Zoning Approved
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The Emporia City Commission unanimously approved heavy industrial zoning for a new biodiesel plant Wednesday night.
The 5-0 vote opens the door for the $65 million plant, which Renewable Energy Group of Iowa expects to start building east of Norfolk Iron and Metal this summer. The decision came after about two hours of discussion.
“I had serious reservations at the beginning because of the safety issues,” Mayor Julie Johnson said. “I am more than satisfied that REG deals with these issues in a serious way and has the public safety foremost in their planning.”
During the meeting, several neighbors said a biodiesel plant would be welcome in Emporia, but not in this location.
“I have nothing against biodiesel,” said Gilbert Stefan, a planning commissioner who also lives in the area. “I wish we had it here 10 years ago. We needed it 10 years ago and longer ago than that. But I think we need to put them in appropriate places.”
A protest petition had been filed before the meeting, requiring a “super-majority” of four commissioners to approve the rezoning.
Safety
When built, the plant would be capable of making up to 60 million gallons of biodiesel fuel a year from soybean oil. REG expects construction to take no longer than 18 months.
Fire Chief Jack Taylor said he had toured a similar REG plant in Newton, Iowa, and was satisfied with both the safety measures and the company’s cooperation with the Newton fire department.
Those systems were quickly put to a practical test. The morning after he left Newton, Taylor said, the plant there had a small fire when some of the filtration material spontaneously combusted.
“By the time the chief arrived on the scene, the flames were already subsiding,” Taylor said. “It was pretty easily extinguished, according to him.”
“There were no toxic fumes?” City Manager Matt Zimmerman asked.
“They were similar to any cooking fire,” Taylor said. “It might be unpleasant but as far as providing anything toxic, no.”
The main flammable materials on the property would be large tanks of methanol and sodium methylate. Both were properly contained at the Newton plant, Taylor said. In addition to the usual fire-protection systems, the company uses “nitrogen blanketing” to keep flammable materials from catching fire and also provides training for local firefighters.
Taking care
Some restrictions were placed on the zoning. To stay heavy-industry, the ground has to be home to a biodiesel operation. During construction, it has to be owned by REG or one of its subsidiaries. A six-foot berm has to be built with trees in front of and behind the barrier. And the plant has to be finished within three years of pulling the construction permit.
The company has said several times that there would be no detectable odor or noise from the plant. Taylor said that had been his experience in Newton.
“We don’t create plants that are offensive to the community,” REG business development manager Scott Wernimont said.
Commissioner Kevin Nelson asked what would happen if the plant were abandoned midway through construction. That sort of situation happened in 2003 when the Ingenium can company ran into trouble with its financing and its half-finished building ended up being sold to Menu Foods.
Daniel Oh, REG’s chief financial officer, said the company would be bonded with its lenders, who would use the bonds to complete the plant if for some reason REG defaulted.
Neighborhood concerns
One neighbor, Bob McKinney, said that City Commissioner Jeff Longbine shouldn’t be voting on the zoning issue. Longbine is the outgoing president of the Regional Development Association, which helped recruit the plant to town.
City Attorney Blaise Plummer said he didn’t see a conflict. Recruiting a business, he said, is a different issue from deciding where it will go and how it should be zoned. Zimmerman added that the rezoning request came from Emporia Enterprises, which owns the land, not from the RDA.
“I do not feel I have a conflict or cannot be objective,” Longbine said.
The opponents of the rezoning included a few members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which has a cemetery near the proposed plant. Having the plant and its traffic that close could be jarring to those seeking peaceful contemplation, they said.
“We are pro-Emporia, we are pro-industry,” said Sacred Heart member Jim Pickert, a former city commissioner. “But not this site.”
One neighbor, Janet Haag, had several questions for REG and the commission. Would there be any rendering on the site if REG started using animal fats for fuel? Would any tax breaks be offered? Was the ground properly part of Industrial Park III?
Company officials said no rendering would take place. Tax incentives won’t be decided until next week. And RDA director Kent Heermann said it didn’t really matter if it was in or out of the park — the property was already zoned light industrial.
Haag reinforced the same argument others had offered — that industrial zoning didn’t belong next to homes. She and others said their property values could decline if the plant goes in and that insurance rates might go up.
“It is very difficult when you’re dealing with the major investment for your lifetime, your home,” Johnson said. “But we also have to understand that nothing is going to remain the same. We would all love to have a wheat field across from us and see the sunset. ... But change is something that happens. And our responsibility and the planning commission’s responsibility is to look at it and make the best decision we can.”
City Commissioner Jim Kessler noted that even without the change, the land would still be light industrial. Sooner or later, he said, the view would be gone anyway.
“Something is going to go in there,” he said. “It seems like we’re dealing with a reliable company. This might be our best option and it’s good for Emporia.”
In other action:
• By a 4-1 vote, commissioners postponed discussion on whether to make the RDA the lead agency on commercial development. Zimmerman asked for more time to talk with everyone involved and also cited the late hour — 10 p.m. at that point. Kessler was the one vote against postponement.
• Nearly $106,000 of equipment purchased by Menu Foods in early 2006 was given a five-year tax break by the commission. The three pieces of equipment are the last bits of the pet food company’s recent expansion.
• APAC-Kansas Shears Division was the sole bidder for a U.S. Highway 50 resurfacing project from Graphic Arts Road to Industrial Road. The company bid $193,674.
• Commissioners added $7,353 to the hazardous sidewalk project to cover eight additional addresses.
• The commission voted to vacate a 20-foot setback at 2920 Crestview Drive.
• The commission approved rules allowing real estate directional signs under certain conditions. It postponed a discussion on whether to change the rules for pole signs.
• Commissioners declared May “National Preservation Month.”
• The city gave permission to close parts of Commercial Street for “Muggles Mania” (July 20), the ESU Welcome Back (Aug. 13) and the Great American Flea Market (Sept. 8) and allow use of the sidewalks for the annual sidewalk sale (July 25).