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Prairie Gen may look to locate generator in Lent TownshipBy Barbara Brown The company that planned to build a 50-megawatt power generator along Co. Rd. 14 in North Branch may be abandoning its attempts. Prairie Gen Corp. president Edward Benson contacted Lent Township officials and asked about the ease with which the township might approve a generator on land located approximately one-half mile from the proposed North Branch site. Benson had been seeking permission to build in an agriculturally-zoned area near an already established power plant along Co. Rd. 14. Since the application, Prairie Gen Corp. has tried to convince residents and council members that the generator would be safe, quiet and environmentally friendly. Lent Township supervisor board chairman Monica Abress said she had been keeping up with the news about Prairie Gen trying to build the generator in North Branch. ìI was not surprised when he called,î Abress said of Benson. She said her indication was that Benson was putting out feelers to find out if getting the generator through the townshipís planning and zoning process would be easier than North Branchís. Abress said she explained to Benson that she did not see a reason why the Lent board of supervisors would oppose the move, but Lent does not do its own planning and zoning, and decisions about where a power generator could be located would be up to the county. Lent Supervisor Gene Olson had already spoken at a North Branch City Council meeting and told the council Lent would be happy to see the generator in the township. Prairie Gen has invested only $125 in the cityís process so far, according to city planner Al Cottingham. He said $125 is the fee to process a request for a conditional use permit. He said he had heard that Prairie Gen may withdraw its permit request sometime this week. At a Feb. 25 North Branch city council meeting, Benson requested that the council table a decision on granting a conditional use permit, siting Mayor John Pinsonneaultís absence during the meeting. In a letter to Cottingham explaining his request, Benson also suggested that Prairie Gen may apply for a zoning change for the acreage where the generator is proposed. Earlier in the year, Benson reported that a similar power generator to one proposed in North Branch was being built in downtown St. Paul. According to the St. Paul Office of Planning and Economic Development, Prairie Gen has proposed a 49-megawatt supplemental power generator along Shepard Road, near the Mississippi River. Larry Zangs, project facilitator for the St. Paul Department of Licensing, Inspection and Environmental Protection said Prairie Gen had completed an environmental assessment worksheet and that it was passed on to the Environmental Quality Board for review. However, Zangs said, his office had not received any kind of site plans or had further discussions about the plant with Benson. He said St. Paul staff had raised concerns about noise and air pollution from the proposed generator. The same concerns had been raised by residents who live near the proposed North Branch site. St. Paul officials had not yet visited a generator in Chaska ñ one Prairie Gen claims is practically identical to ones proposed for North Branch and St. Paul. Zangs said the generator would be a permitted use in the St. Paul industrial area where Prairie Gen has proposed it be built. Zangs said the St. Paul site is ìproblematic,î however. He said sewer pipes are about 1,000 feet away and Prairie Gen management has yet to decide how it would pay to hook into the system. Zangs said he did not think a septic system would be allowed on the site because of its proximity to the Mississippi flood plain. Similar concerns had been raised by residents and council members for the proposed North Branch site. Benson had said that the company would install a septic system behind the generator building. Calls to Benson were not returned before press time. ©ECM Post Review |