I forgot to mention--if anyone is interested in running for city council, there are four positions opening this fall; three four-year terms and on two-year term. You have to register before tomorrow at five, but the city office is usually only open until noon.

Last night at the city council meeting we asked some questions and voiced some of our concerns. They assured us that they are by no means done with this discussion, and that there are a number of requirements Jeff (biodiesel guy) will have to meet to get his building permit. They also said that they are requiring him to have the approval of a safety engineer.

They pulled out the same old claptrap about the internet research they've done about the biodiesel process (a different process from the one being used here), by which they mean a Youtube video that shows high school students making it in their classroom. A Youtube video. Awesome. To my expression of irritation that he's going to be using a crap-ton of fossil fuel to ship the grease here they countered with "No, he's using natural gas." So, I guess natural gas is no longer a fossil fuel? Aarrgh! This is not doing anything about creating a renewable, sustainable energy source, so why do people act like that's what we're doing, like we're saving pandas or something? They cited a letter from the mayor of Isanti (where the other plant is located--a plant that Biodiesel Jeff has never visited, by the way), who extols the virtues of the plant; the jobs it has brought and the total lack of smell, but unfortunately the mayor doesn't live by the plant, and everyone we talked to who works nearby (because they didn't want to put it by houses, can you imagine?) says it smells, and some of them say it smells all the time. They think the smell might be coming from the storage tanks on the property (this plant won't have storage tanks), but nobody knows for sure, including Biodiesel Jeff. Great. Very comforting.

So that's where we are. I think the city council will do what they think is truly in the best interests of the community, though I disagree with their vision for the community. I thought it was interesting that they were patting themselves on the back so hard last night about the cities who envy our water system, and how we're going to be out of debt really soon. Wait . . . I thought Honeyville was a "community of need?" I thought we were so poor we couldn't pay our water bill and we can't buy a new snowplow? I thought we needed money so badly we couldn't afford to tell this guy no? I guess I was confused.

It will most likely be a while before anything happens, because the permit process is lengthy and difficult. And who knows? Maybe his investors will back out. Rich people usually like to make sure they're investing their money wisely. We can always hope the project will crater before he builds. But if he does, and then he goes out of business, maybe we can talk Steve Flint into moving his mini truck business into the building. That would be cool, and the best part of all is--no smell!

Okay, here's what I know. The biodiesel guy went radio silent for about a month and a half, and nobody could reach him. Phone calls, email, he wasn't responding to anything. The city couldn't reach him, Hansen Engineering (the ones who are doing his building) couldn't reach him . . . nothing. This made me very hopeful, and I thought if we just sat back and kept quiet about it maybe the city would decide on its own that the guy is a flake, and that his refusal to respond to them is a clear indicator of future problems. But I talked to the mayor on Sunday, and he says he got an email from the guy last week, and the guy told him that the financing and the building and everything are moving forward.

I don't know about that. I wonder if maybe his investors have looked at his plan, the plan to bring grease here from China, burning fossil fuels all the way--so much for his claim that he's helping the environment--and have realized that it can't be profitable. Gas is not going to get cheaper, people. How can he afford to do this? Long-term, I don't see a way it can work. So IF his investors haven't already bailed on him, and IF they give him enough money to build his plant, he's still going to go out of business at some point, leaving us with an eyesore in the center of town.

Even if things go the way the city council thinks they will, our town will see so little actual money from this that it will make no difference.

I wonder if what's going on is the biodiesel guy is scrambling to keep his investors from bailing, and he's telling the mayor that everything is just hunky-dory, and the mayor in turn is telling me that everything's fine, but what's really happening is it's all about to fall to pieces.

Whatever. I'm going to the city council meeting tomorrow night, and maybe they'll address some of my concerns, like: What are we going to do when the plant smells bad and we can't get that guy to answer his phone? What are we going to do when he runs out of money and skips town?