Legalectric

Tuesday evening was the monthly meeting of the Blooming Grove Town Board. Despite the 3″ of rain in Goodhue County on the way over, the Town Hall was sunny and dry!

Inside was a little stormier, as the community discussed the Simon Industries power plant and the exemption to personal property taxes that the developers demanded. Township and Waseca County officials had learned what that estimated $2,258,000 tax exemption meant, what their options were, and have passed resolutions that require negotiation of a Host Fee Agreement that will provide some measure of revenue to the community.

My client, Nancy Prehn, spoke with the Board and the standing room only crowd.

Nancy filled them in about the timeline of events leading up to that evening’s meeting, with a handout clarifying when bills were introduced, when local governmental units learned of the plan, when neighbors learned of the 325MW power plant — facts important to understand the necessity of close scrutiny of proposals such as this exemption. She’s appreciative of the movement of the Town Board and wants a commitment to continue to learn about power plants so that if and when a power plant proposal comes forward, they will be able to review it effectively and not be caught unawares as they and the County were with this exemption request. Only with education can they know their rights and protect the township’s interests.

Sen. Dick Day and Rep. Connie Ruth also spoke to the crowd.

Sen. Dick Day opened with a nasty attack of Nancy Prehn, saying that in his 29 years in office he’d never experienced such vicious attacks, and specifically blasted Nancy Prehn personally, naming her and guesturing towards her. This was so bizarre, unbecoming behavior in a state Senator who was until recently the Senate Minority Leader. He abusively dismissed the diligent work of a private citizen who changed the local government’s position and helped them gain a position of power, from which they can negotiate an agreement. Without Nancy Prehn’s work, there would be no Host Fee Agreement, and the County and Township would have given away their right to gain some revenue, in fact would have given away the revenue itself! Nancy’s work was recognized and praised by the editorial board of the Waseca paper. I hope that the people assembled paid close attention to his behavior and hold him accountable in the voting booth in 2006. Then again, maybe the rumor I’ve heard is that he isn’t running again — behavior like that in public lends to that conclusion.

One of Dick Day’s statements that clued me in that he hasn’t done his homework was about need for power. He said, “We sure need the power. I hope nobody here disagrees with that!” He’s clearly not read the industry and market reports about the power glut, such as the NERC 2004 Long-term Reliability Assessment, but even so, the proof is in front of him. EJ Simon himself made references to the difficulty of negotiating a favorable Power Purchase Agreement. If the power was needed, he’d have had a PPA a long time ago!

Here’s EJ Simon, in his first appearance at Blooming Grove Town Hall, and his sidekick, Rick Free, formerly of NSP in transmission and operations who has been the one on the front lines.

Both EJ and Rick did a good job of explaining their position, difficult because the project is in such a preliminary stage. They aren’t at a point where they can begin to pass some of the preliminary milestones, so there just isn’t much to say!

Here’s Rob and Ginny Hermel — they live right next door and when they look out the window, they would see a power plant. They bought their house two years ago, and when they did, they were NOT informed that there was an existing permit for a 46MW plant, and news of the 325MW plant hit them out of nowhere. Their expressions show their feelings about discovering a power plant will be their new neighbor and the sellers of their home did not disclose. It’s my hope that they’ll be able to learn a lot about power plants and siting in this pause in the action, and if this project goes forward, participate and provide leadership in directing the outcome.

And here’s a report from the Waseca County News about the meeting:

Power Plant Issue Hammered Out Again

Yes, a quote of Dick Day talking to and about Nancy Prehn is there. He said:

“I think you’re a very vicious lady. I’ve never had anybody talk to me like this in my 29 years of public service.”

Let me see if I understand this… Sen. Dick Day authors bills for exemption of power plants from personal property tax, in the case of Simon Industries saving them taxes of $2,258,000 annually! In his bill, SF 315 early this session, he requires a Host Fee Agreement, giving local government the benefit of some revenue. For the Simon plant, he leaves out the township and doesn’t require a Host Fee Agreement, and then brings it to the legislature BEFORE the County approves it, and doesn’t even tell the township? Nancy Prehn discovers this and through her work the County and Township now are able to negotiate Host Fee Agreements, which was not possible before, and she’s asking him why he left out the township and Host Fee Agreement in SF 2091, and wants him to correct it. This is Dick Day’s response? Instead of thanking Nancy Prehn, and quickly correcting the legislation to add the township and a Host Fee Agreement, he says:

“I think you’re a very vicious lady. I’ve never had anybody talk to me like this in my 29 years of public service.”

Who is he serving? Who is he representing? Who does he answer to? O

Sen. Dick Day can be reached at his St. Paul Office (651) 296-9457, or at home at (507) 451-0165.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Waseca, and at a time when there’s a power plant proposed, when County government is making decisions about exempting the power plant from $2.5 million in taxes, yes, that’s $2.5 MILLION, and there’s a Mankato TV crew at the Waseca County Board meeting — what are they covering? They’re covering the disappearing “420” signs… 420 signs are disappearing as fast as the county can put them up. As soon as that agenda item is up, and before the power plant issue takes center stage, he packs up his gear and leaves! Utterly clueless! These disappearing 420 signs are the priority of our “media?” And you wonder why this society is so damn vacuous?

Here it is in the STrib today:

Cannabis connotation makes some rural road signs vanish

Here are articles from the Waseca County News:

Bringing out the Neighbors

Still undecided (2nd Letter to Editor, scroll down)

420 Ave. gets new number

What’s the deal with 420?

