News

Paterson Grain topic heats up in the city

By Scott Wagar

03/10/2015

The biggest topic in the Bottineau area at the present moment is whether or not the city council will allow Paterson Grain LLC (PGL) access to south Brander Street to gain entrance to a grain handling facility they want to construct in Bottineau south of Johnson Sport Center.

Three weeks ago, Bottineau’s planning commission met with members of PGL who requested from the committee to approve their plan to construct their grain facility and allow grain trucks to utilize south Brander. 

The planning commission stated that they were in favor of the grain handling facility, but were against using south Brander because it wasn’t a truck route, and the street wasn’t built up to handle such heavy loads. With their explanation, the committee turned down PGL’s request on a vote of four to three and requested the company to find an alternative route for the facility and come back for another vote. 

PGL countered back stating that they had considered other routes into their plan facility but that the cost was from $1 to $2.5 million, which wasn’t feasible for the company. PGL also stated that if the planning commission or city council wouldn’t approve the company’s original plan PGL would have to look for another city to construct the grain facility, which now appears to be Rugby. 

Since that time, this subject has been the primary talk of the community with individuals who are for and against PGL coming to Bottineau. There are area residents who want PGL to come to Bottineau because they feel it will be a big boost for the city’s economic growth, while there are others who are against it because they feel it will hurt the local grain elevator’s business. 

Then there is the city council, who is in favor of PGL coming to Bottineau, but doesn’t want to budge on south Brander Street, while the residents of south Thompson Street are concerned with PGL utilizing south Brander with semis and trucks because it is the street they use to gain access to the walking trail on Highway 5 to get around town.

On Feb. 2, the council was to meet with PGL members to rezone the land they want to purchase from “Ag” to “Manufacture.” However, just prior to the council voting of the rezoning, PGL requested to leave the land as “Ag” with a “conditional use permit” instead. 

The request was made because 90 percent of the land would remain farmable, while only 10 percent would house PGL’s facility. Considering PGL is an agricultural based company, and not a manufacturing business, the grain company felt it was better to keep the land as “Ag.” 

PGL added that the “Manufacturing” zone ordinances didn’t explain in detail if a grain company liked PGL should be in a manufacturing zone, and they wanted to make sure they were in the proper zoning ordinance.

It was decided by the council that instead of voting on the rezoning, that it would be turned over to the city’s attorney to study. It was decided, too, that the two entities would meet again on Tuesday, March 10, to discuss Benson’s findings and then vote on the issue.

A number of Bottineau’s county commissioners were at the city council meeting and on Tuesday, through Bottineau’s EDC, requested a meeting with the council on the topic of PGL coming to Bottineau.

The county requested the meeting because they are in favor of PGL coming to Bottineau and wanted to communicate this issue to the aldermen.

A meeting which was to be between the city and county representatives soon turned into a community meeting. When the two entities met on Wednesday evening the county commissioner room became standing room only with an overflow out into the hall of the courthouse with individuals who wanted their opinion heard.

“The purpose of the meeting in its entirety was to have conversation and dialog around the Paterson Grain project,” said Deana DeFoe, director of Bottineau’s EDC. “We felt that as we were talking to people there was a lot of conversation on the street, there’s a lot of conversation in coffee shops, there’s a lot of conversation in offices and it was our goal to bring all of those conversations into one room so we could all hear each other.”

Commissioners and council members were given the first opportunity to speak where it appeared the majority were in favor of the city granting PGL south Brander Street. 

“The city of Bottineau has been given an opportunity that most other small towns would love to have in order to grow and survive,” said Jeff Beyer, Bottineau County commissioner.

“Paterson Grain has come to Bottineau willing to invest $20 million into an infrastructure for our city. All they ask in return for this investment into Bottineau is to allow them to go down one city block to get to their property. 

“They are not asking for tax breaks, they are not asking for grants, they are not asking for anything but to go down that one block,” Beyer added. “If we add that $20 million to our tax base that would actually generate about quarter of a million dollars in tax revenue.”  

“I can tell you right now that I don’t believe there is a council person against the project,” said Bottineau Mayor Ben Aufforth.

“Our beef is this street which has been the issue since day one. 
“I am all 100 percent for going around town based on one simple thing,” Aufforth said. “We went to the current elevator that is here and time and time again asked them to get their loaded trucks out of town. They obliged and loaded trucks go around town and empty trucks are coming through town. We took half the trucks off a designated truck route. Now I am being told to just allow this same type of business to run their trucks wherever they want basically.

“I find it hard to treat one differently than the other if we are going to have the same business competing for the same thing” Aufforth concluded saying. “I think it has to be even and we have to do that with the truck traffic.” 

Diane Lorenz, council member and chair of the planning committee, stated that at the present moment if the city wants PGL to come to Bottineau, the city has to give the grain company south Brander. She added that if the council doesn’t allow this option, the city will lose PGL to another community and that she doesn’t want to see an opportunity like this lost to one street. 
County Commissioner Dan Marquardt stated that if Bottineau lets PGL go to another city, Bottineau will still receive the trucks coming down Highway 5 and through town with truck traffic from the south and west going to PGL’s facility in Rugby.

Marquardt added if that is going to happen, Bottineau should allow PGL’s customer to stop in Bottineau and unload their grain. 

The public forum was open to allow the public to speak.
A number of residents from south Thompson Street, which will have PGL’s facility in their backyard, stated that they were not against Paterson coming to Bottineau, but were against trucks going down south Brander, which gave them concern for their children’s safety and the residents of the neighborhood because they utilize Brander for a number of items. 

There was also some concern about environmental safety and concerns over road dust, grain dust and other items like noise.
“We are not against the company it is the entrance,” said Mike Aasen. “If it is a money issue than the county, townships and city should build a road for them (from the south). If we truly want a $20 million  facility in our town, and I am  for it, what is a million dollars to give to this $20 million community. We are giving out grants all the time to entice businesses to come to town. So, let’s do it for them, let’s work for them, let’s build the route for them.”

Others disagreed with individuals in support of south Thompson.

“When the dust comes that’s money,” said Pat Artz, president of the State Bank of Bottineau, who is also a local farmer. “It is basically what our community is fueled on, the grain dust and it’s not bad.”

Troy Olson, business owner whose company is connected to south Brander, stated that when one really thinks about it, south Brander is already a commercial street and truck route. He pointed out that all the buildings on the street are commercial and that semi-trucks drive south Brander every day to unload merchandise for the businesses on that block.

What will take place at the special city council meeting on March 10 is uncertain, but the meeting will show the direction the city is taking for its future.