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246 oppose power plant by petitionBy Barbara Brown More than 240 people signed a petition that was turned in to the North Branch City Council Monday night asking the council not to approve a conditional use permit for a supplemental power generator in an agricultural zone. Pierre Pleau, who lives near the proposed site of a 50 mega-watt turbine power generator, and about 10 neighbors and other interested citizens went through town passing out the petition. Pleau said Prairie Gen should not be allowed to erect a building to house a power generator on land along Co. Rd. 14 because the area is zoned agricultural. Those who signed the petition are asking the council to make Prairie Gen consider other sites, like the cityís industrial park, for the plant, Pleau said. Pleau said neighbors are concerned about potential air pollution and noise pollution and their effects on wildlife and ecosystems. The council is allowed to grant a conditional use permit to a public utility in agricultural land if the utility can show construction will benefit the health, safety and welfare of the public. Pleau said that according to a state Department of Commerce representative he spoke with on the phone, Prairie Genís operation would be taxed on a commercial property basis because it would not be considered a public utility. ěPublic utility power plants,î Pleau told the council the commerce department said, ěare not at risk of monetary loss as it is passed on to the consumer and they must also sell their power retail.î According to that definition, Prairie Gen could be considered a merchant power corporation, Pleau told the council. Merchants must apply for a certificate of need and sell their power wholesale to a public utility who then sells the power at retail costs to the consumers. If the council votes at its Feb. 25 meeting to grant the conditional use permit, it will mean that Prairie Gen may continue to strive for environmental permits and continue with investigating and designing the power generator site. Granting the conditional use permit does not necessarily guarantee Prairie Gen would build on the site, said city planner Al Cottingham. Cottingham said the council can put as many restrictions on the conditional use permit as it wants. The conditions would then be given to Prairie Gen, which would then decide if it wanted to abide by the restrictions or not, Cottingham said. Some of those conditions include size and color of the building, decibel levels and landscaping. Cottingham added that if Prairie Genís proposed operation does not receive state Pollution Control Agency approval and air quality permits, it would not be allowed to be built. ©ECM Post Review |