Prostitute against tanks and guns
June 4th, 2007
Waseca Co. Planning Commission – machine guns, tanks, oh my!
April 6th, 2007
.
Dig this – it’s all the way to DENVER!
The Borglum’s Application for a Conditional Use Permit had a hearing last night before the Waseca County Planning Commission, and the room was beyond standing room only. We were allotted 3 minutes, and despite that quashing, the hearing went on until 11:30 p.m., at which time it was tabled, with the Planning Commission wanting more information, including:
– Residence issue – is the nearest neighbor’s home a legal residence
– Is it a wetland? (rumor has it that a “cease and desist” order was issued yesterday)
– Site map details needed – a greatly altered map was produced at the last minute
– Latest mitigation and technology for lead pollution
– Track – is it a “track” or is it a “course” (zoning setback issue)
– Is it a “gun club” (similar use)
– Need copy of NRA Source Manual referenced in Minn. Stat. 87A
Saladin – this one goes up to 45MPH! Says so right HERE!
The Ferret goes up to 60MPH! Says so right HERE!
Hot off the press from the DNR:
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
For the guy who has everything … rent a tank
Waseca County family wants to put you behind the wheel of a heavily armored vehicle
BY TAD VEZNER
Pioneer Press
TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated:04/03/2007 11:06:47 PM CDTIn a county filled with heavy farm equipment, how does one blow away their neighbors with the heft of their ride? Or impress a dinner date, perhaps?
Answer: Buy a tank with a 105 mm barrel.
Or to be more specific, a British FV433 Abbot “self-propelled gun,” complete with armor, treads and a defunct gun.
The Borglum family, of Waseca County, Minn., hopes to get into the tank-driving business – starting with an obstacle course for the curious – where bored city slickers and country folk can tear up and down hills and (hopefully) between trees.
They’ve already imported four British-built vehicles to play with: the Abbot and three armored personnel carriers, including a wheeled Ferret, a Saladin and a FV432. And they’ve ordered three more.
Thrill seekers, they say, could spin a few treads for the same price as a bungee jump – exactly how much, they’re not certain, but hopefully in the neighborhood of $100.
“We’ve been in the construction business so long, we’re not really familiar with the marketing of this kind of thing,” said Marie Borglum, who co-founded Marie’s Excavating (now Marie’s Concrete Recycling) with her husband, Richard, in 1988 on their property off Minnesota 13.
The family’s plans for the property, which have yet to be approved by local zoning officials, have attracted attention – good and bad.
“To be honest, I’ve had a lot of e-mails,” said Marie Borglum, starting with the good. “You’d be surprised how many women say, ‘Hey, I don’t know what to get my husband.’ “
She’s also received e-mails from nonprofit organizations similar to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, for instance. “Somebody never drove a tank, that sort of thing.”
The family also hopes to market what she calls a “dream date.”
“Your wife could say, ‘Hey, let’s get something to eat,’ and we’d pick you up in an armored personnel carrier. The driver would dress up like in a tux,” Marie Borglum said. “Instead of limousine, it’s a tank.”
And bumps in the road aren’t a problem, said son Tony Borglum, who traveled with his father to Northamptonshire, England, in September to scout and buy the vehicles.
“The track vehicles definitely ride the smoothest,” he said.
The family’s investment was considerable. Total transit cost, including getting the vehicles past U.S. customs, the Agriculture Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, was about $10,000 for each vehicle, Borglum estimated. That’s on top of the roughly $20,000 sticker price for each vehicle.
But some in the rural town of 10,000 have their reservations about the enterprise – particularly in view of the fact the family hopes to tack on an indoor-and-outdoor shooting range and a retail space to sell small arms on the 30-acre property. They’ve applied for a conditional-use permit for the entire affair, which will be reviewed Thursday by the Waseca County Planning and Zoning Commission.
“There is a lot of concern about it. We’re just finding out what it’s all about, and we’ve got a lot of questions,” said John Schiefelbein, who lives about two miles from the rural property. “The concern, of course, is shells going wild,” he added. However, none of the guns in any of the units can fire projectiles.
