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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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| | Email this article • Print this article | LS Power project is subject of Oct. 19 special joint meeting
BY DENISE MARTIN
The open microphone portion of Chisago County Board meetings continues to be used by citizens with opinions and questions about the LS Power company electric station plan. Seven people signed up to use their three minutes in the public forum last week.
The county commissioners later in the meeting scheduled a joint informational Q and A event on the LS Power project. In cooperation with Lent Township, the public meeting was set for Monday night, October 19, at Lent Township Hall. All state agencies involved in permitting the electric station will be invited to make presentations and take questions as well.
One open mic questioner asked the Board about the Environmental Impact Statement, and their impression that the electric station is a mixed-fuel-operation so the EIS is mandatory. They also asked about "particulates" in the fuel burning process.
Blake Wheatley, LS Power general manager, attended last week's County Board meeting and also used his three minutes of comment time.
He responded that minimal fuel oil (an ultra low sulfur distillate) consumption is planned so the use won't trigger an EIS under state laws. Wheatley added that certainly when compared to the facility's primary fuel-- natural gas, which emits steam-- burning fuel oil generates more "particulates," but the emissions will be monitored and regulated under permits.
There continue to be questions about the development agreement being drafted involving Lent Township, the county, LS Power and the North Branch School District.
In the last legislative session in St. Paul, LS Power was granted a personal property tax exemption, (about a dozen other exemptions have previously been granted by lawmakers) on the condition a development agreement is adopted. The project can still continue to move forward without a development agreement, but it's required if the power station developer wants the state tax exemption.
Jim McCarthy asked the county commissioners to be very careful in crafting the agreement and wondered if it'll be "disclosed" to the public prior to being acted on.
County Attorney Janet Reiter said it's not normal practice to hold public hearings on development agreements. Whenever it's put on a County Board agenda it will become a "public document" but the agreement is incomplete at this time, Reiter concluded.
Area legislators, Senator Rick Olseen and Representative Jeremy Kalin, attended the meeting to give a post-session update to the county commissioners.
They advised the County Board to expect additional state aid unallotments.
The legislature and governor continue to have a fundamental disagreement over bonding the state's way to more revenue. Increased taxes have no governor support and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle don't support taking on debt to pay the state's basic bills.
Olseen also said he supports allowing the regulatory agencies and experts to take a crack at seeing if the LS Power plant will work. He added that a $300 million investment in Chisago County is not something to reject easily.
His goal is to recycle adequate amounts of grey water from storage ponds at wastewater treatments plants in North Branch and from the Chisago Lakes facility, so no draw from the aquifer is needed. He asked people to allow the process to move forward for in depth analysis of all prospects for the LS Power project.
Olseen noted that some people complain about federal stimulus funding not making it to Chisago County. Olseen reminded citizens the funds went to "shovel ready" projects which by and large had to be easy to bid projects, and not huge, complicated endeavors.
In other business: the Board accepted the 2009 Homeland Security grant funding of $26,000. The money from the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety is matched 50-50 by the county.
A contract with Heartland Express and the city of North Branch was adopted. The agreement has the city contributing 20 percent of funds for a bus that will be dedicated to certain routes and stops within North Branch. The in-city service is supposed to start Jan. 2010.
The county taxation hearing is December 2, at 6:30 p.m. The Board has adopted (5-0) a zero percent levy increase, and directed staff to create a budget package that supports the zero percent increase.
A bailiff position was created last week (5-0 vote) but is only filling existing available hours.
Chief Deputy Bob Shoemaker explained that one bailiff's hours were drastically reduced, and the district court anticipates getting back up to its full three-courtroom calendar soon, so there's a need to bring in another employee.
Local contractors were approved to undertake a new phase of work supporting the St. Croix Scenic Byway.
Bill Neuman, Franconia Township, told the Press after the County Board meeting that the group continues to develop multi-media information that will someday tie into portable devices and GPS systems, allowing tourists and others to access details about sites along the designated St. Croix Scenic Byway.
At this phase people may notice new signage denoting the byway, Neuman said. Most of the work is being done behind the scenes at this time. National scenic byways interpretive materials will also be created/written under this contract. The funding is federal, and the state Dept. of Transportation commissioner is the flow-through for any contract expenses.
The effort includes Neuman's company Bluebyway LLC, and an environmental and archaeologic consultant based in rural Shafer, and an Osceola, Wisc. firm America's Roads, Rivers & Rails LLC.
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