By Liz Beavers
Tribune Managing Editor

PATTERSON CREEK – Patterson Creek resident Joan Sears can stand in her kitchen and look out over 21 acres of lush green fields which have been in her family for 38 years.
Over time she has enjoyed watching her cattle grazing in those fields, and observed the passing of time as the leaves on the surrounding trees take on bright orange and yellow hues, then  turn stark with winter's icy touch, then green again as spring begins making its mark.
Lately, however, she worries about the day when her view will be obstructed by a multi-million-dollar sewage plant proposed to be built in the middle of her land.
More than the view, however, she worries about what effect the proposed plant will have on the land that has previously experienced flooding problems and could, according to her
 and her neighbors, create a problem which would cut the community of Patterson Creek off from the world.
In fact, she and neighbor Judith Light remember the time in 1996 when the waters of the Potomac River and Patterson Creek overflowed into the valley, cutting the community of Patterson Creek off and forcing residents to evacuate by walking up the railroad tracks.
The have pictures to support their memories.
"We used to joke about it; we've got waterfront property here," Light said, spreading a number of photos of past floods across the table in front of her and Sears.
"The photos I have show flood watermarks along Patterson Creek Road at the upper end of Sears field ... when the water finally stopped, it was higher on the road than the top of a van," she said.
"To fill in a six-acre plot of land in the valley as planned .... if we get another flood like that one, the town of Patterson Creek is going to be in a whole lot of trouble."
According to Mineral County Coordinator Mike Bland, a lot of consideration has gone into the choice of Sears' field for the proposed plant. Although the ultimate decision on the location lies in the hands of the Frankfort Public Service District, Bland and other members of county government have assisted in looking at the pros and cons of Sears' field and a number of other possible locations.
"They spent a large amount of time looking at sites," he said. "At this point, this is the site that has been selected as the best location."
Sears says, however, the decision to construct the plant on her property just doesn't make good sense.
"I'm no smart person," she said, "but I have sense enough to know there's some places things just shouldn't be built."
The potential of flooding is not the only issue on the minds of the Patterson Creek Road residents, either. They worry about the potential odor and heavy traffic which could be generated by the plant, and they worry what it will do to their property values.
"Everybody in this valley will drive right by the place," Doug Light said.
"I don't like the idea of the smell, and I don't like the idea of the dirt," his wife added.
"They initially said this would be a totally enclosed facility," she continued. "But when they broke out the maps, all of a sudden there were these large sewage pots. We questioned them about the smell, the they said the only time there's any snell is when the pots are stirred.
"But then they said the pots are stirred everyday."
Bland said, however,  the type of plant to be built has been change from a lagoon system to "a mechanical type plant."
"It was decided it would be cheaper to build a mechanic plant to meet the requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Initiative," he said. "A lagoon system would not meet those requirements."
As for any potential odor from the plant, Bland and the county commissioners have gone on record saying they would take whatever precautions they could to eliminate the problem.
Light is not convinced that's going to help.
"I talked to a real estate agent... he said it would increase the value of our home by having sewage, but if you live close to the sewage plant, it will decease the value of your home more than having sewage would increase it," she said.
Sears worries about the future.
"When me and Jerry get done with the farm, who's going to want to buy it with that plant there?" she asked.
"Everybody down here is going to have to take a financial loss," her son Mike added.
Both the Searses and the Lights feel the county should have considered other locations for the proposed plant.
"I really don't think they ever considered any other sites," Mike Sears. "This was just the easiest way."
He admits the sewage system is needed in the northern end of the county, but "we don't need the sewage dumped on us. It's a good thing, it's just in the wrong spot."
Light feels there's ample ground around the existing waste treatment plant in Fort Ashby to expand the plant to serve the Patterson Creek area.
"It jut doesn't make any sense why they don't put it there," she said. "It would even be up out of the flood plain. They could take the money (for the new plant) and run the pipes to Fort Ashby. It's going to have to be piped one way or the other."
Bland said locating the plant near Patterson Creek, rather than expanding the facility at Fort Ashby, will be cheaper in the long run for the customers.
He says he can understand the residents' concern, however tough decisions have to be made.
"No one likes for this to be next to them, but it's got to go somewhere," he said.