The Burrillville Town Council unanimously approved a tax treaty with Invenergy, the company proposing to build a power plant in town.
Town Council President John Pacheco said: in no way does that mean the town endorses the project.
Michael McElroy, the town’s lawyer, advised approving the treaty to secure a steady stream of money, including more than a million dollars in impact fees the power plant company will soon pay the town upon signing the agreement.
McElroy said that money is guaranteed to the town regardless of whether the power plant secures state permits. And it’s unrestricted money.
“This money will allow us to hire everybody we need to fight fire with fire and to make the opposite argument of what Invenergy is making,” said McElroy. “So when they say there’s no traffic problem, we have a traffic engineer that says there is; when they say that we don’t have an air problem, we’ve got an air engineer that says there is.”
The tax treaty includes a decommissioning agreement and compensation for property abutters as well as the option to buy properties from residents who would rather move away.
Burrillville resident Jeremy Bailey, a real estate agent, said the agreement doesn’t go far enough to protect property owners. He and many other residents asked the council to delay entering into any tax agreement with Invenergy, until the state’s review of the proposal is complete.
“Why rush to enter into a tax agreement for a few pennies when we don’t even know the fate of that [project]?” he said.
The state Energy Facility Siting Board has temporarily suspended its review of the project because Invenergy has not identified a water source to cool its power plant.
“By ratifying this contract, what it guaranteed was a budget for Invenergy to go secure a water source,” added Bailey. “So we basically gave them a budget by signing a tax agreement, because they know their cost for the next 20 years now.”
“Once the plant is approved, if it’s approved by the EFSB — God forbid — then they need to get an agreement immediately,” added Raymond Trinque, “and then and only then, I think we could get a really good agreement.”
The property value guarantee agreement leaves the door open for homes to sit listed on the market for 165 days before the company decides to make an offer.
“Having my house on the market for 165 days is not acceptable,” said Kathy Sherman, whose house is right across the street from the site of the proposed plant. “I can’t live through the stress of the construction and having it negatively impact the health of my husband” who’s a disabled Vietnam veteran.
McElroy said the town would have lost leverage each day it delayed approving a tax treaty.
The the town will receive tax payments over 20 years that will range from a minimum of $92 million to maximum of $182 million.