As for just driving the unarmed vehicles, however, “That isn’t that offensive,” Schiefelbein said. “The only thing is, I don’t see who gets their jollies out of driving military vehicles.
“I guess it’s OK – but the Army’ll pay you to drive ’em free. In a small rural area, we don’t need this kind of crap.”
Gladys Carlson lives about 1½ miles from the Borglums. And she’s much rankled by the prospect of tanks.
“I just don’t see a place for it,” Carlson said. “I think this is kind of disrespectful. Our soldiers, this is what they’re driving in and riding in. I just feel it’s totally out of place.”
And what if it catches on, Carlson wondered?
“We’ve already got our all-terrain vehicles going down the road banks, the ditches, and this might be the next thing,” she said. “I don’t know why the government would even allow that.”
But Borglum believes he can win residents over, if they’d just come to him and talk about the tanks. As for the firing ranges, he points out there are at least two in the county already.
Richard Roessler, Blooming Grove township supervisor, said the whole thing is out of his hands.
“We, as a board, are not going to take a position on it because it is outside our jurisdiction,” Roessler said.
“I’m really gun-shy to talk about it,” he added.
Tad Vezner can be reached at tvezner@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5461.
Tony Borglum stands in the driver’s port of his British-made FV433 Abbot self-propelled gun. The tank is one of the Borglum family’s collection of military vehicles. None of the guns in any of the units can fire projectile.
Ethanol – Advanced BioEnergy’s SEC filings
January 12th, 2007
(Note that an ethanol plant doesn’t look all that different from a coal gasification plant? It’s like a refinery in a corn field…)
There’s lots of talk around town about the Advanced BioEnergy ethanol plant that’s been proposed for the south side of County Road 8 by Dundas, between Hwy. 3 and Interstate 35. Bridgewater Township has instituted a moratorium and is doing local planning, and I sure hope doing some looking into what Advanced BioEnergy is about. There’s info out there on the internet — what would we do without it! The internet sure is the Great Equalizer, and the Great Organizer too!
A coal cohort did a little digging and found some GOOD STUFF!
See link for full document — as of Nov 2006 looks like Advanced BioEnergy (ABE) is in the works to sell out to a South Dakota connection (with the understanding that the â??Marketing Agreementâ?? holds) and note the NO PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT, and hey, I’m not a party to the agreement!
Section 6.2 No Public Announcement.
None of the parties to this Agreement shall make any public announcement concerning this Agreement, without each other partyâ??s prior written consent (which shall not be unreasonably withheld); provided, however, that any of the parties, but only after reasonable consultation with each other party, may make disclosure if required under applicable law or the rules and regulations of the SEC or any listing agreement with a national securities exchange; and provided further, however, that following execution of this Agreement or consummation of the Closing, ABE may, in its sole discretion, make a public announcement regarding the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the integration of the HGFâ??s business into that of ABE.
And another very interesting tidbit! ABE, in its filings with SEC, HERE’S LINK,reported that:
â??We will depend on others for sales of our products, which may place us at a competitive disadvantage and reduce profitabilityâ?¦â?We expect to hire a third-party marketing firmâ?¦â?
Excerpt from link above:
Section 6.1 Consent; Waiver.
â?¦..(b) By execution and delivery of this Agreement, (i) HGF and Aventine agree that, notwithstanding Section 1.A. of the Ethanol Marketing Agreement by and between HGF and Williams Ethanol Services, Inc. d/b/a Williams Bio-Energy, dated November 30, 2000, including an Amendment effective April 2, 2003 (the â??Marketing Agreementâ?), the Marketing Agreement shall not terminate as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, but shall remain in full force and effect on and after the Closing Date according to its existing terms and conditions (except for Section 1.A.) until amended or terminated by HGF and/or Aventine, and (ii) Aventine waives any and all rights and claims under Section 1.B. of the Marketing Agreement that may arise from the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
Section 6.2 No Public Announcement. None of the parties to this Agreement shall make any public announcement concerning this Agreement, without each other partyâ??s prior written consent (which shall not be unreasonably withheld); provided, however, that any of the parties, but only after reasonable consultation with each other party, may make disclosure if required under applicable law or the rules and regulations of the SEC or any listing agreement with a national securities exchange; and provided further, however, that following execution of this Agreement or consummation of the Closing, ABE may, in its sole discretion, make a public announcement regarding the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the integration of the HGFâ??s business into that of ABE.
