Article published Dec 2, 2007

Hundreds expected to show at public hearing set for Highwood rezoning

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

A second application to rezone 660 acres of farmland to heavy industrial — the land where a $720 million, 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant is proposed — is generating the same level of scrutiny.

This time around, even local governments from outside Cascade County are weighing in on the proposed Highwood Generating Station.

"There really is just no advantage to Fort Benton," Mayor Rick Morris said.

Last week, the Fort Benton City Council approved a resolution opposing the plant and sent it to Cascade County.

Chouteau County also is on record as being opposed to Highwood.

Representatives of both governments are expected to be among a large audience when the Cascade County Planning Board conducts a public hearing Tuesday on the new rezoning request.

Neil Ugrin, an attorney representing the Urquhart family, said opponents might show up in force but "we're probably not going to flood it with people."

Highwood Generating Station will benefit thousands of electricity consumers in Montana by providing a stable source of affordable electricity, he said.

"We certainly think the rezoning request is in the best interest of people who are served by electric power," he said.

The request is being made by the Urquhart family on behalf of Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission, the plant's developer.

SME is made up of five rural electric cooperatives serving customers in more than 58,000 square miles in Montana and a small portion of Wyoming. Electric City Power, the utility arm of the city of Great Falls, is part of SME.

With two dissenting votes, the same Planning Board recommended Oct. 17, 2006, that county commissioners Joe Briggs, Lance Olson and Peggy Beltrone approve the rezoning.

Commissioners, after receiving 1,400 comments from the public, voted 2-1 a month later to rezone the land, with Beltrone voting no.

Forty-eight agricultural producers and rural residents of the Highwood/Salem Road area, along with the Helena-based Montana Environmental Information Center, then sued the county over its public notice requirements and other issues.

The county rescinded the rezoning and made changes in its zoning regulations. The Urquharts filed the second rezoning application once the new rules were finalized.

With Planning Board members anticipating a crowd for Tuesday's meeting on the second request, the meeting site was moved from the Courthouse Annex to the 125-seat Paddock Club at Montana ExpoPark.

A uniformed deputy sheriff will be on hand to make sure the meeting runs smoothly.

"We want to make sure we provide a place people can give public testimony in a civilized format," said Brian Clifton, county planning director.

The Planning Board must consider whether the rezoning request meets 12 criteria, including the county's growth policy.

Clifton said the request meets the requirements for a zone change and the planning staff is recommending that it be approved.

As of Friday, the county had received 49 letters on the application — all opposing the rezoning.

Since the first rezoning application, residents of Fort Benton, which is 35 miles northeast of Great Falls — downwind and downstream of the plant — have been paying closer attention.

On Nov. 20, the Fort Benton City Council approved a resolution stating its opposition to the facility, citing emissions and water use from the river. Chouteau County commissioners signed a letter of opposition and sent it to the county in June.

Not everybody agrees with the Chouteau County government bodies sticking their noses in Cascade County's business.

Dick Fisher, a member of the city's planning board, said the Chouteau County Planning Board took a vote on the plant after hearing a negative report on the plant.

Fisher, a retired Montana Power Co. employee, backs the proposed power plant.

"I think it's a good economic boost for the county," he said. "It would provide jobs. We all know energy is needed."

An environmental review jointly completed by the state Department of Environmental Quality and the federal Rural Utilities Service concluded that Highwood Generating Station would not have a significant impact on the environment.

However, Morris said it doesn't make sense for Fort Benton to support a coal-fired power plant upstream when it will provide his city with no taxes, jobs or power.

Even if emissions are within air-quality standards required by law, "It's not going to make the air better," he said.

Planning Board members are expected to vote on the recommending approval of the request after listening to public comment. County commissioners will take up the rezoning in January.