Nancy Prehn was driving down to Waseca the other day and there was the Channel 5 TV crew at 420 Ave., so she had a chat with them about power plants and groundwater contamination. Nope, that’s not their interest, they want the scoop on the 420 signs! Seven billion cubic feet of gas stored under Blooming Grove Township isn’t news? Kissing goodbye $2.5 million in county tax revenue isn’t news?

Think we’re becoming a cold Mississippi? Expand that thought, think further out, Bolivia… Ecuador… Tanzania, anywhere where World Bank and IMF policies have raided infrastructure assets and held the people hostage… we’re headed that way.

There’s a great editorial in the STrib today, Barbara Garson exposes the tip of the iceberg, remininding us of the devestation of World Bank and IMF privatization policies:

Wrong World Bank Doctrine Can Be Deadly

In the McNamara era, the bank began to make loans on the condition that nations privatize public services and allow foreign money to move in and out of the country with little regulation. The idea was to create a climate in which private investment would lift people out of poverty. For the next 30 years, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund followed this market-oriented strategy, which came to be known as “the Washington Consensus.”

Before the McNamara years, the poorest people didn’t get much richer. But during the Washington Consensus years, they got poorer and poorer.

Greg Palast, in The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, has a chapter that gets into enough detail to scare the most ardent capitalist toady. Check out Chapter 3, Sell the Lexus, Burn the Olive Tree: Globalization and Its Discontents for a brief snippet.

Who cares? We should, if only because those tactics are being used here, as Barbara Garson notes in today’s Op-Ed:

Even in the First World, it’s often more profitable to siphon off than to “develop.” For a few years, the Suez Co. also owned the water system in Bergen County, N.J. During its stewardship, it sold off land around the reservoir to private builders. Then it turned around and sold the whole water system to another company. We shareholders took the money and ran. Technically that’s called “asset stripping.” And it’s perfectly legal.

Shouldn’t we be a little concerned when Julie Jorgenson, the wife of “Two Lobbyists and a Wife” Excelsior Energy and Mesaba power plant, cut her legal teeth advising on IMF and World Bank policies and brags about it in her resume handed out at the legislature??? (she doesn’t provide those details here) (and whatever happened to the 2nd lobbyist, Tom Weaver?)

Let’s see… Mesaba presents unrealistic inflation of load growth, building power plants and utility infrastructure we don’t need, mandated power purchase agreement because there’s no market, privatization of essential services, paid for by we ratepayers and taxpayers and not those who benefit… what’s wrong with this picture? Isn’t there a less onerous way to fund Tom Micheletti’s retirement?

As Palast notes in The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, “the solution to world poverty and crisis is simple: Remove the bloodsuckers.”

Last night was the Morristown Dam Days Parade.

Of course, Patti Fritz, REP. Patti Fritz, was there:

And my buddy from Culver’s in Owatonna was there again this year too, a little greyer, but aren’t we all!

Mike Bull, now back to Dept. of Commerce as Assistant Commissioner for Renewable Energy and Advanced Technologies (so he says), formerly of House Research and attorney for House Regulated Industries Committee for eons, formerly of Commerce (formerly of EQB too? I’m forgetting, the door was spinning so fast for a while there), and until the sesion ended, in … gulp… Gov. Pawlenty’s office… sigh… and the guy behind all the good ethanol policy, and Northfield resident, had this to say about my comments on SF1368 and its passage:

Carol — the Attorney General supported passage of the 2005 Omnibus Energy bill in all respects. The only issue the AG had with the bill dealt with the formation of transco’s. Ron Giteck of the AG’s office worked with the utilities and developed the language that was included in the final bill, which the AG then supported. The transco language doesn’t give away any state authority — under current law, the PUC arguably has all the authority it needs to approve a transco petition, but has no statutory guidance as to what to look for in a transco. The 2005 legislation establishes the public interest criteria and considerations by which the PUC should review a petition for formation of a transco.

OVERLAND’S FULL DISCLOSURE: I THINK HATCH SHOULD BE GOVERNOR
Here’s a photo from the 2002 Bly campaign:

Hatch’s campaign manager was a K-9 officer who got along famously with my Shep.

OVERLAND’S REPLY TO BULL:

Mikey, you know as well as I do that the PUC’s never seen a utility proposal it didn’t like! I notice your qualified language! (“arguably”) Yes, you’re right, at the end of the day, the A.G.’s office “supported the transmission bill.” That support was a compromise begun in late April, after MUCH testimony from the A.G.’s office against the bill. I’m betting this was a decision on expenditure of political capital, looking forward to another run for Pawlenty’s job (YOUR boss), based in part on “the Dept.” (Gov’s?) adoption of the WOW TRANSLink deal/transmission agenda in it’s bill, based in part on movement forward of this awful bill due to lack of funded resistance, based in part on the enviro sell-out and promotion of this bill, and after the A.G.’s unwillingness to invest in active vociferous opposition at the House stage and waiting too long and doing too little, too late in the Senate, dumping it in Sen. Ellen Anderson’s lap — that’s grossly unfair. Yup, the party line is that “the A.G.’s office supported the transmission bill.” The press wasn’t at Hatch’s Belle Plaine 25B appearance in April so his comments aren’t on the record, nor are the various conversations I was privy to about this transmission bill mess. The official party line makes me sick — this was an issue where there should have been no compromise. This is the 2005 issue that required a backbone and cajones of steel. Oh well… Where’s the leadership? We’re not going to see the impacts of this bill for a while, but when we do, we’re going to have a hard time undoing it — if we can. Mike Hatch could have stopped this bill and didn’t. I can remember when Mike Hatch thought Xcel’s CEO should go… when he wanted to protect Minnesota ratepayers from NRG… when he opposed TRANSLink… sigh…