Legalectric

…the day they died in a plane crash — Paul Wellstone, Sheila Wellstone, their daughter Marcia Markuson Wellstone, and his political pit-crew Mary McEvoy, Tim Lapic, and Will McLaughlin. Take a few minutes to remember… and then take a lifetime to STAND UP! Don’t just hum Larry’s song and think life goes on, life is wonderful, GET OFF YOUR HINDER AND GET UP ON YOUR HINDERS AND ACT.

While you’re doing that, though, here’s some inspiration:

Be the Change

There’s a lot happening about ethanol south of Dundas in Bridgewater Township. The township has a moratorium on, triggered by announcement of an ethanol plant proposal for land along Co. Rd. 8. Despite the moratorium and the ongoing township planning process, the folks of Advanced Bioenergy (763-336-2705, ask for Jim Hamm) are digging a well and doing pumping tests on neighbors’ wells — all without an application submitted to the county and/or township!

Saturday happenings?

This Saturday, there’s a tour arranged of the 50 million gallon ethanol plant at Atwater:

Meet at the Bridgewater Township Town Hall

8:30 a.m. promptly

go by van to Atwater, back by 4:30 p.m.

Week after next, Bridgewater Township is hosting a public meeting on ethanol with an ethanol representative present to answer questions:

Satuday, Nov. 4, 2006
Evening, 7 p.m. ??
Little Prairie Church on Co. Rd. 8

Here’s a Letter to the Editor from the Northfield News about this project:

An ethanol plant update

To the editor:

Here is a short update on the status of the ethanol plant proposed for Bridgewater Township. Thank you to all area residents who have called in their concerns to township supervisors and attended meetings over the past five months.

Advanced BioEnergy presented its plan for a 100-million-gallon ethanol plant at a Bridgewater Township meeting in June. They chose the 220-acre farmsite on Rice County Road 8 due to available natural gas and the railroad. Water usage would be about 1,000 gallons per minute, with cooldown water piped to Wolf Creek. Up to 200 diesel trucks would move in and out on County Road 8 per day. Century farms and a church in Little Prairie Community would be heavily impacted. It would not be a farmer-owned plant.

A petition was circulated, calling for a moratorium on commercial/industrial development so the township could start our own zoning. About 100 signatures were presented to the township clerk. By the end of June, supervisors had hired a consultant and put an interim ordinance in place. Five residents were chosen to review the Rice County Comprehensive Plan and Ordinance on Wednesday nights. Three subcommittees – land use, administrative and ag business) are meeting through Nov. 15. Supervisors may vote in December on whether to proceed with zoning.

Meanwhile, the company continues to survey and drill test wells, in plain sight of “No Ethanol Plant” signs. Worse yet, Dundas Mayor Glenn Switzer has made some overtures to get the plant into the Dundas industrial zone … a tug of war over tax dollars we’d not like to see.

Would the Dundas location be a good fit? Mayor Glenn Switzer and city council candidate John Isaacson have stated publicly that they are receptive to the ethanol plant. Mayoral candidate Chad Marks has said “absolutely not.” John Zander and John Cruz, a thoughtful man serving on the Dundas Planning Commission, have said no. If the right folks are elected in November, maybe Dundas will be spared as well.

David Kamis
Bridgewater Township

.

Forgot the camera, DRAT!!! We had the whole family there, and I had rousing arguments with all, well, I don’t think I argued with Mike Steckelberg, but he’s ever so reasonable, as is RPU’s Greg Woodworth. Bob Cupit was there, and Al Mitchell representing the former staff of the agency formerly known as the EQB, and did I mention Chuck Micheal was there? At one time it was a delightful feeding frenzy of sorts, with 7 engineers trying to convince me I don’t have a clue, but that just doesn’t work, and is sheer entertainment for me. A guy from ATC was, in all seriousness, ever so earnestly, trying to tell me that the SW line, connecting into the SE line, was going to be running electricity from Hamption Corners NORTH to the metro, HELLO, NORTH??? Do I really look that stupid? And the ATC guy seemed offended that I would suggest they’re building the LaCrosse to Columbia, WI line, he said he didn’t know anything about it, I said DUH, it’s in the WRAO report, and that was 1998! This has all been planned for so long, it’s nothing new, but the wet-behind-the-ears whippersnappers didn’t know.
My major point today was that “it’s all connected,” and of course they don’t want to admit that. They did not include the CapX2020 in the maps that were enclosed with the meeting notice, and so there was no way for someone ot know if they were in transmission’s way! I really, really object to that, I think that much got through to Al, but that’s about it… well, that and my dogs combined weigh 30 lbs more than he thought. The poor new guys from Cap X, Randy, and ATC, Pam Rassmussen was probably glad she had nothing to do with it.

