Ascendigo proposal insensitive to residents

Missouri Heights is a quiet and rural place — evident to anyone walking, biking, or riding here — broad open spaces, extraordinary views, quiet roads. We cherish this pristine environment. The introduction of the Ascendigo camp will immediately and indelibly impact this tranquility.

For my wife and I, personally, it can be argued that the Ascendigo camp causes less obstruction than the White Cloud homes, because we face the western end of the subject property, where little development is proposed. That said, we still vigorously oppose the Ascendigo camp. We are not thinking just of ourselves but for our entire neighborhood and its future.

Most distressing is Ascendigo’s insensitivity to the surrounding population by selecting this location. This area encompasses wide open spaces, scattered with single-family dwellings, supported by private dirt roads. The intrusion of Ascendigo’s proposed facilities will instantly render this neighborhood unrecognizable from its present serenity. Ascendigo’s gross lack of consideration for their future neighbors speaks loudly to how they ever could be expected to honor their commitment to the reduced program in their recently revised application. This selection is appalling and defies any rational acceptance by the county commissioners. We do not deny that Ascendigo provides an essential service, but it is unfathomable to expect it to fit in Missouri Heights today.

It is bothersome to see the officers of Ascendigo willing to spend $3 million before obtaining the county approval they need for this project. I have been in the real estate business all my adult life. Have contracted to purchase and sell similar properties, but such contracts were always conditioned upon securing the necessary approvals first. Ascendigo used a conditional contract in Emma — why did they not follow the same contractual procedure here?

Marcia and Don Flaks

Carbondale