 |
Thursday, September 02, 2010
|
|
 |
|
|
| | Email this article • Print this article | Electric station development agreement moving forward without county commissioner involvement; lawmaker specifically wanted county board input early on
BY DENISE MARTIN
Two citizens questioned the LS Power proposal during public comment-open mic last week at the County Board meeting, and County Administrator John Moosey was asked to give an update on the process of drafting a "development agreement" that is the cornerstone of this electric station project.
From what county officials said last week, there seems to be a disconnect between the intent of the legislation mandating this agreement as a condition of granting LS Power a state tax exemption, and what local officeholders see as their role. The agreement is under negotiation but there's been no direct involvement by the county commissioners.
Administrator Moosey observed that the county was thrust into aspects of the pre-development phase of the LS project that are not really under county jurisdiction. Moosey continued, explaining that normally Chisago County would only be involved in this project as the regulatory authority under the Wetland Conservation Act and in approving permits for access to the site off county roads.
But, because of the development agreement Moosey and other staff have had to meet with the Dept. of Natural Resources and pollution control agencies to gather extensive information. As for whether there will be a full blown Environmental Impact Statement required of LS Power on this proposal, or just an Environmental Assessment Worksheet-- Moosey said this is still under discussion. Content and information requirements of each are being reviewed.
"I hope to bring an acceptable agreement to the Board...I'm hoping that we can," Moosey concluded.
County Board Chair Ben Montzka especially noted county commissioners are not involved. And, Commissioner George McMahon also shared his stance that this agreement is routine and not being handled any differently than how the county normally handles these. He asked... 'how many development agreements does the county do' regularly? Staff noted that construction has dropped off sharply, but the county's done hundreds of development agreements in the course of platting and building neighborhoods, etc.
County Attorney Janet Reiter added, "Until there's a product (document) to move forward on" she doesn't anticipate direct Board involvement.
After the County Board adjourned Lent Township Supervisor Gene Olson commented that this development agreement is proving to be problematic.
He said his concept for any pre-construction agreement was only that the county, school district and township would agree on how to split the payments in lieu of taxes that LS Power has agreed to remit.
Olson said it's extremely difficult to identify all the potential issues that ought to be included in a "development agreement" before in-depth environmental reviews are done on the project. And, LS Power isn't going to sink major money into hiring field researchers and doing a detailed environmental analysis for the site until it secures the tax exemption, and knows the project will be feasible financially.
The state, however, isn't going to authorize the exemption for the electric station without the development agreement.
Speaking later with Rep. Jeremy Kalin, DFL-North Branch, Kalin said the intent of requiring this development agreement as a condition of awarding the tax exemption, was specifically to get local authorities involved at the front end of this. Kalin wanted local issues or concerns that may reach beyond the state's regulatory process to be identified early. He added the county board and township boardcould attach various conditions into the development agreement if they wish. The agreement could require additional payments for local costs if they wanted. The agreement is the local government's opportunity to set parameters for LS Power.
At minimum the legislation language spells out basic issues to be addressed by the township and county, aquifer impact and water use chief among them. The agreement can't fall short of what's addressed in the legislation, Kalin added, or the Dept. of Commerce won't authorize the exemption sought by LS Power on personal property taxes.
Rep. Kalin said County Commissioners appear to be doing the opposite of legislative intent in requiring the agreement. They need to have as much input into the agreement as early into drafting it as possible, he advised.
The legislation requires a development agreement signed by a two-thirds majority vote of the County Board. Provisions it must contain are; the electric station is designed to use effluent from a wastewater treatment facility as its preferred source of water and all processed station discharge will be co-located with the outfall of the wastewater treatment facility.
The development agreement with the township must also be passed on a two-thirds vote of the supervisors ensuring noise and visual impacts of the electric station are mitigated.
Construction of the electric station must begin after March 2010 and before March 2014.
|
|
|
|
|