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March 19, 2004MANISTEE: Plant's fee offer rejected by cityByRecord-Eagle staff writer MANISTEE - The city council's rejection of a $2 million community service fee offered by a company hoping to build a coal-burning power plant here casts doubt on the project's future. Manistee Saltworks/Tondu Corp. is seeking a special land use permit for the proposed 425-megawatt Northern Lights plant it wants to construct along Manistee Lake. The request must be approved by the city planning commission, but commissioners could require that Tondu have an agreement with the city council on the community service fee. "If there is no agreement, that would affect our decision," said Roger Yoder, planning commission chairman. City manager Mitchell Deish said city council members turned down the company's offer Tuesday because it didn't mitigate the negative effect the plant could have on tourism, development, the environment, health and perceptions of the Lake Michigan community. "They felt the amount was inadequate," Deish said. The ownership of the proposed plant has yet to be determined. If it is privately owned, city taxes on the plant could be as high as $16 million a year, opponents said. If owned by a group of municipalities, it could be exempt from local property taxes. Tondu spokeswoman Deborah Muchmore said a final decision has not been made on the municipal ownership idea. The in-lieu-of-taxes payment offer includes a base of more than $2 million annually, profit sharing of up to $1 million each year and a one-time contribution of $4 million for capital costs related to treating the plant's effluent in the city's wastewater treatment plant. "This is a final offer," Muchmore said of the fee proposal the city rejected.
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