Its time for a reality check, when it comes to the state of the roadways in Northeast Missouri. There has been a substantial amount of talk throughout the rumor mill regarding how the roads are "already better"🤣or are going to be better than they were before construction on the High Prairie project began. We hope that is correct, but the numbers just do not add up.
In order for this project to happen, three entities had to sign agreements with Terra-Gen: the Schuyler County Commissioners, the Adair County Commissioners and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). All three entities dropped the ball, to say the least.
Let's start with the agreement between Terra-Gen and the Commissioners (this applies to both Schuyler and Adair County's commissioners). On April 23, 2018 these commissioners signed what we will refer to as Road Use Agreements. These agreements gave assent to Terra-Gen to not only cross roadways with their electrical lines, but also gave Terra-Gen and its contractors use of "roads, highways, bridges and right of ways for the purpose of building and operating" the project. There is a significant portion of these agreements that are concerning. If you want to read the entire agreement for yourself, you can access Schuyler County's agreement here. Both agreements are also available via the Public Service Commission Docket #EA-2018-0202
Each county was paid $5,000 for signing the agreement in April 2018. They then got an additional payment of $5,000 in December 2019. On May 21, 2019, the counties were paid $75,000 per the agreement, 90 days prior to the commencement of construction. In total, $85,000. Sounds great, right? Well, not so fast.
The agreements in their entirety are greatly lacking in substance, forethought or protection for the counties. One of the excerpts we find laughable is:
Let us not pretend that they have any concern for public safety, especially not for those who live within the project footprint or travel through.
In some mediocre attempt to pretend they had any authority left, the commissioners signed the below agreement with Blattner Energy. The funny part, they have no authority (as nothing is outlined in the Road Use Agreement) to really enact any of these points. Furthermore, if and when (and they have) Blattner or Terra-Gen breaks these rules, what are the consequences? There are NONE.
The best way to truly see the inadequacies of the agreements between the counties and Terra-Gen, is to compare them to a more adequate agreement. We obtained the agreement that Douglas County, Illinois made with the wind company there, it is not perfect, but it is definitely better than what was agreed upon here. This project is smaller than the High Prairie project and was completed within the past month. You can see the entire document here, but we felt it necessary to point out some of the more obvious deficits:
Prior to construction a Transportation Impact Analysis will be submitted to the county that will include: construction routes, bridges and culverts impacted, an inspection report, a map of the project, information from core samples, information about equivalent single axle loads along with weights and sizes of construction components, a schedule of load deliveries, activities related to local road use, designated haul routes with a Project Traffic Map, a plan for pre-construction improvements and the projected scope of repairs with estimated costs.
Retainment of an Engineer to inspect all roads prior to construction.
The county authority may reserve the right to reject pre-construction road improvements and rejected work must be made acceptable prior to proceeding with construction.
All underground collection systems and road access entrances will be marked prior to construction and will need to be approved prior to construction. Locations of these items must provide favorable conditions and not interfere with the safe and free movement of traffic while providing safety and convenience.
The wind company will be fully responsible for reimbursing owners of public utilities for any damage or injury to property caused by activities and operations.
All crane road crossings shall be identified prior to construction and are subject to approval. Local authorities may impose restrictions to minimize road damage.
Prior to construction, the wind company must meet with local school officials to find acceptable routes that ensure the safe and timely transport of students
General contractors, contractors, subcontractors and supplies must submit sworn statements to agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the road use agreement.
All utility interruptions should be coordinated with local utilities and notifications should be made to local law enforcement and emergency services
Delivery tickets should be given to local authorities so an effort can be made to monitor weighs of construction vehicles with destinations identified.
Project traffic shall be scheduled to minimize impact on local traffic and priority will be given to emergency vehicles, rural mail delivery, transportation of children and agricultural transportation. A Plan of Day report regarding closures and roadway activity shall be shared with local school districts, postmasters, emergency services, local law enforcement and other deemed necessary.
If local weather events make road conditions hazardous for the public, roads may be closed to construction traffic.
Construction traffic will be limited to 30 mph on gravel roads.
If road conditions degrade to the point they are not safe for the general public, the road may be closed until repaired.
Road closures will have time limits. If roads remain closed longer than the approved limits, there will be a $1,000 fine for every 30 minutes past the approve closure period.
Construction traffic shall exclusively use designated routes, if not, a $5,000 fine per occurrence will be imposed. Drivers who violate this, may be prohibited from providing further services to the project
The wind company shall keep the road clear of mud, dirt, debris, garbage, obstructions or hazards.
If potholes that make local travel hazardous are not repaired within 24 hours, a $1,000 fine per occurrence may be imposed.
Parties hired for road repairs, must be pre-qualified and approved by local authorities
Evidence of Commercial General liability insurance coverage of at least $10,000,000.
Proof of a Letter of Credit for 125% of the cost of the Projected Scope of Repairs
Reimbursement for emergency services to respond to incidents related to construction.
Reimbursement for costs incurred related to traffic signs, outside consultants, etc.
