County joins with city, NRD to look at Synergen water use
The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners has formalized its earlier agreement to participate in a large-use water study being conducted by the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District (NRD). In dealing with an agenda item at Monday’s regular meeting, the board voted unanimously to enter into an interlocal agreement with the NRD and the city of Aurora to conduct the ground water study.
The study is being necessitated by plans by Synergen Green Energy to construct a large ammonia production plant west of Aurora. The water use application approved by the NRD in December was for a 2,300-gallon-per-minute water well which would draw down the water table at the site over a 25-year period by an estimated 10 to 14.5 feet.
In explaining the study project to the board, Chairman Rich Nelson said the total cost of the study to be conducted by the engineering firm of Brown and Caldwell, is expected to be between $50,000 and $100,000. However, he said 80 percent of the cost is expected to be paid by a grant from the Water Sustainability Fund. He said that would mean the cost to the local entities would be between $10,000 and $15,000 split three ways between the county, the city and the NRD. The major product of the study is expected to be a computer model that will predict the impact of the water use over a period of years.
Asked why the NRD wasn’t funding the study in its entirety, Nelson said in recent conversations with Upper Big Blue Assistant General Manager Marie Krausnick, he was told the study was outside the NRD’s normal responsibilities, partly because it is for the purposes of “economic development.”
Nelson further said that because the grant proposal is expected to take up to 30 days to complete, Krausnick said the study needs to be approved as soon as possible.
John Miller of Aurora, a member of the Upper Big Blue board, was in attendance at the meeting and was called upon by Nelson during the discussion of the study.
Stating that he was not speaking as a member of the board but as simply an interested county resident, Miller spoke to the importance of getting the grant proposal right.
“Having a properly written grant is important,” Miller said, adding that this is the first large water use request of its kind (for industrial purposes) the NRD has been presented with in its history.
He also noted that Brown and Caldwell is well-respected in the industry and that modeling is the firm’s particular area of expertise.
Nelson reaffirmed the importance of the study, saying he wished it had already been done prior to the request from Synergen, adding that once this project is approved other companies may come with requests for large water usage as well.
“I wish this study and the model had come before the request,” he said.
The board approved the interlocal agreement for the study by a unanimous vote.
Cyber security grant
The only other major item of business for the county board on Monday was the finalization of the managed services agreement with Hamilton Communications to conduct an audit of the county’s cyber security.
At its Jan. 22 meeting the board had approved the application for a grant that will fund most of the project to upgrade the county’s internet security.
Nelson said under the terms of the grant, which has been approved, the county is responsible for 10 percent of the project’s cost. The county’s portion of the cost of the project this year is expected to be approximately $17,000.
“It hurts that we’re in a world where this kind of thing is necessary,” Nelson said, but he added, “We need it.”