|
The crowd packed into the Orville Township Maintenance Shed meeting
room consisted mostly of county officials, a few township officials,
Hartsburg Mayor Tom Anderson, a little more than a dozen Illini
Bio-Energy representatives and maybe a dozen local citizens.
The question put before the residents was whether they would
approve rezoning agricultural acreage to industrial and a variance
in building height.
Members of the
Illini Bio-Energy board and staff were on hand to answer
questions important to the community.
Dean Toohey, chairman of the appeals board, opened and mediated
the meeting. He asked the company representatives to speak first.
Ernie Moody, company chairman, provided most of the information
about what they are planning to do and how the plant would benefit
the community. The director, Dave Ramsey of Rochester, also joined
him in the presentation. Other company board members supplied
specialized information during the question period.
The company has an option to purchase 220 acres, one-half mile
northwest of Hartsburg. They indicated that they plan to complete
that purchase soon and then intend to begin building as soon as
Environmental Protection Agency approvals come through -- hopefully,
in about 14 months.
First the representatives explained what the plant would be doing
and how it would affect the area economically.
The two explained about the plant that uses coal to process corn
and make ethanol and about the potential for future industries on
the site, related to the byproducts of the processed corn.
A key factor that the company reps wanted to emphasize to the
farm-based community that they were speaking to is that the
intentions of the company are to be mostly locally owned. The top
red-letter, underlined notation on their prospectus says, "A locally
owned Central Illinois Community Economic Development Project." They
expect that it will be 80 percent to 90 percent local and central
Illinois ownership.
In addition the company anticipates purchasing locally grown corn
as much as possible.
The company says that the ethanol plant is expected to:
- Produce 50 million gallons of ethanol per year.
- Create a new market for 18 million bushels of corn annually.
- Produce an estimated 165,000 tons of distillers dried grains
annually. (DDGS is a byproduct that has numerous uses now and in
research is nearing other significant uses.)
- Use an estimated 80,000 tons of coal annually.
- Employ 38-42 people on-site with annual salaries from
$35,000 to $60,000.
- Generate at least $1.2 million annually in state and local
taxes.
- Create and support another 516 local jobs.
- Add $19.6 million in annual household income to the region.
The representatives defined why they need and want to rezone the
full 220 acres, not just the area that the plant would sit on.
The new tracks to the railroad line would border the perimeter of
the property to the east and north. In the event that they should
need to import corn from outside the area, there could be as many as
100 rail cars that would take up all of the extended line.
They would like to have property west of the plant already
rezoned for businesses that are likely to follow them that would
further process their byproducts. This would make it easier to
attract those businesses and save time in the future.
Citizens' responses were general inquiry about the potential
effect on the water supply, road weight limits, drainage and
traffic.
The company built on research previously performed by a
Bloomington firm looking for a water resource. Aquifers provide
more-than-adequate water in the area. A test well pumping 15 1/2
million gallons per day created equilibrium at a 30-foot sustainable
depression. The water table returned to normal as soon as the pump
was shut off.
[to top of second column]
 |
 One citizen, Gary Cross, questioned their commitment to purchase
corn locally.
Representatives provided one example of when they would
potentially purchase corn from farther than a 50-mile radius. This
might happen in the case of drought, when aflatoxin may strike
local corn. They also acknowledged that, naturally, there would be
times that they would buy from other sources if the price were
lower. "We have to buy grain locally, we have to be competitive,"
said Illini Bio-Energy representative Brian Wrage.
The company says that local farmers can expect to see an increase
in value on their corn.
A representative said that they would have only enough room for
10 days' storage for grain on-site. This would influence how they
buy their corn.
Another citizen near the potential plant location was concerned
about the amount of discharge water that would enter the drainage
ditches. When water in the ditch reaches a certain level, their
basement floods, and his wife isn't happy about that. Any addition
would increase how often they get flooded.
A representative said that most of the water is lost as steam.
The refuse water will go to one of their retention ponds, where it
will undergo further evaporation and then go to the drainage ditch.
It would be equivalent to running eight garden hoses, or maybe
one-sixteenth of an inch of water would flow in the ditch. He said
he would get further information on that.
It has not been determined who will be responsible for an upgrade
to a section of roadway from 800th Avenue eastward on 2300th Street.
It currently belongs to the township, but they are asking the county
to take it over. The county has been asked to take over the section
from 800th Avenue westward to Interstate 155 as well. Illini
Bio-Energy has asked the township for control of the section of
800th Avenue where the plant would sit. That section would be closed
off from public use, and the company would be responsible for the
road renovation on that portion.
Illini Bio-Energy is under a "quiet period" regulated by the
Security Exchange Commission. The company can do no public speaking
that could be construed as promotion that would presell stock.
They can go about the
business of getting the plant set up, including sharing information
as necessary at meetings to get approval from citizens and
government.
In response to a question by Roberta Rademaker, government
officials explained what might happen in the future if the property
were rezoned to M-2, general manufacturing. Under the manufacturing
zoning there are stipulations about what types of businesses can be
built. In addition, if a business wants to come and build, they have
to get a building permit, and then there would once again be public
hearings that would give people a chance to say if they wanted it
there or not.
A former county board member, Wayne Conrady, added encouragement
for the people to OK this proposed business that would bring
economic improvement to the area. He said he watched opportunities
for Lincoln get turned down and thrown away many times years ago. He
said you have to look at progress and how this is going to benefit
the community.
The meeting was brought to a close when all had spoken. Wilbur
Paulus summarized the board's assessment from the public comments
and said, "In general the area would be better off." The appeals
board would send a recommendation to the Logan County Board to
approve the rezoning of the property from agriculture to
manufacturing and a structure height variance. An added condition
would be to require that Illini Bio-Energy begin construction within
five years.
The matter will go before the Logan County Board for discussion
on Jan. 12.
[Jan
Youngquist]
Previous related
articles
|
