Ethanol zoning clears final hurdle (08/09/06)

It passed at last.

After a series of planning commission and city council meetings over a two-month period, the ethanol plant planned southwest of Portland cleared its last hurdle with city government Tuesday evening.

Members of the Portland Planning Commission approved the final detailed plan for Premier Ethanol LLC to build an ethanol plant southwest of Portland.

"We're just happy to have it behind us and to move forward full force" and get the plant built, Bob Berens, director of site development for Broin Companies, said this morning. Broin is working with Premier to develop the plant on county road 200 West near Meshberger Brothers Stone Co.

With local zoning approved, attention will turn to air and water discharge permits from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Those permits must be approved for construction of the plant to begin.

Berens said a public meeting and hearing on the air quality permit will be held Aug. 17 in the Portland Fire Station meeting room.

An informal informational and question and answer session will be held from 4 to 5:45 p.m., with a formal public hearing at 6 p.m.

From now until Aug. 31, community members may also write to IDEM and comment on the request.

Comments may be mailed to IDEM, Office of Air Quality, 100 Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46204, and must be postmarked by Aug. 31. Permit reviewer Mike Pring of Eastern Research Group Inc. may be contacted at (919) 468-7840 or by e-mail at [email protected].

The water permit has been submitted to IDEM, but Broin and Premier officials have not yet heard any news on the request, Berens said.

Before the final plans were approved by an 8-1 vote, an audience member suggested some conditions for the plant be imposed.

Dr. James Clear, who has spoken against construction of the plant at several local meetings, suggested commission members consider the following conditions:

•For the land to be re-zoned only for the ethanol plant to exclude the possibility of other plants, hog barns, etc. being built on the land.

•For Premier to install a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System to track the amount of carcinogens emitted by the plant.

•The addition of longer highway acceleration and deceleration lanes.

•Require Premier to pay to increase the size of the city's wastewater treatment plant if needed.

•Offer property value guarantees for area residential property owners.

"Premier will not leave the area if you make conditions," Clear said to the commission. Now is the time to set up the conditions, he said.

Bob Quadrozzi, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, and Berens, reacted to these suggested conditions.

Quadrozzi said asking the company to follow these conditions would be asking too much.

"Is it too much to ask for covenants when you're giving $2 million?" to the ethanol plant, asked Nan Rowles, who lives near the plant site.

Quadrozzi said he assumed that Rowles was referring to the funds which could be generated for infrastructure for the plant if a tax increment financing (TIF) district is established.

"Imposing conditions ... is unwarranted ... and we would not be receptive to that at all," Berens said.

No commission members commented on the suggested conditions.

Clear also asked why Portland Police Chief Bob Sours reviewed the final details plan and signed off on it instead of Todd Penrod, the county sheriff.

Bill Milligan, Jay/Portland Building and Planning director, said the zoning ordinance requires the local police department to review the plans. Penrod met with Broin and Jay School Corporation officials and discussed the plans, Milligan said.

The road to this point has been long and winding.

Premier officials first filed to re-zone the land from agricultural to planned unit development-industrial in May. The request was sent to the city council by the planning commission for approval. Council members then gave final approval to re-zone the approximately 180 acres.

The final detailed plans went to the planning commission for approval on July 6. At that meeting, planning commission members tabled the matter due to a lawsuit filed the previous week seeking an injunction to prevent the plant's development.

The lawsuit alleges that Premier officials did not furnish complete preliminary plans to the commission and did not properly follow procedures for filing for re-zoning the first time. The suit brought forth by several local residents who live near the plant site, was filed against the planning commission, the council, Premier, the city of Portland and Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter.

At the start of Tuesday's meeting, commission president Vicki Tague asked Milligan if the final detailed plan was filed following the guidelines of the city's zoning ordinance. Milligan said it was.

On July 7, officials with Premier announced that they had re-filed to re-zone the land.

Commission members voted on July 27 to recommend that the city council grant the re-zoning request. Lee Newman and Ken Walters, members of the commission, voted against the re-zoning at that meeting.

The council voted Monday night to re-zone the land.

Commission member Bob Loucks made the motion for the plans to be approved Tuesday.

After attending several meetings and hearing local residents comment on the plant project, Loucks said he has heard "no convincing evidence to not approve the (final) plan."

Newman said after Tuesday's meeting, he voted to approve the final plans this time because, "I think it's already a done deal. The decision was made at the last (commission) meeting." Newman voted against recommending approval of the preliminary plan July 27.

Walters said he is in favor of the plant project, but voted against it to represent the local residents who do not approve.

"My vote was for them, not for me. I'm the only (vote) they (have)," he said.[[In-content Ad]]