Neighbors adapt to religious sect
 
San Angelo Standard-Times
 
A year after the news broke that a large religious group that practices polygamy had bought land in Schleicher County, some immediate concerns have faded while new worries have cropped up.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints bought a nearly 1,700-acre ranch north of Eldorado, saying the property would be used for a hunting resort. When the truth became known — that a compound was being built that could house as many as 1,000 people — many residents understandably reacted with alarm.

They feared that the local sect, whose members will be coming from Arizona and Utah, would take over the public school system and county government. They worried that their way of life was in jeopardy.

Nothing that has happened since then suggests the group has such designs. In fact, the people who are living there now are so clannish that it seems they are more eager to keep to themselves than residents of Eldorado are to keep them out.

The most serious concerns now are environmental. The group has been fined for infractions several times by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The group has requested a permit for a wastewater treatment plant that would allow it to dump treated water into Milligan Draw, a tributary of the South Concho River, which flows into Twin Buttes Reservoir. That would concern San Angeloans under any circumstances, but the sect’s poor track record already makes it doubly worrisome.

Adding to the worries is that the group is having serious legal and financial problems in Utah and Arizona even as its Schleicher compound is springing up rapidly. That could mean an even bigger infusion of people.

To their credit, Schleicher County and Eldorado officials have done a good job calming the waters. Had they not worked from the start to ease fears and encourage restraint, things might have gotten out of hand by now. They repeatedly have said the newcomers are within their rights to live on the property while laying out their expectations for them to abide by the law.

The people of Eldorado aren’t happy about having the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in their midst, but they are coping with the change. That’s about the best result that could be hoped for.
 
sanangelostandardtimes.com
Originally published March 30, 2005
 
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