Thomas Neal, Connersville News-Examiner Reporter
Connersville City Council chambers was filled to capacity Monday evening for one purpose - to educate and discuss whether the expense of running nearly 10 miles of water main to the site of a planned ethanol plant near Glenwood is worth the financial risks.
Mayor Max Ellison and others closely involved with the project, which is now almost two years in the making, said the time is approaching when a decision must be made or the investors will be forced to set their sites on another Indiana county.
The problem: For the ethanol plant and other associated "green" industries to be built, Connersville Utilities must first supply water to the site.
According to documentation supplied by John Seever, a Connersville native and consultant for H.J. Umbaugh & Associates, the current funding scenario leaves an estimated $1.745 million shortfall of the $16.2 million needed to assure Indiana Bio-Energy LLC will locate in Fayette County.
Proposed funding for the project includes $4.1 million from Whitewater Valley Ethanol user fees and excess Tax Increment Financing, $7.3 million from a bond issue, $2 million from an Economic Development Association grant and $1 million from a county Economic Development Income Tax pledge.
The information provided states the balance is to be funded by other as yet unknown sources.
Jeff Peters of M.D. Wessler & Associates Consulting Engineers of Indianapolis has been working with Connersville Utilities to extend water service to the site. He said studies on the cost of physically running water line to the site produced estimates of $14 million to $30 million. The cost would also be affected by how much water volume would be going to the site.
He said the route considered most favorable to the utilities board would follow the CSX railway to the site. Peters said the projected construction and soft costs total $14.6 million, with an additional $1.2 million in capitalized interest, and an initial phase of around 2 million gallons of water per day.
"An independent engineering firm reviewed the study that we did and verified the numbers that we put together," Peters said.
He added that "because of the magnitude of the project, the utility board said they would feel better having (other engineers) check out the numbers."
Peters also addressed the city's ability to supply sufficient amounts of water to residents as well as an ethanol plant and other operations that may locate at and near the site.
He said the city's wells have a capacity of around 15 million gallons per day.
The entire Utility Service Board was present with its attorney, Tom Thompson.
Utility Director Harold Ellison said Connersville's highest usage was 5 to 6 million gallons per day in the booming years of industrial use.
Today the system pumps around 2.3 million gallons per day with Visteon currently using approximately 500,000 gallons a day.
Peters said a dairy operation that has sent a letter of intent to locate at the site eight to 12 months after the ethanol plant would require an additional 2.5 million gallons per day. He said officials have indicated it could be 36 months before they need water, and an additional phased approach to deliver the additional water would require some improvements to the Connersville system costing about $2.8 million.
He said the project would require two booster stations and storage tanks along the line because of the rise in elevation between the city and the site in western Fayette County.
Ellison and Whitewater Valley Ethanol President Steve Hogan said the ethanol plant and any associated future operations that plan to locate on the site represent a $500 million investment in Fayette County, and, according to a United States Department of Agriculture report, a potential of more than 1,500 jobs through trickle down.
Hogan said his company likes the people of Fayette County and that is the reason they have continued to work together to make the ethanol plant and proposed agri-park a reality.
A special session of Connersville City Council and Board of Public Works and Safety has been advertised for Tuesday, July 10, at 5 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Ellison said a decision would be made then.
Council members approved a resolution by council President Mark Brockman in favor of the project with four votes in favor. Two members abstained and Councilman Leonard Urban absent.
Council members Fran Chomel and Henrietta Ripberger said they abstained because of lack of time to "digest" the information provided during the meeting.
Brockman's resolution read: "We want to express our support for Whitewater Valley Ethanol, and convey our intent to do whatever we can to make this project a reality. This project has the full support of the City Council and we will continue to explore everything within our means to bring this project to our community."
No one spoke against the plant during the meeting.
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