City pulls the plug on power plant proposal

The city of Nevada will not be pursuing an electricity-generating plant at this time. After considerable discussion among the council members during Tuesday night's regular council meeting, the council let a motion to spend $10,000 on a feasibility study for the plant die for lack of a second. During the discussion, four of the five council members expressed concern about spending the $10,000 to find out if an electricity-generating plant and co-located ethanol plant would be a viable possibility. "I'm concerned about it not being located in the city," Mike Straight said. "How much more than $10,000 will this cost us? Do we want to get into the power generating business?" Straight asked. Bill Edmonds told the council that although they had been told the plant could use the local high-sulfur coal without causing air pollution, he was still concerned about possible pollution from the plant. "I'm also concerned about it being located outside the city," he added. The location that was suggested to the council during the June 10 meeting was south of U.S. Highway 54 on Highway 43. near a railroad line. Craig Hubler, city manager, said before the June 10 meeting that this location was only indicative of what kind of site would be appropriate for the facility. The plant needs to be in a location with railroad access, good highway access and a convenient source of natural gas. A natural gas pipeline runs through the location shown. "I am concerned with the fact that we will be spending $10,000 on an unknown and the businesses that will benefit are not putting out any money up front," Tim Moore said. Edmonds said that he expected there would be additional legal fees and other expenses that we are not aware of. In other business the council: * Postponed consideration of residency requirements for city policemen until the July 15 council meeting. The council requested that Hubler meet with the department heads and bring the council a recommendation. "This has been coming up periodically for the last year. I still feel the issue needs looking at," Tim Moore said. Moore said that if all of the police officers could discuss this, a logical solution could be arrived at that would satisfy everyone without hurting public safety. Bill Edmonds said that although he is not opposed to the study of this issue, he feels that the council needs to trust the police department to the police chief. "When we hire police officers, they understand the terms when they are hired," Edmonds said. "It seems incongruent to come along later and make changes," he said. * Requested that Nevada Police Chief Larry Moore and Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman meet and discuss how the city and county can work together on the county's proposed jail. "I may be na*ve but I do believe we can partner with the county to provide the best law enforcement for the county and the city," Edmonds said. "I see a lot of egos floating around and these need to be left at the door," Mike Straight said. "We want to be a part of the project, not a hindrance," he said. * Accepted the low bid of $2,925 from KC Bobcat for a 72-inch wide bucket broom for a skid steer. This rotating brush will be used in cleaning up after the city's street crew mills a street. The brush can also be used to clean snow from the brick sidewalks downtown when the city is clearing the snow from the Square. * Accepted the low bid from Orr Safety Corporation of $1,021.44 each for two air monitors or a total cost of $2,042.88. The air monitors will be used to test the levels of oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide and combustible gasses in confined spaces before city workers enter the area. If the levels of these gasses are too high they can be hazardous to anyone entering the area. * Voted to recommend a set of policies and procedures to the TIF commission. These regulations will govern how the Tax Increment Finance commission considers projects. * Adopted Resolution No. 1036 approving an agreement between the city of Nevada and the State of Missouri Emergency Management Agency to establish response procedures and guidelines in the event of a weapons of mass destruction incident. This agreement is one of the requirements for the city to receive a $60,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to enhance the Nevada Fire and Rescue Departments ability to deal with hazardous material and weapons of mass destruction incidents.