DOT site information on the project near Le Mars.
The state Transportation Commission has approved a grant to build a roadway into proposed plant at a site in Plymouth County south of Le Mars.
Deb Arp of the DOT presented the proposal for what’s called a RISE grant. “The proposed roadway provides improved access to the bioenergy facility — a digester plant — and assists in the creation of five full-time jobs,” she says. “The facility will take waste from three dairies and process it to generate renewable natural gas. The development is anticipated to start construction later this year and to start production in the spring or summer of 2024.”
She says this is a local development grant and the county will help fund the project. She says the project will cost $1,585,556. The county requested a grant of $792,778, and will provide the other 50 percent cost of the project in a local match.
The Transportation Commission also approved a settlement Tuesday involving a rise grant for Burlington. “The city received a grant of $1,536,000 for roadway improvements contingent on the creation of 128 new jobs by General Electric within three years of project completion,” Arp says.
She says the company was only able to create around half the jobs. “In May of 2019 the roadway was open to traffic — however the company associated with this project was only able to create an average of 61 jobs within the allowable timeframe,” she says. Arp says the city has agreed to repay $233,123 from the grant.