FPL Supporters: testimony, correspondence

Correspondence and testimony
from FPL supporters
relative to FPL proposed power plant (RLEPP)
This web page is http://obri.net/stop/paidfor.html

Index to the web page below:
November 20 testimony to Board of Supervisors:
   Shirley Breckenridge
   Vic Shepherd
   Chris Darrow
   Robert McKenzie
   Lauren Monroe Jr.
   Darrell Nelson
   Roger Mitchell
   Charlea Moore

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 4:20 PM (Wearing Florida Power and Light T Shirt)
Shirley Breckenridge, Elverta. I’ve been a resident of Elverta most of the years since 1965. I don’t object to the power plant and I can’t imagine that the Energy Commission would be disapproving a project like this with the way our powers have been in the last year or so. FPL seems very willing to assist our community with various projects and additional tax base will be a needed boost to our sagging economy. I’ve been to several meetings, this is the first time they finally pushed me up here to say anything, but I know there’s a lot of other people that feel the same way I do. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 4:22 PM
Good afternoon. My name is Vic Shepherd. I’m a resident of Elverta. I am here representing (pause) myself as a member of the community. I would ask you to consider the (pause) what has been put before you for the rezoning or whatever term you want to give it and approve it send this project on to the CEC. A lot of the concerns that you’re going to hear today will be addressed there. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 4:38 PM (Wearing Florida Power and Light T Shirt)
Hello, my name’s Chris Darrow. I’m a resident Elverta. I have one daughter who attends kindergarten at Elverta Elementary School, where I’m also the secretary of the PTA. I just want to speak to you today to show support for this plant and the project. I believe this project will bring many benefits to my area, with increased jobs, increased tax revenues, for the school district, for the parks and recreation districts. I’ve read over for the plans and I believe that any environmental concerns are being accommodated by FPL. We are currently in a power crisis. One step that I feel is necessary is to overcome this crisis to build more power plants. The possibilities of SMUD purchasing electricity is a great benefit to Sacramento as a whole. I believe the concerns of most of all the residents can be accommodated. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 4:39 PM (Wearing Rio Linda Elverta Parks and Recreation District shirt)
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Robert McKenzie, I grew up in the Rio Linda area. I’m current Director of the Rio Linda Elverta Park District. I have a general contracting license, and I also have a qualified applicators license issued by the State of California for pesticide regulations. I currently work at a rice dryer north in Sutter County where I am a plant superintendent and safety director, soon to be General Manager if I can ever get the General Manager to go on fishing trips. Currently live at 79 Elverta excuse me El Verano Avenue in Elverta south I’m basically due I’m about a mile take that two miles east of the plant proposed plant. I live there with my wife, Sally and three girls, 18, 16 and 5, every one of them is very high maintenance. I welcome the challenge. It’s become quite apparent I’ll never do better than a four one vote on any dispute, so I lose every time. There’s been a lot of talk, as you can see, about the disputes and how the power plant is gonna come in there and pollute the environment. I’m here to state for the record that I talked to the lot of the people in the community, and I come up with 75 percent are in favor, and of those all opposed all have this fear factor, that they’re all gonna die of cancer, and that kinda alarms me that they get that kinda information. The many issues, for many others and myself, was the water supply. The water had me, I was basically dead in the water. I did not support the project until they solved the water issue. Jack DeWit brings his rice to me, I talked to him personally, Jack said he has more than enough water to supply the power plant. As far as doing any kind of crop, dry crops, that’s still something that Jack could go into, just rely on the rain, if it doesn’t rain, you don’t have a crop. That’s all he’s up against right there. Environmentally, I remember the days where the chicken ranches had chicken ranches everywhere. I look around, see a lot of people here in this room that survived all that methane gas. Now we can burn natural gas in cars and buses, and be environmentally friendly? Yet if we have a power plant with natural gas it’s gonna pollute the environment? I don’t understand that one.

Chairman Niello: Are you pretty close to a conclusion?

