BY MELISSA DOMSIC
GREILICKVILLE -- Some Elmwood Township residents and others continue to oppose Wolverine Power Cooperative's plans for an electrical transmission substation, but the project's fate is up to state officials.
Wolverine and its co-op member Cherryland Electric Cooperative want permission from the Michigan Public Service Commission to bypass Elmwood Township ordinances and build the facility near the corner of Bugai Road and M-72 in Elmwood Township.
"Cosmetically, this is going to have an impact, economically this is going to have an impact," said Vicki Middleton, who lives near the proposed site. "This is all again corporate big bucks going another route, and us people ... can't really fight these big leagues."
The utilities requested a certificate of public convenience and necessity to build the substation. The MPSC will meet Dec. 18 at 9 a.m. in Lansing to determine a date for a public hearing.
This process culminates about a year of disputes between Wolverine, township officials and residents, including lawsuits and a zoning ordinance amendment.
Wolverine in May offered site-plan changes designed to minimize noise and the visual impact of the facility, but many residents maintained their opposition and the township board never acted on the plan.
Recently elected township Supervisor Jack Kelly plans to attend the MPSC meeting in Lansing to represent the township's position.
The township has new board members, so Wolverine might want to revisit the issues, he said.
"We'll just have to wait and see whether or not Wolverine Power wants to continue with the process," Kelly said.
Township board members opted against filing as an intervener in the MPSC case because of high costs for legal and technical expertise. Also, the amended zoning ordinance, which may or may not apply to Wolverine, is irrelevant to the MPSC, said township attorney Jim Young.
"The MPSC has the authority to totally ignore any township ordinance as part of its decision," Young said.
Members of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council sent a letter to MPSC officials, urging them to deny Wolverine's request and send it back for local planning control.
"From an environmental point of view, how it looks and what damage it does by way of high voltage radiation have to be taken into consideration when you site the place," said Bob Marshall, a member of the environmental group.
Power lines for Cherryland, Traverse City Light & Power and Consumers Energy would be connected to the station. Wolverine and Light & Power plan to share construction costs for the multi-million dollar project.
Wolverine agreed to purchase land for the substation from township Trustee Terry Lautner, who also is a Cherryland director and former board chairman for Wolverine.
More information
For a copy of Wolverine's application, search case number U-15680 under "electronic case filings" on the documents library page at www.mi.gov/mpsc.
