All that exists are drafts of ideas and what are no doubt heartfelt promises from the Blaine County Commissioners that they will set up a process that is fair and open. The bond has been rushed to the polls because it is the only hope the county has of ending the deadlock between south-county land owners who want to subdivide their farms and ranches and people who want to see the land remain open, Blaine County officials among them. Blaine County can't hold off the bulldozers much longer without committing itself to an expensive, and probably futile, legal battle. Nonetheless, scant time has been allowed for evaluation and discussion of the bond. It raced from the Legislature's green light to the polls in just two months.
Basic questions remain to be answered.
There's also a problem with putting up the money up without guidelines in place. Some people wanted to know if the county will allow ball fields to be developed on property with open-space easements. There's nothing to date that tells us that the county will or won't allow ball fields to be developed on properties bearing open-space easements that have been bought and paid for with public money. There is also no guarantee that agricultural activities will continue on easement lands. State law allows government bodies to negotiate land purchases in closed-door meetings.