Click HERE for a link for document filed by South Dakota Wheat Growers Ass.
which says:
Filed by South Dakota Wheat Growers Association
pursuant to Rule 425 under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amendedSubject Company: Advanced BioEnergy, LLC
Commission File No.: 333-125335November 7, 2006
Dear SDWG Member:
Your South Dakota Wheat Growers Board of Directors, together with the Board of Managers of Heartland Producers, LLC, has approved an agreement with Advanced BioEnergy, LLC (ABE) to exchange the partnership interests in Heartland Grain Fuels, LP (HGF) held by South Dakota Wheat Growers and Heartland Producers for cash and equity of ABE.
Under the terms of the transaction, the partners of HGF will receive approximately $16.8 million in cash and approximately 2,631,000 newly issued units of ABE. In addition, HGF intends to make a special distribution to its partners of approximately $8.65 million of earnings prior to the initial closing of the transaction with ABE. Wheat Growers currently owns approximately 48% of HGF and will receive its pro rata share of the consideration from the transaction. In addition, Wheat Growers will continue supplying corn to the HGF facilities.
ABE is a development-stage company specializing in ethanol production. It currently is building a 100-million gallons per year dry mill corn-processing ethanol plant near Fairmont, Nebraska and has letters of intent to build similar plants in Indiana and Minnesota.
Wheat Growers Board believes this business relationship with ABE will provide the following benefits to the HGF investors and the agricultural producers in this area:
a. Heartland Grain Fuels investors will become part of a company with plans to become a larger ethanol producer: By being part of a larger ethanol production company, HGF can achieve additional economies of scale that are difficult to achieve with just two plants in North-Central South Dakota.
b. Heartland Grain Fuels investors will achieve greater geographic diversity: By being part of ABE which is building plants in other Midwest states, risks associated with drought and marketing should be mitigated.
c. The transaction will allow Heartland Grain Fuels investors to obtain cash from present operations: Ethanol prices have been at historical highs and this transaction allows HGF to return cash to its investors based on its recent performance.
d. This transaction will allow Heartland Grain Fuels investors to maintain an investment in an ethanol production company: Heartland Grain Fuels investors will retain their investment in an ethanol production company through the ABE Units they will receive in the transaction.
e. The transaction will allow Heartland Grain Fuels to maintain business relationships: The planned Aberdeen plant expansion will be completed, and current supply and marketing relationsips will be continued.
Prior to Heartland Producersâ?? closing on this business relationship, the transaction must be approved by Heartland Producersâ?? membership. Wheat Growersâ?? membership is not required to vote on the business relationship due to Wheat Growersâ?? cooperative structure and will complete its portion of the transaction prior to the vote by the Heartland Producers members. The Board of Managers of Heartland Producers has passed a resolution requesting Wheat Growers to close on this business relationship prior to the vote of Heartland Producersâ?? membership.
With the rapid changes occuring in the ethanol industry, the Wheat Growersâ?? Board believes this cash and equity exchange will allow the investment of HGF owners to grow beyond just the Huron and Aberdeen facilities, while continuing the local connection of your corn production to ethanol. If you have any questions, please donâ??t hestitate to contact Dale at 605-225-5500, extension 101 or dlocken@sdwg.com.
Sincerely,
Hal Clemensen, SDWG Board President Dale Locken, SDWG Chief Executive Officer
In connection with the transaction, ABE will file a registration statement that contains an information statement/prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and relevant state securities regulatory agencies. HEARTLAND PRODUCERSâ?? MEMBERS AND OTHER INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS IN ABE AND HGF ARE ENCOURAGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, WHICH WILL CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRANSACTION AND THE MEETING OF THE HEARTLAND PRODUCERSâ?? MEMBERS THAT WILL BE CALLED TO VOTE ON THIS TRANSACTION, BECAUSE IT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION. You will also be able to obtain the documents free of charge at the SECâ??s web site, www.sec.gov, and from ABE on its web site at www.advancedbioenergy.com or by contacting Bill Paulsen, at (605) 225-0520.
