Logan County Economic Development Corporation

 Executive Director Monthly Activity Summary

April 2011

 

The following summary provides a highlight of the various monthly activities for the Logan County Economic Development Corporation (“LCEDC”).  All activities are not described in the summary, but rather some of the more visual activities of the LCEDC are presented.

General Meetings:

April 5- LCEDC Executive Committee held its agenda planning meeting.

April 7- LCEDC held its regularly scheduled board meeting.

April 8- I travelled to Wiggins to secure Veeman easement for new Logan County Industrial Park.

April 9- Tina Owen, who received a SURA grant, had an open house at Perfectly Polished at 115 South Third Street.

April 12- SURA held its regularly scheduled board meeting.

April 13- I attended Cory Gardner’s town hall meeting at NJC.

April 15- I attended Progressive 15 Spring Conference in Akron to promote Neighborhood Revitalization legislation.

April 19- As a member of the SIFE Advisory Board, I attended their presentation following their regional championship competition.

April 19- I attended the CSU Regional Engagement open house at the local center.

April 19- I attended the City Council work session to discuss a proposed hotel accommodation tax for beautification projects.

April 20- Jim Neblett and I participated in NextEra Energy’s video documentary for the Peetz wind farm developments.

April 21- Joint Committee met on continuing projects in the Downtown District.

April 21- The CED community assessment committee met at LCEDC office.

April 21- The Asset Resource Committee met at LCEDC office.

April 22- Jim Neblett and I met with Star Clean Oil in Denver to discuss the rail agreement with OmniTrax and to review their final budget for construction.

April 23- As a member of NJC Advisory Board, I attended the quarterly meeting.

April 27- As a member of the Wind Technician Advisory Board, I attended the quarterly meeting.

April 27- I presented a program at the League of Women voters.

April 29- The consultant for airport improvement presented a proposal.

 

Economic developments: 

Project Green/New Industrial Park- UPDATE 4/4: We have been responding to due diligence requirements for Star Clean Oil, LLC, in connection with their financing commitment. Jim Michaels, Managing Partner, stated that their private equity financing is nearly complete and they are hoping to break ground in 2011.  They have selected a general contractor and any construction inquiries can be made to Rich O’Connell. UPDATE 5/2: Jim Neblett and Rich O’Connell met with principals and their construction team in Denver on 4/22 to review the rail agreement and final construction budget.

Project Rebar- UPDATE 4/1: Jim Neblett and I were able to reach Rebar’s plant manager in Brazil. Sterling is their #1 site and they have submitted a rail site plan to both BNSF and UPRR.  BNSF has approved and Rebar’s president is working with UP to finalize the switch and track layout. UPDATE 5/2: In a recent phone call, the project manager reports that discussions with UPRR are ongoing and being handled by Project Rebar’s CEO.

Project Scorpion- UPDATE 4/1: We are planning to meet with Dwayne Romero, new Executive Director of Colo OEDIT, to determine a strategy should Scorpion not move ahead at the Wyoming site. UPDATE 5/2: Because of extreme time pressure on the Gov.’s Bottom-Up process, we have been unable to schedule with Dwayne Romero.  We are hoping to set that meeting in May.          

Sterling Municipal Airport/ Crosson Field- The airport received FAA permission to re-open on Dec. 8. UPDATE 3/1: Joe Kiolbasa, Larry Fetzer and Rich O’Connell met with an airport operations consultant to discuss future development at the airport.  UPDATE 4/1: City is in the process of evaluating consultant proposals for future operations. UPDATE 5/2:  Evaluating consultant proposals continues.

Three Prototype Buildings- UPDATE 3/1:  The building committee has selected three contractors for each of the three prototype buildings and we are now ready to proceed when a future client requests a new building. UPDATE 4/1: Bruce Glass recommends that we hold the first lottery selection now, so that the selected contractors know who will have the first bid opportunity. UPDATE 5/2: The first lottery drawing is scheduled for May 6 at 10AM at LCEDC office. Three contractors will be chosen for the initial year of the program.

East Cheyenne Underground Gas Storage- UPDATE 5/2: Merchant Energy, the developer, has scheduled a ground-breaking ceremony to include Gov. Hickenlooper for May 23 at the site southwest of Peetz.  All LCEDC members will be receiving invitations.

Colorado Highlands Wind, LLC, project north of Fleming continues as a viable project and the developers continue to seek a power purchase agreement (PPA) with various electric utilities.  UPDATE 4/4; Their recent RFP to Xcel was not selected. NO PROGRESS TO REPORT.

Filed under: In The News by LCEDC