News

Council accepts Paterson’s plan

By Scott Wagar

03/17/2015

The city of Bottineau will have a new grain handling facility which will be open for business by the fall of 2015.  

On March 10, the city council voted to accept Paterson Grain LLC’s (PGL) plan to construct a new grain site due south of Johnson Sport Center just outside of city limits. 

For close to a month, the residents of Bottineau have had a difference of opinion on whether or not the city council should allow PGL to use south Brander Street as a truck access to their facility. 

At the end of January, during a city planning committee meeting, its members on a vote of four to three decided not to let PGL utilize Brander as a truck route because the street wasn’t built in that capacity. 

The council members did state they were not against the grain facility coming to the community, just against the route into the company’s site. The aldermen made a request to PGL to find another route into the elevator’s location and come back to the committee for another vote.

PGL stated that they had looked at other alternatives into the site, but discovered that it would cost $1 to $2.5 million, which wasn’t feasible for them to do. PGL added that if the council didn’t vote for Brander Street in their plan, they would have to look at other cities to construct the grain site.

Once the planning committee meeting was over, local residents began taking sides either for or against PGL coming to Bottineau and stated that it was more than just about a street, but improving the economy of Bottineau. From there, numerous meetings began to take place in the city over the subject, while other individuals went on social media like Facebook to discuss what was best for Bottineau. 

On March 2, the council was ready to have a vote on changing PGL’s location from agriculture to manufacture. However, before the vote happened, PGL requested to keep the zoning as agriculture with a conditional use permit because 90 percent of the land they own could still be utilized for agriculture while the remaining 10 percent would hold its elevators. 

Bottineau’s city attorney, Swain Benson, was asked by the council to look into PGL’s request to see if it was legal in the city’s ordinance to allow this type of zoning with a grain facility.    
Last Tuesday, Benson stated that PGL’s permit request could take place with the grain site. With that, Councilwoman Diane Lorenz made the request to approve PGL’s plan, which was seconded by Alderman Greg Bernstein and the motion was open for discussion.

Alderwoman Launee Hamnes stated that she wanted on the record that certain items should be cared for in PGL’s project if the council was going to vote in favor of the recommendation, which included: 

● During the construction phase of the site, the streets of Sinclair, 13th and South Thompson cannot be utilized by trucks to haul materials in for the project 
● That an organic barrier of trees be planted between PGL’s site and residential homes in that area
● That the drainage issues be resolved in the area to protect the residents’ properties and homes. 
● That a berm on 13th Street be installed so that trucks cannot go west when leaving PGL’s site.
● Address other traffic issues with signage  
● That PGL would look into other routes to the grain site with south Brander Street being utilized only in a provisional setting.
● That the costs for improving or repairing any damage on south Brander Street be at the expense of PGL
● That the city construct a connection path from south Thompson to the Highway 5 walking trail to protect the residents of that area from trucks driving into PGL’s location                
● And, that Loren Johnson keeps the city informed in how he is going to place his storage facility in that area

The council members agreed to these conditions and the discussion was then opened to the public forum. Some of the topics discussed by the forum included directions for semis which unload material to the commercial businesses on south Brander; if PGL’s property would be annexation into the city; where the turning lanes would be located on Brander and Highway 5; what type of work would have to be done on the south by-pass roads and safety concerns with trucks and residents in the area.

On the council vote, Lorenz’s motion passed on a seven to one vote, with council member Tim Sanderson voting against PGL’s request, stating that he didn’t agree with placing south Brander as a truck route.

“I am glad Paterson Grain is coming to town, but I’m dead set against the route because we’re asking for problems,” Sanderson said. “I don’t believe they will be able to build the road to get big trucks and pups around that corner like they say they are going to unless they really widen it and do something different. 

“It is totally wrong and I don’t know why it was kept a secret for a year when it could have been planned out better,” Sanderson added. “I’ve been this way from the start and I think it is totally wrong with the way it was handled.”

Evan Wilhelm, who has been one of the strongest supporters of Paterson Grain coming to Bottineau and a member of the local co-op elevator, liked the council’s decision to bring the grain company to Bottineau. 

“I am pleased with the vote because I feel the two most important concerns our community faces are the viability of the BNSF’s branch line and attracting outside capital for economic development,” Wilhelm said. “Patterson Grain’s proposed building project will help us alleviate these concerns.

“I also believe with Paterson Grain presence in Bottineau, not only will their current fertilizer business with Bottineau Farmers Elevator increase, but together with Kock industries they will be able to leverage upgrade rail services to our area,” Wilhelm said.

“I am confident that the city council has found balance between maintaining our residential neigborhood’s integrity and promoting economic growth.”