And thereâ??s more on ABE, and specifically ABE LLC Northfield. This explains the monumental RISKS with this company and this project! Bridgewater Township is on the right grack in initiating the 1-year moratorium. The township supervisors then have a chance to do the â??due diligenceâ?? to protect the township.
Click here and check out this 10KSB Fiscal Year End Sept 30th 2006 â??tell allâ?? REPORT.
The first page or two gives you plenty, then you can use FIND on the tool bar to get to Minnesota information.
Lots of conflict of interest, no experience, little to NO guarantees either from ABE OR the designers, builders AND hints of expenses to come if environmental investigation and/or changes in rules and regulationss occur. That’s an opening for future compliance problems and â??decommissioningâ? issues if plant is abandoned or goes belly up. Seems similar to the operating plants in Aberdeen and Huron, where waste disposal is an issue, not to mention Aberdeen after the expansion will use 500,000 gal daily, Huron 300,000 gallons dailyâ?¦ and many of these plants are tied to city water!
Q: WOULD ABE EXPECT TO BE CONNECTED TO DUNDAS CITY WATER SYSTEM? THAT WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED UNDER THE AGREEMENET WITH NORTHFIELD.
There’s enough here to give the Township supervisors something to think about…
Mesaba EIS Public Meeting Tuesday
August 20th, 2006
Excelsior now has radio ads on a station in Duluth! The lengths they’ll go to to promote this thing…
Important meeting coming up:
MINNESOTA DEPT. OF COMMERCE PUBLIC MEETINGS ON
MESABA COAL PLANT ENERGY PROJECT
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Taconite Community Center
26 Haynes Street
Taconite, Minnesota
Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Hoyt Lakes Arena
102 Kennedy Memorial Drive
Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota
DOC will conduct two public scoping meetings in which agencies, organizations, and the general public is invited to present oral comments or suggestions with regard to the range of alternatives and environmental issues to be considered in the EIS.
Here’s the DoC Comment Notice.
Here’s a Comment form you can use:Â Â eis_comment_form.doc
Comments are due by August 30. Email (click here) or send to:
Bill Storm
Dept. of Commerce
85 – 7th Place E., Suite 500
St. Paul, MNÂ 55101-2198
August 30 is not that far away! Get your comments in today!
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And fresh editorials from the Grand Rapids Herald Review:
 Project will affect people’s health
Editor:
There are times when sacrifices made to promote economic development may be appropriate. However, I am troubled by the massive sacrifices that our elected officials are supporting for the handful of permanent jobs proposed by the Mesaba Energy project. In addition to around 100 permanent jobs (a reduction by 900 since the original proposal) there are other â??developmentsâ? Excelsior Energyâ??s IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) plants will bring if built.
Canisteo Lake will be closed for recreational use and a massive pumping station will operate on the lake to serve the plant. One hundred-forty foot transmission towers will impede on private and public land, forcing landowners off in a controversial use of eminent domain. People will become sick as documented in Excelsiorâ??s own literature. Miles and miles of coal trains will travel through Grand Rapids each week. Snowmobile trails will close or reroute to make room for the plant footprint. One thousand two hundred acres of hunting land will now be off-limits. Carbon dioxide will be pumped into the air, contributing to global warming, along with tons of sulfur dioxide, pounds of mercury, and other particulates that cause asthma and other respiratory problems. Children will be exposed to unsafe levels of electro magnetic fields, putting them at greater risk for childhood leukemia. Groundwater aquifers that supply drinking water to nearby communities are at risk for contamination when Canisteo Lake becomes polluted. Millions upon millions of dollars will be bonded by the county, placing us at financial risk and possibly increasing our property taxes. How will schools, health care facilities, and housing developers deal with the glut and then absence of hundreds of imported construction workers? Hire then fire? Build then abandon?
