By Lindahl Wiegand, Pilot News Staff Writer
ARGOS - Marshall County could be the designated location for a potential ethanol plant in the near future. But not all the area residents, especially those closest to the proposed site, are in support of the facility.
Indiana Renewable Fuels (IRF) has applied to rezone more than 170 acres in the Argos area from Agriculture to Heavy Industrial. The site sits east of Michigan Road, west of the Norfolk Southern Railroad and between 18th and 19th roads.
That request will be discussed during a Marshall County Plan Commission meeting on Thursday. Public notices were sent out to 48 property owners within 300 feet of the parcels, Plan Director Ralph Booker said.
According to Booker, that site includes zoning district control by both the county and the Town of Argos.
"I'm going to recommend to the commission that we don't hold the public hearing, table it and schedule a joint meeting with the Argos Plan Commission," he said. "Part of it is in Argos and part of it is in Marshall County."
That joint meeting is tentatively scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday Sept. 11 at Argos High School.
Booker is also going to suggest that the county consider using written commitments. Typically, when a property is rezoned, there is an entire list of things that the area can be used for, Booker said.
A written commitment could limit that zoning district to only be used for an ethanol plant.
"This place may be appropriate for an ethanol plant, but it may not be appropriate for other highly industrial activities," Booker said.
That limitation would give the county more control over the facility, and enable officials to put enforceable stipulations on the site. For example, the county could require that the facility protect residents from the plant noise or restrict the hours of operation.
"It's very similar to a variance of use, to establishing specific criteria, only instead we'd be using zoning," he said. "It would basically be a zoning district for ethanol plants."
Booker does not think the applicant will have a problem with that approach. Plus, if the plant were to go out of operation and the owner wanted to make a change, they would have to return to the Plan Commission, Booker said.
Although IRF has options to purchase the parcels that make up the 173-acre site, the actual plant will only sit on five of those acres. Booker is still waiting to receive a site plan from IRF, which was recently bought out by Advanced BioEnergy, based out of Nebraska.
Argos resident Ted Ummel, who lives across the road from the site, was one recipient of the public notices sent out, asking him to attend the meeting Thursday. Ummel and several neighbors have concerns about the potential facility and how plans for it are progressing.
"First of all, they haven't really said what's going to happen over here," he said. "They have disclosed zero information. The only thing we've been given notice of is that there's a hearing to change zoning from agriculture to industrial, and they want our input at that hearing."
All of the information Ummel has about the potential facility is what was previously proposed for Fulton County, he said. He doesn't understand why the facility is not locating in Fulton County, especially since they approved everything.
In Fulton County, only one or two residences would come into play near the facility, he said. "Instead, they're putting it literally in people's back yards and front yards," he said. "What is petitioned to be rezoned is not a block of land. It goes right down Michigan Road."
According to Ummel, many Argos residents are concerned about the increased traffic, estimated to be in excess of 120 semi-tractor loads a day and more than 5,000 railroad cars a year.
Many are also concerned about where the facility is going to discharge the thousands of gallons of water used by the facility every minute, Ummel said. Water already runs across Michigan Road in a few locations, and an ethanol facility is going to increase the run off, he said.
Another issue is the noise from the trucks, trains and the "industrial hum" from the actual facility, Ummel said. "And I realize there is a different process than the way the South Bend plant does it, but there will be a smell," he said. "We're talking about a plant that runs 24/7, lit up like a Christmas tree that will just glow over the whole countryside."
The cost in the quality of life that will be lost due to the facility will more than offset the economic benefits to the area, he said.
Another "irritation factor" is that there is a comprehensive plan for development in the county, and areas have been set up for industrial zoning, Ummel said. He does not understand why those sites have not been considered.
County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer recently visited an ethanol plant in Palestine, Ill., which was constructed in 2004. Palestine is a town of 1,400 and about the same size as Argos, he said.
Although many of the residents there had concerns similar to Argos residents, there have been no complaints since the facility has been in operation, he said.
"It was an enlightening experience," Overmyer said. "From what I've heard, it's been a good thing for their town. I think it would be beneficial to our area."
The plant would be a dry mill facility that would produce three products, ethanol, distiller's grain and carbon dioxide. The facility would use 36 million bushels of corn to produce 100 million gallons of ethanol per year.
To reach that capacity, the plant would need all of the corn produced in Marshall County, Fulton County and one additional county.
"I would say that an ethanol plant in this area probably would be very beneficial to our agriculture economy," Booker said.
The Plan Commission is only an advisory board to the legislative body. They can make a recommendation, but the Marshall County Board Commissioners and the Argos Town Council will have the ultimate say.
The meeting Thursday will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Room 307 of the Marshall County Building.