St. Marys considers 130 million upgrade to Charlevoix cement plant Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 10:00 am | Updated: 11:42 am, Wed Jan 14, 2015. By Lonnie Allen Courier editor CHARLEVOIX TWP. — St. Mary Cement Inc. is considering a $130 million upgrade to modernize the cement plant in Charlevoix. Marty Fallon, CEO of Votorantim Cement North America/St. Marys Cement Inc., presented the potential project during a public hearing on Monday with the Charlevoix Township Board of Trustees meeting. The plan in Charlevoix calls for the hiring 200 to 300 full-time employees for two years to handle the construction of the plant. Once construction is finished, the company would hire 10 full-time plant employees, Fallon said. The other option for St. Marys would be to reopen their plant in Dixon, Ill., Fallon said. In 2008, the construction market dropped off and St. Marys decreased their production of cement, but now the company seeks to increase production to meet market demands. We closed our facility in Dixon during the economic downturn, Fallon said. We now see the market recovering and with the demand for our materials coming back we have two options, expand in Charlevoix or reopen Dixon. Approximately 1.3 million tons of cement is produced annually in Charlevoix, but the expansion and modernization would allow for the production of nearly 2 million tons of cement, Fallon said. Government leaders in Illinois would like to see us put the money there and reopen, Fallon said. There are pros and cons for each site and both are attractive. In the end it depends on the numbers and our return on the $130 million investment. If the Charlevoix plant is improved and modernized, it would set us up for another 40 to 50 years of production. The public hearing took place to discuss on whether the township should create an an Industrial Development District. This would allow the township to give a tax abatement to the cement company if company officials choose this area over Illinois. Tom Erhart, Northern Lakes Economic Alliance entrepreneurship director, explained to township residents and officials about creating the Industrial Development District and how the tax abatement would not effect the current tax revenue. If the township was to go this route it could provide a 50 percent reduction on the property taxes for any new properties, Erhart said. It does not give abatement on the current property and it helps preserve the local tax base. Township officials still would need state approval before their Industrial Development District could issue a tax abatement for St. Marys. The township does have a step in this process, but the state has final say on the IDD and tax abatement, Erhart said. The township board tabled the Industrial Development District discussion and will host another meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 26, to decide the direction to take for St. Marys, said Charlevoix Township Board Supervisor Chuck Center. We want to do this right, Center said. We have enlisted the help from the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance to guide us through the process. I personally feel this project would be good for the Charlevoix community. Approximately 40 people attended the public hearing. It appeared from the comments that the community also supported the project. If somebody was coming to community to spend $130 million, as a board I would roll out the red carpet so they can come in so they could spend the money in this community, said John Haggard. It is more important for them to expand and create the jobs in this area than to wonder what the tax benefit will be to our local government. Tim Petrosky also would like to see the project move forward. One constant manufacturer in this areas has been this cement company, Petrosky said. This project is about providing good jobs to this area and I strongly urge the board to support this. “It’s quite a process but it’s $130 million of new construction and about 10 new jobs,” he said. “The neat thing about it is the longevity of the plant — if they spend $130 million in Charlevoix, they are going to be in Charlevoix for awhile.” The township board would like to have more public feedback on the matter before the next meeting. We want to our residents to know about this project, Center said. We are here to listen and answer their questions. Residents are encouraged to call (231) 547-4611 or email charsupervisor@chartwp. St. Marys is an important entity in this community, Center said. I think the numbers are there to show this is an important project. St. Marys employs 125 people here and thats money in our local economy.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 16:02:39 +0000