Our health is our wealth. Development that endangers our personal, environmental, and financial health to this extent is too big a sacrifice for us to take on. We should demand better! The carbon dioxide can be captured in IGCC technology but not in this location. More mercury can be captured than what Excelsior is proposing. Technology exists to prevent water pollution. Local dollars do not have to be used to build infrastructure. My hope is that we can promote economic development in a way that achieves balance and addresses the reality of the future.
Kristen K. Anderson
Bovey
-=============================================
Editor:
As I read the information provided in the Environmental Supplement for Excelsior Energy’s proposed coal gasification plant I became very angry. How is it that a power plant with a potential to contaminate our wells and the air we breathe could even be considered for this area when no one has demonstrated the need for the electricity and the power would be sent down to the Cities and beyond anyway. Where are the people that were given the responsibility of protecting our health?
If this plant is built in this beautiful area I will have lost all faith in the system, the checks and balance that were designed to protect our quality of life. We should look at the future results of this and keep in mind that this will effect us a lot more then what they are showing or telling us.
Pam Perry
BoveyÂ
Lots of great Mesaba editorials over last two weeks…
June 21st, 2006
Yes, I’ve been SWAMPED, too many of these guys hanging around…
Finally, here they are, Letters to the Editor from the Grand Rapids Herald Review, and it’s worth the time — these are examples of why I’m compelled to work on these issues — THE PEOPLE’S VOICE. I’ve just been having that discussion in another context, about the power of blogs, and blogging is just an extension of what we’ve all been doing for centuries, millenia.. . forever… speaking out — that’s our job!
From today’s Grand Rapids Herald Review:
Wind power is more logical solution
Herald-Review
Editor:I am compelled to write after reading the letter from Kristen Anderson in the Herald-Review, Wednesday, June 14.
Ever since the showing of TV ads touting the production of “clean electricity” from coal, and then there were news stories promoting the funding for the project plus the many letters to the editor regarding the “coal gasification” project, I thought about the eminent pollution possibilities. Kristen certainly did some important research for all of us.
The next thought and question is: Should these Mesaba plants 1 and 2 be built despite popular votes against them? If built, where does the waste go? More particulates and gases into the air? At a time in this century, when scientists tell us that our air is contaminated, do we need to add more contaminants?Since Minnesota has a Renewable Energy Resources Fund, plus Federal Department of Energy and Iron Range Resources millions of dollars, why are we contemplating using the major portion of it for a project that will be used for converting a non-renewable resource into a lot of pollutants, and then electricity. Senseless! Whose hand is in the public’s pocket?
Look at the situation in Hibbing where there is a 10-acre site with an estimated 2 million cubic yards of coal tar containing a wide variety of contaminants. Do we really want that? Wind power is a more logical solution for our world.
Oh, but then, we wouldn’t have the jobs here. According to the statistics that I have read from Kristenâ??s letter and others, those that would be permanent would be the highly technical jobs.
Has anyone ever noticed the wind propeller on Highway 169 South, near the Elk River landfill? It is providing electricity for something. There are sites in Itasca County and elsewhere, which could do the same. Of course, there are the nay sayers. I say, use the Renewable Energy Resource Fund for just that and not for coal. Parts of our county still are recipients of fall-out from the Clay-Boswell plant in spite of their higher stacks.
Dorothy M. Olds
Grand Rapids
Numbers, by Karl Manning
She referred to Kristen’s letter, Kristen Anderson of Trout Lake Township. Here’s her letter from last Wednesday, June 14, 2006, and keep an eye out for Ed’s LTE!
