Ethanol plant gets 2nd zoning OK (07/28/06)

Despite opposition from several residents in the area of a proposed ethanol plant, Premier Ethanol received approval Thursday night - for the second time - of the next step in rezoning approximately 180 acres southwest of Portland.

Meeting in a special session, the Portland Planning Commission approved by a 7-2 vote to pass the zoning request on to the Portland City Council for a action at its Aug. 7 meeting. Commission members Lee Newman and Ken Walters voted against the rezoning Thursday night.

If the city council approves the request, it will come back to the commission for final action set for a special meeting on Aug. 8.

Officials with Premier Ethanol LLC filed the second request for re-zoning on July 7 in the Jay/Portland Building and Planning office, a week after residents who live near the plant site filed a lawsuit against the ethanol company in Jay Circuit Court and a day after the planning commission declined to give final approval to the original re-zoning request.

There has been no action on the suit, which sought an injunction halting development of the plant. The suit alleged procedural errors and omissions during the initial attempt to change zoning for the project.

The pending request is to have the land zoned to planned unit development-industrial from agricultural.

In the suit, which names the planning commission, city council, the city and Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter, the plaintiffs asked for zoning actions to be nullified and for an injunction to be issued stopping construction at the site near Meshberger Brothers Stone Corp.

Several opponents of the project chose to speak Thursday night but were told by commission president Vicki Tague at the beginning of the nearly two-hour meeting that they would be given three minutes each to offer comments. She also instructed others in the standing-room only crowd at the Portland Fire Station not to applaud or make verbal interjections.

While most opponents, who reside near the proposed operation, were not against an ethanol plant in the county, they were troubled about the particular location.

"This is a bad location," said Casey Lutes, a resident on county road 200 South. "Are we going to start pulling acres out to make industry?"

The proposed site is near a propane storage facility as well as a stone quarry, where blasting is done on a regular basis, and near Jay County High School.

Concerned about the additional traffic in the area, nearby resident Dean Jetter noted, "You have a perfect storm for a traffic hazard coming here and I'm concerned for the students."

Premier spokesman Brian Minish told the crowd that officials had met with local law enforcement departments. "We've discussed traffic issues and will make plans to address that," he said.

While most of those who addressed the commission were opposed to the project's location, Portland resident Rogers Durham spoke in its favor.

"I've been here 27 years and feel fortunate to get the leadership that has brought us the tremendous growth we've had," Durham said of the Jay County community. "And if this was a rinky-dink operation, operating out of the back of a truck, I'd be worried," he said, indicating he did not have concerns about the Broin company, Premier's parent.

Also speaking in the project's favor was Jay County REMC employee Ron Laux.

"Please let this pass," he told the commission. "I guess I fail to recognize what's bad. We need this business here, folks. We need the jobs. We really need a boost in grain prices."

Jay County Economic Development executive director Bob Quadrozzi also addressed the crowd, explaining that the location for the alternative fuel production facility was chosen by Broin officials because of its proximity to the Norfolk and Southern rail line.

"We did not direct Premier Ethanol to this site," he said. "They've been coming to Jay County for several years, looking at the county. That parcel was not on our list for sites, but it had to meet their requests. They needed the rail service."

Another area of concern was the potential for fire.

Rob Frazee, a resident of the area near the site and a former Portland fireman, said, "The major question not asked is fire. Safety is a huge issue."

Ethanol is not an explosive and it is stored as a liquid, explained Erin Heupel, an engineer with the Broin associates, adding that a special foam application used in the case of such fires will be provided to local firefighters as well as kept on the production site. Additionally, she explained local firefighters will be given extra training to know how to deal with such occurrences.

"I have faith in the people that they're not coming to Portland to commit mass murder," commission member Tom Kennedy said about Broin officials. "I believe these are professional people."

"I have faith in the state," added Glen Bryant, also a member of the commission. "I'm putting my trust in this."[[In-content Ad]]