Harrison County schedules Oct. 30 hearing on Summit Park PSD boundary adjustment; holds executive-session talks with GE participants

The Harrison County Commission on Oct. 9 set a public hearing for Oct. 30 to consider a boundary adjustment for the Summit Park Public Service District and moved into an executive session to discuss matters related to property and commercial competition involving a GE project.

The commission voted to ‘move forward with the Summit Park PSD boundary adjustment with a public hearing to take place on October 30,’ after discussion about inviting county staff and outside participants to a closed meeting. The presiding officer asked that those named by commissioners be included in the executive session; commissioners agreed and the motion carried by voice vote.

Commissioners also approved a separate motion at 10:15 to go into executive session under the cited statute for items that could affect the county’s financial interests. During that motion a staff member noted, “GE has also requested that Mike Romano come into executive session,” signaling GE’s engagement in the closed deliberations.

Because the executive session was authorized under statutory grounds to protect commercial-competition or property-negotiation interests, the commission did not discuss details of offers or strategy on the public record. The Oct. 30 public hearing will present the boundary-adjustment proposal in an open forum where affected residents and property owners may comment.

Next steps: The commission will hold the public hearing on Oct. 30 as scheduled; any formal action on the Summit Park PSD boundary adjustment will follow the public hearing and any required statutory notices.