PLANT WOULD BENEFIT SCHOOL MOST

CRUMP, Mo. -- The Delta School District would benefit most from a proposed power plant that a Colorado company wants to build in the rolling farmland south of Crump, say those involved with the project.

Cape Girardeau County's industrial recruiter, Mitch Robinson, said the proposed plant could generate $800,000 to $1 million a year in taxes. The Delta School District would get 75 to 80 percent of that money, said Robinson, who directs the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

Even with tax breaks for the developer, Kinder Morgan Power Co. of Lakewood, Colo., Robinson said Delta, a rural school district that operates on an annual budget of about $2.3 million, would still benefit greatly.

But area residents who live near the site of the proposed plant say the development could be an economic loss for them if their property values decline and they have to dig into their pockets to drill deeper wells. Residents are worried that the power plant would pump so much water that their shallow wells might run dry.

"I strongly support the schools, but I do not think destroying an agricultural area and promoting a large industrial complex is worth it," said Cheryl Kieffer, who lives near the site and heads a loosely knit group known as Cape Citizens Against Pollution.

The project also has run into opposition from area labor unions who fear the plant would be built with non-union labor. Kinder Morgan officials say they have three possible contractors for the plant, including one that would use non-union labor.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission has talked of issuing Chapter 100 bonds that would pay for construction and equipping of the $250 million power plant. Kinder Morgan would pay back the bonds over 10 to 15 years.

$3 to $4 million

During that time, Kinder Morgan would receive tax breaks. At the same time, the company would make payments to the school district that would partially offset the property tax abatement.

Payments to the Delta school system could total $3 million to $4 million over the next 10 years, Robinson said.

The financial package would be worked out in negotiations between the county commission and Kinder Morgan. Those negotiations have been on hold while the Missouri Department of Natural Resources considers whether to approve a construction permit for the 550-megawatt plant.

The DNR says it won't approve the plant without design changes to reduce smog-producing emissions.

The plant, which would sit west of Route U between Crump and Whitewater in southwest Cape Girardeau County, would produce electricity from natural-gas- and steam-fueled turbines. The electricity would be marketed to utility companies and transmitted through a nearby AmerenUE substation and transmission lines.

Tom Allen, Delta schools superintendent, said the plant could be a financial boost to the school system.

That would be good news to a school district coping with tight funding that has left it with low teacher salaries and no money to replace its 44-year-old elementary school.

Property taxes from the power plant could provide the district with the money needed to address those issues, he said.

The only real industry in the Delta district is farming and the assessed valuation grows little from year to year, Allen said.

The plant could boost the district's assessed valuation by $35 million, Allen said. That would increase the assessed valuation of the district from $16 million to $51 million.

Less in state funding

But the proposed plant wouldn't be a total gain for the school district, Allen said. That's because state funding would decrease as the assessed valuation increased.

Allen estimated that the school district could lose half of the money it gains in local tax dollars through a corresponding reduction in state funding.

Rather than being paid $2,600 to $2,800 in state funding per student, the district might receive only $1,400 to $1,500 in state foundation money for each child enrolled, Allen said.

Even so, the district should come out ahead financially, he said. "We feel like overall it would be beneficial to the district."

The county's economy would benefit too, Robinson said.

20 to 25 employees

The plant would employ 20 to 25 people, said John Gibson, director of site development for the company. Salaries would average $65,000. That would generate a total payroll of at least $1.3 million.

Kinder Morgan plans to spend $4 million a year in salaries, benefits and operating costs, money that Robinson said would go into the local economy.

There's also the cost of construction. The $250 million price tag includes $75 million in actual construction. The other $175 million would be primarily in equipment, but also would include land costs, Robinson said.

The company currently has an option on 120 acres of land, but the plant itself would occupy 22 acres.

The project is expected to result in at least 200 construction jobs for nearly two years.

But those jobs likely would be taken by non-union workers, most of them from outside the area, said Dale Roth, business agent for the Carpenters District Council of Greater St. Louis. The district, which covers eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, has about 20,000 members.

The carpenters union has lobbied against project. Union officials recently voiced their opposition in meetings with aides to Gov. Bob Holden and with the director of the DNR, Stephen Mahfood.

Roth said he expects other labor unions also will oppose the project.

But Kinder Morgan officials insist that while the job may be awarded to a non-union contractor, many of the construction jobs likely would be filled by local craftsmen.

"If you can hire locally, that makes the best sense," said Gibson. There are higher expenses with workers from outside the area because of lodging costs, he said.

Mark Reitzel, who farms near Whitewater, Mo., worries that the project would do more economic harm than good.

Reitzel lives about a mile from the plant. He and his neighbors are worried that the plant will lower their property values.

Reitzel said the plant would be good for those who sell land to Kinder Morgan. "Everyone else around, they are just going to have a bad deal," he said.