[JUNE
5, 2006]
Ask a community planner and they'll tell you that
at the top of the list for economic growth is location, location,
location. More specifically, what makes a good location is
accessibility (infrastructure), resources and services. Logan County
has a great combination of all. One thing that Logan County has that
other parts of the country or even portions of Illinois don't have
is an abundance of water. The area has a large underground water
supply available from the Mahomet Valley and Middletown Valley
aquifers.
Voters approved the formation of the Northern Logan County Water
Authority in April 2005. The board was organized in June 2005 to
manage the water available from the larger aquifer. The Mahomet
Valley is shared by several other counties to the west and east and
runs across the entire northern quarter of Logan County. The board
will monitor water levels of the aquifer to protect future
availability to residents, in balance with the needs of industry and
municipal usage.
In April the board announced that they have their first customer,
Illini Bio-Energy. IBE has plans to build a coal-fired ethanol plant
near Hartsburg.
The water authority is having a study done to measure the effect
on the water level. Two to three monitoring wells costing $7,000
each will be dug.
Tentative agreement had been reached to issue IBE a
1-million-gallon-per-year permit at $30,000. IBE will be allowed to
set up two metered wells, a primary and a second well, at no added
fee. A 25 percent annual renewal fee is planned. It was still being
discussed whether to offer an option to charge for only the metered
amount used.
Another ethanol production firm announced intentions on Friday to
build a plant about eight miles northwest of the IBE Hartsburg site.
American Ethanol has taken option on acreage to build a plant that
would be twice the size of the IBE plant. The American Ethanol plant
would be located beside Taloma Farmers Grain Company's Allen
Station, just outside San Jose. This site would draw on the same
water source, but it would be located in Mason County and under
their authority.