Herald-Review
Editor:
The coal gasification project proposed on the Scenic Highway is a huge, seemingly overwhelming issue to understand. Using information from Excelsior Energy informational meetings, Excelsiorâ??s reports, and public records, it is helpful to view Excelsior Energy â??by the numbersâ?:
600 – Number of permanent jobs originally proposed in 2003 for plant 1 and 2 (Mesaba 1 and 2)
150 – Permanent jobs proposed in 2004 for Mesaba 1
107 – Permanent jobs proposed in 2005 for Mesaba 1
0 – Number of jobs guaranteed by Excelsior Energy
? – Number of actual jobs for 2011(completion date of Mesaba 1)
447 – Tons of sulfur dioxide to be released each year by Mesaba 1
1,227 – Tons of nitrous oxide to be released each year by Mesaba 1
991 – Tons of Carbon Monoxide to be released each year by Mesaba 1
17.9 – Pounds of Mercury to be released each year by Mesaba 1
174 – Tons of particulate matter (PM2.5) to be released annually by Mesaba 1
6 – Number of phases (plants) planned by Excelsior Energy
18,303 – Estimated work loss days per year due to illness caused by Mesaba 1
10+ – Extra miles of train cars going through Grand Rapids each week
345,000 – Voltage of Transmission lines from Mesaba 1 and 2 to Twin Cities
70 – Increased risk percentage of childhood leukemia within 200 yards of high voltage transmission lines
140 – Height (in feet) of transmission line poles for Excelsior Energyâ??s project
0 – Excelsior equity in Mesaba 1 project
9.5 – Million dollars from IRR for Excelsior Energyâ??s project
10 – Million dollars from state Renewable Energy Resource Fund
36 – Million dollars from federal Department of Energy
800 – Million dollars in federal loan guarantees
12 – Million dollars in state bonding for Itasca County infrastructure
0 – Watts produced thus far by Excelsior Energy
0 – Power plants built thus far by Excelsior Energy
9 – Excelsior Energy â??Our Teamâ? employees
15 – Number of lobbyists working for Excelsior Energy
0 – Acres of green space in original legislation
1,000 – Acres of green space required for Scenic Highway site
0 – Demonstrated need for additional energy in northern Minnesota (in watts)
65 – Percentage of votes opposed to Mesaba project in recent Herald-Review Quick PollKristen Anderson
Bovey
Stolen from here
And this one from last weekend’s paper (I can’t figure out if it’s a Saturday or Sunday paper, I think it’s been changing up there…):
Coal project is no fairy tale says reader
Editor:
The Dirty Coal Choo-Chooâ??a bedtime story.
Once upon a time the wise elders of a northern Minnesota community thought, â??Gee, we like railroad trains and we have railroad tracks running right through townâ??how can we get more trains to come through town? Our subjects need to hear the rumble of trains over the tracks, and the blaring of train horns at all hours of the day. And how fun it is to sit and wait for trains to pass and count railroad cars.â?
The wise elders were contacted by powerful people with lots of money and political connections. The powerful people said, â??We can build a power plant that uses lots of dirty coal. And the best way to bring that dirty, yucky coal from far away Wyoming is by stinky diesel locomotives that chug right through your wonderful northern town.â? And the wise elders were thrilled and bowed to the powerful people and said, â??We will help pay for railroad tracks for your dirty coal trains so that our subjects can be happy and see much dirty coal.â?
So the powerful people told the wise elders, â??If you will support our environmentally unfriendly project we will help make your subjects happy.â? The wise elders were assured that each week five trains, each with 115 cars of dirty coal would travel east through town to the powerful peopleâ??s polluting, monster, power plant and each week five empty trains would travel west through town to return to the dirty coal fields to retrieve more dirty coal to fill the dirty coal cars. And the powerful people told the wise elders that each train with dirty coal would be almost one mile long so that the wise eldersâ?? lucky subjects would be able to see 20 miles of trains with dirty coal each week. The powerful people said, â??Oh how happy your subjects will be and you wise elders will be treated like royalty.â?
And the powerful people said, â??Wise elders, if your subjects are really good and obedient people, we will build another polluting, monster, power plant that uses dirty coal and you will have twice as many dirty coal trains for the subjects to watch.â?The wise elders were ecstatic as they thought of the joy they would bring to their obedient subjects. The wise elders thought â??our names will live forever! And maybe the powerful people will even name a car that carries dirty coal after each of us. Such an honor!â?
Fairy tale? Nightmare? There is no â??they lived happily ever after.â? Dirty coal trains are but the tip of the iceberg. Learn more about the dirty coal gasification project and you will find that our wise elders are selling out to the powerful people and planning to degrade the quality of our lives and the environment of northern Minnesota.
John Zasada
Grand Rapids