A $20,000 line of credit for local authorities to use to pay professional consultants or emergency repair work.
Vehicles that violate oversize and overweight permits or use roads not designated, will be fined $1,000 per occurrence.
A yearly fee of $1,500 per mile of local road used within the project as an annual maintenance permit fee.
In the event of repowering the turbines or other extraordinary repairs and maintenance, a new transportation impact analysis and letter of credit will be provided prior to the start of repairs.
A new Road Use Agreement will be needed in the event of decommissioning.
The list could go on and on, these were the most relevant points we felt needed to be known. Yet, let's talk about what people are really concerned about...the money.
Per the Douglas County agreement:
Broadlands shall pay to the Road Authority a fee of fifteen thousand dollars
($15,000.00) for each Turbine to be erected in connection with the Project within the
Road Authority’s jurisdiction (the “Road Permits Fee”) payable as follows : (a) a onetime
lump sum payment of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) within 15 business days of the execution of this Agreement; (b) a one-time lump sum payment of Five Thousand
Dollars ($5,000.00) at the time Broadlands submits its Siting Approval Application in
accordance with the County’s WECS Ordinance (c) a one-time lump sum payment of
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) when the Transportation Impact Analysis is
delivered to the Road Authority pursuant to Section 2(B)(1) and (d) the remaining
balance, if any, at least thirty (30) days before the commencement of the pre-construction
road improvements within the corporate boundaries of the Road Authority.
The Douglas County project is a 49 turbine project, so based on our calculations and the above paragraph, the payment would have totaled $735,000. Had the Schuyler or Adair County Commissioners had any sense, they could have used an agreement like this one and for a 175 turbine project, they could have received $2,625,000 for both counties, instead of a measly $170,000. Talk about an epic failure. If it is really, all about the money, for counties that are constantly complaining of not having enough money, why didn't they ask for more? Why didn't they make any effort to actually protect and support local residents?
There is one other entity that failed in regards to this project, and that is MoDOT. We want to make this very clear, however, this does NOT pertain to the local crews. These decisions came from upper management, in regional and state positions.
MoDOT signed an agreement with Terra-Gen in January 2020, regarding road use and maintenance. You can see it, in its entirety, here. This agreement makes MoDOT solely responsible for maintenance and repairs of state managed roadways for the reasonable price of $2,800,000:
As MoDOT is a public entity, a person can find just about any information they like, if they just take the time to look and ask. Per MoDOT, it costs $22,000 per mile to resurface one lane of a minor highway. That means, both lanes cost $44,000 per mile. If you add up the mileage of the minor highways, or blacktops, within the project footprint (Routes V, D, A, J, E, O, and T), there are approximately 73 miles of affected roadways. Seventy three miles at $44,000 per mile is $3,212,000. Now, this cost is just to resurface, many of the roads need more than solely resurfaced. As a reminder, MoDOT only received $2,800,000 for their work during and after construction to maintain and repair the roads. Those numbers don't quite add up, do they? All the work they are currently doing - digging up the roads, filling them with rock, etc. - comes out of the $2.8 million. Honestly, that $3.212 million would be a bare minimum cost for repairs and that does not include repairs that may be needed for Highways 136, 63, 6 or others. Simply, there is NOT enough money for all these roads to be "better than they were before."
If this still isn't enough proof for you, look no further than MoDOT's budget. Looking at trends, the money simply isn't there. Also, due to the recent COVID pandemic, MoDOT has been forced to make budget cuts, reducing salaries and workers' hours, as has every state agency. Not only was no plan made for repairs related to the project, via the Highway and Bridge Construction Schedule, even though the High Prairie project has been in planning stages since at least 2016, but there is just simply not going to be additional money available for a part of the state that is frequently written off and forgotten.
Just to drive the point home because for some, its hard to comprehend reality, are these roads safe for children in buses as school will likely be restarting in some capacity soon? Since it is, all for the children...
For those that have had to make repairs to their vehicles due to the poor condition of the roads, we recommend Making a Claim to MoDOT. You can also Report Road Conditions if desired.
If you cannot bring yourself to believe words, here are some pictures:
UPDATE July 20, 2020
After posting the original blog, we had a few things brought to our attention. First, we had some additional pictures sent to us:
Secondly, the commissioners (Schuyler County at least) continue to refuse to take responsibility for the fact that they approved and allowed this project. Without their approval, this project may not be happening. They failed to perform proper vetting, or any research at all. Instead, they are going to stick with, "there is nothing they can do."
Finally, we want to make something clear regarding the MoDOT funds. MoDOT is encouraging people to make claims and file reports regarding the roadways. State funding is impacted by a concentrated area of reports. Essentially, they try to funnel more state funds to an area with more complaints. MoDOT wants to use state funding to correct the problems here, to correct their incompetence when requesting compensation initially. Here is our question: Why is state funding being used to correct a massive issue that was created by PRIVATE companies? Why are your tax dollars being used to fix Ameren, Terra-Gen and Blattner's destruction?
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