{"id":3195,"date":"2011-05-25T08:16:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T15:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2011-05-25T10:35:10","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T17:35:10","slug":"meeting-at-olmsted-county-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/?p=3195","title":{"rendered":"Meeting at Olmsted County today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dsc00368\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today, CapX 2020 shills gave a presentation at a “Committee of the Whole” informational meeting at Olmsted County.\u00c2\u00a0 Only CapX 2020 Applicant reps were to present, in this case, Tom Hillstrom and Tim Carlsgaard.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom did most of the talking.\u00c2\u00a0 I missed the introductions, and they were well into the powerpoint by the time I got there.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of the questions and answers, all comments are Hillstrom unless ID’d as Carlsgaard:<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 What factors make that the preferred?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 There are factors we look at, we look for existing features, such as highways, transmission, railroad, and we build next to them to avoid a new corridor.\u00c2\u00a0 Another can be property boundaries, we use those because then there are not a lot of homes nearby, as often there are on roads (that’s called mitigation!!).<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Perferred – what exactly is it?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 For Segment 1, along Highway 52, we have a strong preference for this route.\u00c2\u00a0 Segment 3, there wasn’t a clear choice, used all criteria, and a clear winner didn’t jump out.\u00c2\u00a0 normally we pare down to two, but couldn’t see a clear reason to eliminate one.\u00c2\u00a0 We have a slight preference to the southern route.\u00c2\u00a0 Carlsgaard: we have to submit 2, and we can and didsubmit three.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Preferred?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, we have to have a Preferred and Alternate, but they’re evaluated the same.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Why 3?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Part of the criteria is that it be buildable, and straight east there are hills.\u00c2\u00a0 Route by route, the south one crosses at White Bridge. The middle one crosses at the dam.\u00c2\u00a0 For the north, there is no existing crossing, and when we route, we find an existing crossing and cross there.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Cost as a factor?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Cost is a factor, but not a driving factor.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 How long will this process take?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Probably by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Can you explain RUS?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The Rural Utility Service is in the midst of an EIS and the Draft EIS is expected to be out in the summer (didn’t say how long that will take to hold hearings and get the final out, and the impact of that on this routing process).\u00c2\u00a0 It’s necessary because Dairyland is looking for federal money, and this is a part of that.<\/p>\n

Carlsgaard notes that they’ve got about 700 miles of transmission in the works and they’re building the first segment now, St. Cloud to Monticello, so if you want to see what this will look like, it parallels I-94, and about 2\/3 of the structures are up, we’ll hang wire this summer.<\/p>\n

Q: \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 What is generating capacity this is connected to?<\/p>\n

A: \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 This is not for specific generation source.<\/p>\n

Q: \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 How does your route take into consideration our planning process 20-30 year plans?<\/p>\n

A: \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 (Hillstrom was confused here, he didn’t get her drift)\u00c2\u00a0 Carlsgaard – we met with all the communities, and reviewed all their plans, and it was taken into consideration.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 (Clarified)What about meeting needs, and interfering with growth?\u00c2\u00a0 What about impacts on future development, our development plans.<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We did ID that, got the land use plans.\u00c2\u00a0 Our analysis takes existing conditions into account, future plans, whether it happens here or there, that’s difficult to predict.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 About feasibility, initially wasn’t it going down 52 to 90?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Early on, we evaluated where to cross, and found 3 spots.\u00c2\u00a0 Alma is the best crossing, it’s narrow, USFWS preferred, getting to that crossing is easier.\u00c2\u00a0 We did study Hwy. 52 to 90, but through Rochester wouldn’t work, MnDOT Hwy 52 through used up every bit of Rochester.\u00c2\u00a0 Going west and south to go around it would be so much longer.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 So now there’s no “preferred?”<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 No, the Preferred still is preferred.<\/p>\n

Carlsgaard: That last part of it (on east), it follows existing corridor, and the existing line would be removed and added to the 345kV line and 50 feet of right-of-wa would be added.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 What’s contested by Oronoco?\u00c2\u00a0 By 12?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It’s off of Hwy. 12 because there are more homes and going this way avoids them (that’s mitigation!)<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 What about the middle route?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the white line in the middle, crosses the dam.\u00c2\u00a0 (at this point we did an amazing flyover, the bluffs popped out (the coal plant was FLAT!).\u00c2\u00a0 Someone noted the sharp distinctions in terrain between the routes.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Will you provide us with copies of the flyover?<\/p>\n

A:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, that’s on my list of things to do.<\/p>\n

Q To Board Chair:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Do we want to discuss this during the board meeting?<\/p>\n

A by other than Board Chair:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We need to think about it, let’s discuss at the next meeting, 2nd Tuesday, June 14th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, CapX 2020 shills gave a presentation at a “Committee of the Whole” informational meeting at Olmsted County.\u00c2\u00a0 Only CapX 2020 Applicant reps were to present, in this case, Tom Hillstrom and Tim Carlsgaard.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom did most of the talking.\u00c2\u00a0 …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hampton-alma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3198,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195\/revisions\/3198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}