June 27th, 2024
OLIVER COUNTY PLANNING & ZONING Commission was called to order at 7:00 pm.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Roll Call was held. Members present were Randy Schmidt, Lonnie Henke, Corey Hintz, Bill Breimeier, Linda Nelson (by phone), Jaden Schmidt (Secretary/P&Z Department) and Patty Koapke (P&Z Department). Jody Reinke was absent. Jayar Kindsvogel resigned from City Council, so his city appointed seat was vacant.
Bill Breimeier moved and Lonnie Henke seconded the agenda with the addition of a building permit for Robert Bohrer. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Lonnie Henke moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to amend the May 30th minutes to strike the works “permit fees or” under the portion of the minutes relating to Ag Permit Fees. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Lonnie Henke moved and Bill Breimeier seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the May 30th meeting. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Conflict of Interest Votes were held.
Bill Breimeier addressed a conflict of interest: He is under contract with Summit Carbon Solutions for the pipeline as well as the terminus point. He also has an option for pore space with Summit Carbon Solutions.
Corey Hintz addressed a conflict of interest: He is an employee of Minnkota and his family falls within the NextEra Wind Project. He stated he will recuse/abstain from voting on agenda items involving Blattner Energy and the CO2 Ordinance.
Lonnie Henke expressed a conflict, stating he has an exercised option with NextEra, so he may have a potential conflict with the Blattner Energy permit. He also has a lease option with Summit Carbon Solutions. He stated he will recuse/abstain from voting on agenda items involving Blattner Energy and the CO2 Ordinance.
Lonnie Henke moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to allow Corey Hintz to discuss on agenda items. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Bill Breimeier moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to allow Lonnie Henke to dicuss on agenda items. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Lonnie Henke moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to allow Bill Breimeier to discuss on agenda items. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Randy Schmidt moved and Linda Nelson seconded the motion to not allow Bill Breimeier to vote on the CO2 ordinance amendment. A roll call vote was held; Linda Nelson, Aye, Randy Schmidt, Aye, Lonnie Henke, abstained, Corey Hintz, abstained. Motion carried.
Building Permit #1040 for Blattner Energy for 3 Met Towers/ADLS towers. Lonnie Henke moved and Bill Breimeier seconded the motion to table the permit until the next meeting due to lack of information and a request to obtain more information from Blattner Energy with legal descriptions. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Building Permit #1041 for Robert Bohrer to move a mobile home on his property. Lonnie Henke moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to approve the permit. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
The CO2 Ordinance Amendment was opened. Applicant Cassie Smith spoke to the board, stating it is important to have regulations at the county level so that companies coming in cannot dictate what landowners can do with their land. She lives within the area of all three sequestration wells and does not want her children to have to see the negative impact that the wells will have.
Lonnie Henke asked the question of if the state has a set list of “do’s and don’ts” related to county regulations and what they can and can’t do. It was stated that there is not set list, and that any rules regarding what the county can do is all throughout Century Code.
Linda Nelson stated that currently PHMSA has not put out safety rules for CO2 as of yet, so it should be up to the county regulate safety of their residents.
Discussion on issues arose from setbacks.
Jaden Schmidt stated that the board has done hours of research and has had hours of discussion in relation to this topic. The board has had several meetings on this ordinance and has done a lot of work on it. She has also done countless hours of research on the topic. The board has a responsibility to the residents of the county and should take that into consideration.
Patty Koapke stated that this ordinance is a guideline. It shows the requirements and requests information of industry that comes into the county.
Lonnie Henke asked why industry would have an issue with this ordinance, but did not receive an answer. He stated he has asked that question at every meeting and yet to receive an answer.
Bill Breimeier stated that companies may opposed the depth requirement.
Linda Nelson stated that if companies have an issue with certain requirements in relation to depth, they can request a variance, if needed.
Corey Hintz opened the floor for public comment.
Marv Abraham, rural Burleigh County, stated there are concerns with sequestration and the affects on water. He asked what the cost would be to taxpayers and what benefit there would be to taxpayers and landowners, if there even are any.
