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Generator decision tabledBy Barbara Brown After a request by Ed Benson, owner of Prairie Gen Corp., the council put off the decision of whether it will grant the company a conditional use permit to build a 50 mega-watt supplemental power plant on land zoned agricultural. The Prairie Gen request to put off the decision stemmed from testimony presented to the council by resident Pierre Pleau, whose house is near the proposed generator site. Pleau told the council at its last meeting that the code stipulates that public utilities may be allowed in agricultural zones if the council finds that the presence of one benefits the general welfare of the community. He said Prairie Gen is not considered a public utility, but a merchant power provider and therefore the conditional use test did not apply. Benson disagreed. During a Monday phone conversation, Benson argued that Prairie Gen was indeed a public utility, the same as a highway maintenance building or salt and sand storage unit would be a public utility. ìWe read ëpublic utilityí to mean anything that serves the public,î Benson said. Following that logic, Benson said even a school is a public utility. ìItís a bunch of nonsense,î Benson said of Pleauís argument. Benson said a secondary reason for the request to put off the vote was that Mayor John Pinsonneault was not expected at the meeting. The mayor was out of town. Council member Amy Oehlers voted to not postpone the vote. Council members Roger Else, John Pace and Rod Lofquist voted for the motion. Oehlers said she wants to get the decision made so the city and Prairie Gen can move on. She added that the council is able to make a decision without the mayor being there. In an electronic mail message to city planner Al Cottingham, Benson requested an application to change the zoning of about 15 acres of land near a current power substation where the proposed generator would be built. ìThe question now is what is a public utility building,î Cottingham said. ìWas the ordinance put together to reference public utilities like most people think of them ñ as power or water companies ñ or something else.î Benson said the cityís staff could decide if it preferred a conditional use permit or a zoning change of the land. He said Prairie Gen did not plan to withdraw its petition for a conditional use permit. ©ECM Post Review |