High wire corridor project could lead to 40 new jobs
Members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners gave their approval to the submitting of a grant application on behalf of Moran Iron Works (MIW) to seek funding for a high wire freight corridor from their company headquarters west of Onaway, to the deep water port of Calcite in Rogers City. The project would include the raising of electric, cable, and phone lines, mostly on M-68, at a cost of $440,000, of which Moran has pledged to pay the 10 percent required match. It could lead to the addition of 40 new jobs at MIW.
Commissioner Mike Darga said the application deserved the county?s support, ?with their track record and all those jobs in the future.? The preliminary application for a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant was approved by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation?s Strategic Fund Board, which invited the county to submit the full application. Before that could be done, a public hearing had to be conducted.
IN ATTENDANCE was MIW owner Tom Moran; Mary Ann Heidemann, County Development Commission director; Onaway City Commission representatives; and business owners from Rogers City. Mike Lynch, owner of the Ford dealership on the corner of US-23 and M-68, said he is concerned that the delivery route will take vehicles around the business district at the intersection.
The proposed route would take the freight along Airport Road in Rogers City, across County Road 451, to US-23. The highly specialized components could not go through downtown Rogers City. Lynch said while he supports the project, and wished Moran well in the endeavor, he prefers seeing the freight going through the US-23, M-68 intersection, and asked planners to consider it. From US-23/M-68, the freight would go south. The freight delivery vehicle also would bypass downtown Onaway, but eventually end up back on M-68 on its way to Rogers City. MIW staffers counted all the lines that needed to be raised, and that?s how they came up with the cost estimate.
Lynch believes Airport Road will turn into a bypass around the business district. He also said the road could ultimately be paved, if Airport Road isn?t able to handle the weight of the large items, some of which are 150 tons. Proposed plans do not include improvements to the dirt road.
Lynch said he has support from other business owners at that intersection. Jackie Viegelahn, store director of Glen?s Market, was the only other business representative at Wednesday?s meeting.
THE FULL APPLICATION will include comments from Lynch and Viegelahn, but the final routes will be decided by engineers. The
Commissioners around the table praised Moran and his company. One commissioner called the MIW a ?tremendous asset.? Chairman Allan Bruder said the project ?deserved full support,? and thanked Heidemann for her work because ?this is what the CDC was formed for.? Moran said the project ?gained validity? when Heidemann became involved.
By unanimous vote, the commissioners approved a resolution to support the project. MIW was recently recognized by DTE Energy for saving the utility more than $25 million dollars. The company completed Phase 1 of DTE?s Selective Catalytic Reduction project.