Right. In closing, let me state the reasons I’m for the power plant. California needs power to make the deregulation work, my rice drier needs power to supply 3400 horsepower, which I use, every year, on a daily basis. Rio Linda Elverta community will benefit from mitigation from this project, and I don’t need my wife and kids calling me at work saying they don’t have any power. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 4:44 PM (Wearing Rio Linda Elverta Parks and Recreation District shirt
Good afternoon, I’m Lauren Monroe Junior. I’m a long time resident of Rio Linda. Grew up there and just recently moved back there. I’m a member of the Elverta Rio Linda Park and Rec Board, I’m a member of the Lions club, I’m not representing any of those groups right now, just myself. I’m also a professional mechanical engineer, and I’ve worked around and on a cogeneration plant before, in Louisiana, and working for Freeport Sulfur Company, so I’m familiar with this type of power plant. I’m in favor of this plant for two reasons, one California needs the power, you heard that. The other reason is Rio Linda Elverta needs the tax base and the many other benefits that the power plant can bring to us. I believe we ought to leave it to the powers that be that we pay to evaluate these safety and health issues. And then, on one side note, just as a little bit of balance, I’d like to thank the Board and Roger Dickinson particularly for his support of our fiftieth anniversary out there at the Lions club, that was greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 5:06 PM
Good afternoon. My name is Darrell Nelson. I live on Dry Creek Road in Rio Linda. There is a compelling need in California for more energy, and thank you for allowing me to speak today. For those who know me have figured out that I’m always trying to turn negative situations into positive ones. This is another one of those cases and the Rio Linda Elverta community has a chance to obtain some financial help and we should sieze the opportunity. We must trust that the CEC will do their jobs and not allow a power company to construct something that is not safe. I have lived in Rio Linda for 34 years and businesses just do not want to come to our town. The power plant will generate three million dollars in tax revenue and the site in question was once approved for a power plant. My wife and I volunteer at Rio Linda Senior High school, and are trying to make a positve change in the way our children are tought. I have been assured by Florida Power and Light, that besides making a lot of money, their top priorities are education and the environment. By the time the power plant is built, the Rio Linda School district will be a unified kindergarten through 12th grade school district, and we are looking forward for possible significant scholarship foundation, event funding, new buses and other things that will directly benefit our children. This will of course need to be negotiated through this board, for leverage and maximum benefits. There are so many children in our school system that cannot participate in activities such as cheerleading, sports program, field trips, homecoming, junior prom and senior ball activities because of financial hardships. So on behalf of my family, we urge you to approve the zoning and allow the process to smoothly transfer to the CEC where we trust they will do their jobs. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 5:09 PM (Wearing Florida Power and Light T Shirt )
Good afternoon. Chairperson Niello, Board of Supervisors, my name is Roger Mitchell. I live in Rio Linda and have lived there most of my life. I’ve listened to most of the people this evening that have spoke to you on this issue, both pro and con, and you do have a difficult decision. I’m glad I’m not in your shoes, to be frank. But I find before I give you a couple of facts that I don’t think that are being mentioned. My being in the position of apologizing to some of you because I honestly believe that our right to come before you should be tempered with not using personal attacks. So I apologize to anybody that spoke before me that might have used those attacks. Couple things that you have done to prove that you are most assuredly taking care of that area out there, is, and I haven’t heard mentioned, you’ve mitigated junk yards in the area, illegal dumping of tires, it was years ago when I was just a rookie firefighter, fought many fires in illegal dumping, you’ve cleaned at a guess 90 percent of that up, you are sensitive to that area’s well being and to the residents of that area, you have shown that by your actions, not by your words. I would ask, if for all the people that are worried about the exhaust emissions from this plant, only because of my and I don’t mean to say expertise but in the gas turbine industry, why don’t we, including myself, come before you and complain of all the gas turbines that leave the airport. You know, I don’t hear that being said. I think you are concerned, and I think Florida Light and Power is concerned. Lastly, I would say that the water issue has been mitigated, and that I would ask you simply as one taxpayer in that area to listen to the facts, from both sides, pro and con. Please disregard all the rhetoric that you have heard; make a positive decision for the area in which each one of you are responsible for in the County. Because I don’t look at this as simply a Rio Linda Elverta issue; this is a County wide issue and we look to all of you for the proper decision. Thank you.

Testimony to Board of Sups 11/20/01 at 5:19 PM (Wearing Florida Power and Light T Shirt)
Good evening and thank you for allowing the public to have a chance to comment tonight. My name’s Charlea Moore, and I live in Elverta. As you’re aware, there was a previous project, SEPCO, approved as M2 because it involved manufacture of methane as part of that project; I really thought Bob McKenzie’s earlier comment about the chickens producing methane that didn’t harm us and that goes for cows and I might add, from personal experience, horses also. The project that would have been created was a much larger impact for noise pollution and toxic chemicals on our community then the project that is proposed now. SMUD chose to build a cogeneration plant at the Campbell soup company instead of in Rio Linda, and this area was left as IR with the M2 zoning. California needs power plants and this site has been slated for industrial reserve for over fifty years. The Board of Supervisors did approve a cogeneration plant on this site, and it is difficult for me to understand why this plant would be considered inconsistent with either the M2 or the IR zoning when the previous plant was considered consistent. The FPL proposal would offer much needed megawatts to the grid, with less pollution noise and traffic than the previous SEPCO proposal. The area is surrounded by other industrial uses including the fertilizer plant to the south, the gunite plant to the east, the major WAPA, which is Western Area Power Authority grid station to the north, and railroad tracks on the west. The land is not ever going to be anything other than industrial, and I fear the next project proposed for this area will be worse for the community impacts than this one. Therefore I’m asking that you approve the zoning consistency for the FPL parcel and allow the CEC to continue it’s hearing process for this plant. A group in the community has been distributing flyers, and I found out who it was (laugh) a little while ago, a - a - uh - a group in this community has been distributing flyers indicating the approval of the zoning consistency for this project would end life as you know it, water will be poisoned, pollution will suffocate the communities. I feel these types of scare tactics have caused many people to appear here today who are opposing the plant out of fear, rather than out of reason and knowledge.

Chairman Niello: Are you close to your conclusion?

Moore: I’m almost. One paragraph. Thank you.

I’m speaking for those who have looked at the facts regarding the project and they support it because Rio Linda and Elverta need a tax base, because California needs energy, and because we would like to have electricity in 2004 to light our Christmas trees. And just one last thing. Debbie mentioned a number of things that should not be included as part of the community benefit package and I would like to add to that list that the 12 million dollars to the Rio Linda Water district should not be part of the community benefit package. Thank you.

Supervisor Johnson: What should not?

Moore: Should not. There’s a proposal to give the Water district payments that amount to 12 million dollars.

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