Fayette County employee suspended after incident a controversial church
Fayette County employee Lloyd “Buddy” Eicher III has been suspended for two weeks as a result of an incident at the controversial Church of Universal Love and Music in Bullskin Township. Eicher, an employee of the county office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, was on the property of William Pritts last month when three individuals reportedly confronted him.
County Commissioners Vincent A. Vicites and Angela M. Zimmerlink each confirmed the suspension. Vicites said it is really a personnel matter and he has been asked not to comment further by the county solicitor. Vicites confirmed that the commissioners reviewed the police report prior to taking the action.
Zimmerlink confirmed, “The county did receive a report of an incident between individuals and an employee of our county zoning office and personnel action has been taken.”
Dave Rodgers, county human resource director, said although there is no real black and white policy, when personnel issues rise to the suspension level, the commissioners usually become involved.
“Only the county commissioners can decide to discipline,” Rodgers said. He said the decision was reached after all the information was gathered that was necessary to reach a reasonable conclusion.
Pritts has been cited numerous times for failing to stop holding concerts on his 147-acre property. He has been denied a special exception to operate his church by the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board, which has no stated theology.
An agreement was recently approved in county court between the Fayette County Office of Planning and Community Development and Pritts’s attorney also increases the fines he will pay for conducting the two events without the required special zoning exception.
Pritts has been holding weekend-long events featuring bands performing on an outdoor stage on his 147-acre property in Bear Rocks, which is zoned for agricultural use, since 2002. He has been cited several times by OPCD for operating the events without a special exception.
Some events have drawn hundreds of people and angered his neighbors, who voiced their complaints before the county Zoning Hearing Board on a number of occasions. Pritts has applied for the needed special exception, but the ZHB denied his request.