Part of Commissioner Harrell’s motion read: “We feel that we provided Fibrowatt with every opportunity to prove to our county that they are a company that deserves incentives. We regret that they have been unsuccessful so far in convincing us.”

Last week Commissioner Johnson remarked, “The door is not going to be closed as far as we’re concerned. Now it’s up to Fibrowatt.”

Johnson said yesterday that Fibrowatt representatives should be back in the county next week.

Contact Meghann Evans at mevans@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.