Jackie Schmidt, Oliver County, raised concerns about the potential affect on well water and other water sources. She raised concerns about possible rupture dangers.
Robert Bohrer, Oliver County, stated that Summit Carbon Solutions has never built a pipeline before. It is a large capacity pipeline and he feels that no out-of-state plants should be allowed to funnel their waste into Oliver County or North Dakota.
Mikael Schmidt, Oliver County, stated that his family owns land that is near Project Tundra. His father has said to “no” to any agreements they approached with. He is the 4th generation and his children are the 5th generation to live on the farm. He stated that we, the people, will be here and these companies won’t be and asked what are we leaving for them in the future? He stated the county needs something on the books. We have an ordinance for just about everything else, why not this?
Kurt Swenson, Oliver County, somewhat answered Lonnie Henke’s questions about what the state says counties can do, stating it’s not that simple and there is no set list. He stated that Oliver County is a Home Rule county and that they have given some certain rights to the state, but that the county regulates everything else. He also stated that the state is losing their opportunity to provide information to the county.
Troy Hatzenbihler, Center, stated he owns land in Morton County, along the pipeline route. He asked what may happen when the project is finished, stating that the State of North Dakota takes responsibility of the facility. He questions if they will follow up and comply with their own regulations.
Robert Bohrer spoke again, stated that the State would take ownership of the storage facility after CO2 projects are done. He stated that the storage facility is also known as the pore space and that it is tied to surface rights due to state law. If the state takes ownership of the storage facility/pore space, then they take the surface rights as well.
Kurt Swenson spoke again, stating that according to NDCC 38-22, the company will file for a certificate of completion. It is a ten year timeline, with several steps, but if that is complete, then the State takes title of the CO2 and storage facility, which is also the pore space based on the definition. This follows a chain of events that may happen in the future.
Doug Pearson, North Bismarck, stated that Commissioner Brian Bitner of Burleigh County, speaks about this in a commission meeting recording from early May.
Kurt Swenson stated that the ordinance is for the sequestration, not the pipeline. There is no language in the NDIC having pre-emption, only the PSC. Each have different laws and different jurisdictions.
Marv Abraham stated that it seems that safety is at the bottom of the list of concerns for industry and state and local officials.
Discussion was brought up about the depth requirement in the amendment, which is 4 feet. It was stated that the state uses Oil & Gas regulations for CO2, which doesn’t seem to be enough and is a different area that Oil & Gas.
The public comment period was closed.
The first reading was held.
Linda Nelson moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the vote to approve the ordinance amendment as written. A Roll Call vote was held: Linda Nelson – Aye, Randy Schmidt – Aye, Lonnie Henke – Abstained, Corey Hintz – Abstained, Bill Breimeier – No Vote due to Conflict of Interest Vote. The Amendment passed.
Discussion was held on the request by County Commission Chair Lee Husfloen to look into a Solar Ordinance. Jaden Schmidt and Patty Koapke will looking to other counties that already have a solar ordinance in place and will bring it back at the next meeting. Lonnie Henke moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to postpone further discussion until the next meeting. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried.
Kyle Larson and Dan McCourtney from Minnesota Power presented an HVDC Project information for a future project. The project will be to upgrade the transmission line terminal located north of Minnkota Power. There are constraints on how to get to the project area due to the location of the current substation and landowners. The company will be looking to get section line use approval from the County Commission. The timeline will begin in August of 2024 with a Conditional Use Application, application to the ND PSC and then a late fall 2025 construction start date. Resident Dave Berger asked a question of the company, asking why some landowners along the proposed section line route have not been contacted. Minnesota Power stated their first concern is with landowners and working with them.
Lonnie Henke moved and Randy Schmidt seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting. All in favor, none opposed; motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 pm.
The next meeting for the Oliver County Planning & Zoning Board will be July 25th at 7:00 pm in the Oliver County Courthouse Meeting Room.
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Jaden Schmidt, Secretary Chairman of the Board