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!