The Red Wing area was well represented, moi of course, and Phil, counsel at Prairie Island, and Kay from the City of Red Wing. I’m thrilled that they’re paying attention, and hope they’ll stick with it and follow this transmission mess as it winds through the process.

So I’ve got to submit comments, yawn, as if anyone gives a rodent’s rump (when I stopped at Chuck & Don’s tonight, this woman who had worked at the Shelter when Krie was there, and now runs a grooming shop in town, she had her pet hairless rat and a litter, probably at least 12, baby rats. eeeeeeeuw. That hairless rat was so gross). Here’s the summation of today’s meeting:

Hey — all right — make my day!!!

Xcel agreement delayed

The Republican Eagle – 10/24/2006

Red Wing City Council members decided to wait to make their final decision on a multi-year property tax agreement with Xcel Energy.

After being informed by a resident that only the even pages of a stabilization agreement between the city and the utility were made available to the public, the body voted to table the item. Documents distributed to council members also lacked odd-numbered pages, resident Carol Overland told the body during the public comment period.

Though City Attorney Jay Squires said the issue wouldnâ??t pose a legal problem, some council members werenâ??t as comfortable.

â??How do you make a good decision without all the information in front of you?â? Council member John Key said.

Finance Director Marshall Hallock stressed that the document was â??essentially no differentâ? than similar drafts put before the council. There were, however, some â??minor clarificationsâ? in the final document.

Hallock couldnâ??t immediately say whether those clarifications were on the missing pages.Â

Yes! Progress! Kay Kuhlman brought up tomorrow’s Biennial Transmission Plan meeting at the City Council meeting, and said that it would be covered by City staff! A small thing, but I’ so thrilled that they’re paying attention. I heard from Atina Diffley, Gardens of Eagan, about it today too, and I’ve got my “Buy the Farm” flyers all printed (well, they’re really leftovers, but what the hey…).

Here’s the schedule:

Transmission Plan? What transmission plan? Oh, what seems now a coon’s age ago, the state had a burr under its saddle, planted there by a few folks I know, present company included, and so the legislature got serious about transmission planning, even mandated it. Part of the idea was not to end up with bogus projects like the Arrowhead Project, or Chisago Project, which were utility dreams but not needed for any local service and instead wanted for bulk power transfers, market transactions, unregulated sales for fun and profit. Here’s Minn. Stat. 216B.2425, mandating the “State Transmission Plan.” I was on the rulemaking committee for that, and it was torturous. But the bottom line was that this was to lend some sense of planning to transmission… silly me…

Here we are, with the biggest transmission projects ever, three giant lines crossing the state, 200,000 landowners affected, and they’re not even shown on the notice maps for the Transmission Plan Meetings. I’ve emailed and called Al Mitchell, the “it guy” for the Minnesota Transmission Owners, but he wasn’t around, so I’ve even called poor Bob Cupit, knowing that the state can’t afford the luxury of caller ID. Oh, this is hilarious, look what turns up googling Cupit:

Gotta find one of these, he’s probably gotten over that one-legged strap-on milk stool we got him a decade ago!

So come on down to Rochester, and find out what one-legged milk stools have to do with transmission planning, and ask them what the hell “CapX” means anyway, and why their lines are not on the maps! Maybe you can get a decent answer.

And DON’T forget that Big Stone II, BSII, is tied into the SW Minnesota line coming over to PI, and then shooting out to Wisconsin via Prairie Island, Red Wing, and LaX… heard that was quite the topic out in Granite Falls week before last, let’s keep it that way! DUH, it’s all connected — and don’t pretend that it’s not!