Planning commission approves permits for Xcel Energy's move

IRONWOOD - A site plan and conditional use permit for Xcel Energy's move into Ironwood's industrial park were approved Thursday by the planning commission.

Russ Kiviniemi, a professional engineer with Cedar Corporation, of Menomonie, Wis., outlined project plans for Xcel, with a half-dozen citizens attending the public hearing.

Kiviniemi said some wetland permits from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality must still be obtained, but the company doesn't anticipate any major snags.

Xcel purchased 15.7 acres in the park to build a new office, replacing the one on Alfred Wright Boulevard. A metal storage building may be added in a few years, but Kiviniemi said there should be no other building on the site in the near future. Ten of the 15.7 acres will be used for the new building, parking and buffer zones.

There will also be a seven-foot high chain-link fence around the site, with barbed wire on top.

Kiviniemi said there is a small wetlands area, less than five acres, in the middle of the site, near Liberty Street. Stormwater run-off is planned into two ponds, which will discharge into a ditch along Liberty Street.

There will be 65 trees planted at the site, with buffer zones on the east and south sides.

"Xcel strives to make its sites attractive," Kiviniemi said.

Betsy Pekuri asked about the project timeline. Plans call for the site to be cleared this year, with construction to begin next year. It may be completed by the fall of 2016.

Roger Pekuri had questions about the lighting. Kiviniemi said it will be directional lighting on 17-foot high poles and it shouldn't bother the neighbors.

Planning commission members learned that the current office site on Alfred Wright Boulevard will continue to be used by Xcel, but the service center and a garage there will be torn down.

Planning commission member Joe Cayer Sr. said the present Xcel site is next to an old mineshaft. He said while Xcel constructed a new substation in anticipation of a renewal of mining here, the company should replace its overhead wires.

Cayer praised Xcel for "going the distance to put an industrial area next to a residential area," a reference to the buffer that will exist between the new development and private homes.

The conditional use permit approved by the planning commission is for storage of equipment at the site.

Debra Bell, of Xcel Energy's real estate division, said the typical hours at the new center will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., but there could be call-outs for catastrophic events around the clock.

Cayer said there are no problems with noise or traffic at the Alfred Wright site.

No one spoke in opposition to Xcel locating in the park.

From 12 to 15 people will be employed in the new Xcel facility. Kiviniemi said Xcel could have chosen to move out of the city. "It's nice to have Xcel stay in Ironwood," he said.

The land was sold by the city for $2,000 an acre, the standard rate in the industrial park.