By GEOFF FRANK, Bluffton News-Banner
Plans for a 100 million gallons-per-year ethanol plant will go before the Wells County Area Plan Commission next month.
A request was filed Thursday seeking development plan review of the ethanol plant proposed for a location at the southwest edge of Bluffton.
The action signals intentions by Indiana Bio-Energy LLC to move forward at its previously designated preferred site, according to David Dale, chairman of the IBE board.
The company plans to build on an industrially zoned site located at 1267 South Adams Street in Harrison Township.
Part of the 346.08 acre-tract already is located in the Bluffton city limits. Bluffton City Council is in the process of annexing the remaining portion of the proposed site into the city.
The full Area Plan Commission is expected to act on the development plan at its next meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Following its regular process, the APC's plat review committee will conduct an initial review of the plans in the next week or two, an APC staff member said Thursday.
The preliminary review allows the developer to learn early in the process of any key issues that need resolution before the full APC review.
Additional truck traffic will be generated, but otherwise "the plant itself should be a clean-running plant that will not create any environmental problems or annoyances," said Dale in response to questions from The News-Banner.
"Even though there have been a lot of bumps in the road, we've remained committed to getting this done in Wells County if there was any way of doing it," said Dale.
Since the Wells County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 on June 27 to pull the plug on a requested partial public guarantee for the project's bonds in case of default by IBE, the company has been investigating the possibility of moving forward without the local government guarantee.
IBE now is on the verge of making a decision between "two real solid alternatives on the financing," said Dale.
"It's a case where the dynamics of the industry have changed so rapidly . . . what banks and investment bankers were not willing to do a month or two or three months ago, they're willing to do today, because, I think, they all recognize the very bright future that this industry has," said Dale.
The ethanol project remains valued at $163.5 million, according to Dale.
Dale had acknowledged recently that the southwest Bluffton site has strong advantages, including its location at the convergence of railroad service and a natural gas pipeline that are both needed for the plant.
Additionally, Norfolk Southern Railroad officials recently approved IBE plans for a railroad oval at the site that would allow the company to load and unload materials without interrupting train traffic on the line.