By MaryHelen Swanson
Wednesday evenings in the county board room these days finds almost all chairs filled and eager county residents waiting to get up and speak on the proposed electric generating power plant.
Last week was no different.

The faces are now familiar, although each speaker is, it seems, trying to approach the subject a little differently each time at the microphone.

And now, some new faces are appearing.

And not everyone is opposed.

The issues brought up last week included legal questions, and the role Chisago County plays in the siting of the power plant.

Again, there was concern for the number of large trucks on County Road 14 as fuel oil is delivered to be used as a back-up fuel.

Some speakers are just not trusting LS Power, the company making the proposal for construction of a 780 MW plant.

The fear is the plant will not make a good neighbor.

Others are not necessarily opposed to the plant, just to the rural residential site that has been chosen, along CR 14 in Lent Township.

One woman, however, was totally in favor of the plant and for the jobs that it would bring. Her family members need jobs, she said.

Working at a local food bank, she said she sees the increase in usage and said jobs are needed.

Another woman had a new suggestion, raise taxes instead of taking the money that is supposed to come from the plant.

Joyce Marienfeld, the local teacher who has spoken so eloquently at many recent meetings, broke down.

Trying desperately to maintain composure, she spoke to the board about how this is the wrong place for the plant and the adverse environmental effects.

In all, there were about 15 speakers.

In  response, Commissioner Mike Robinson offered what he is doing to research the issue. He explained that he is calling and talking to people he feels he can give him good information. As for the truck drivers (referring to fuel delivery) he said they are “good guys.”

Commissioner George McMahon stressed that there is no particular time line to negotiate a development agreement with LS Power. There’s no hurry to vote on any agreement, and the process being follow, he said, is a good process.

He mostly wanted to make it clear to the room full of people that he is not in a rush to make a decision, not in a rush to say it’s OK to go forward with the project.

And he wants the citizens to be part of the process and again suggested formation of a citizen’s committee to monitor the project - if approved.

In response to someone who suggested the county gave up $10 million, he said it was the Legislature that gave the authority to go ahead with the development agreement, “I didn’t give up anything,” he added, stressing again that he is not ready to vote on anything.

McMahon repeated to the audience that any agreement would be on the county’s Web site and there would be public hearings.

Responding to one speaker who spoke of the board’s integrity, McMahon said he makes decisions with all the information he can gather. The (state) permitting process, he reminded them, is where this (proposed project) is approved, not here.

Board Chairman Commissioner Ben Montzka said any development agreement would probably include all the voluntary concessions LS Power has recently declared, such as no use of groundwater and no discharge into the local river.

Montzka believes  the county planning commission would have no authority as the proposal is preempted by state agencies.

Supporting this idea, County Attorney Janet Reiter agreed that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, through the legislation, supersedes and preempts all local jurisdictions.

It’s a unique situation, she said. It’s not a zoning issue for the county - no conditional use permit is required - and no zoning ordinance would be in play, in the county or Lent Township.

But she added, approval of a development agreement, which was made possible through the legislation last spring, is a pre-requisite to LS Power taking advantage of the tax exemption that legislation provides.

McMahon added, it (development agreement) gives us a tool to negotiate with the developer, otherwise, the county wouldn’t even be involved.

Reiter nodded affirmative.

Through her interpreter, her mother, Commissioner Lora Walker, suffering from laryngitis, typed her comments on her laptop and her mother read that she (Lora Walker) also agreed on the citizen task force idea and that she is in no rush to approve anything either.

In other business:
• The commissioners approved a proclamation declaring Oct. 23-32 as Red Ribbon Week in Chisago County, supporting Partners for a Drug Free Chisago County in alcohol and drug prevention activities.

• The commissioners agreed to address rules of conduct regarding voting at a work session. The issue stems from Commissioner Robinson’s silent votes, which the county attorney has affirmed mean a “yes” vote. Robinson claims that Montzka voted in like manner for the past four years. The discussion at the work session is expected to be long.

• The board approved a preliminary plat of two lots on 10.6 acres in Fish Lake Township for Marybeth Gestson.

• A report on the Sentencing to Service program showed that in the past quarter, Chisago County STS participants worked 2,505 hours, a benefit of $15,030 based on $6 per hour. A total of $8,956 in fines was completed through STS. The estimated market value of the projects completed was $21,785. Projects included such things as park maintenance, tree cutting and trimming, building shelves, storm clean-up, trash pick-up and timber stand improvement, among others.

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