We applaud the Decatur County Board of Commissioners for realizing that the county has a problem with its planning department fees, and taking the first step to addressing that problem.

At the Feb. 28 meeting, a citizen pointed out that many of the county’s building permit fees are considerably out-of-line, when compared to nearby counties. Following the citizen’s comments, commissioners stated they would work quickly to address the problem.

This Tuesday, March 20, the Decatur County Planning Board will meet at the county administration building at 1:30 p.m. for a called meeting. The purpose of that meeting, which is open to the public, is to discuss the department fee schedule and see what changes need to be made. While it is too early to know what decisions will be made at that meeting, we thank the county for keeping its word to quickly address this problem.

Several commissioners and members of the local Industrial Development Authority have pointed out that the county’s planning department fee schedule has caused some prospective industries to shy away from locating in Decatur County. In this economy, we need to remove any obstacles that are in the way of allowing our county to be as attractive as possible to prospective businesses, and the economic booms and jobs they bring.

This is a very important meeting for members of the public to attend and voice their input. We believe it will have a productive result, and pay off dividends both now and in the future.