8.3. SR 06-01-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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�j Elk = - Request for Action River To Item Number Mayor and City Council 8.3 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by General Business June 1, 2015 Cal Portner, City Administrator Item Description Reviewed by Resolution in Support of the Sandpiper Pipeline Project Reviewed by Action Requested Approve a resolution of support for the Sandpiper Pipeline Project. Background/Discussion The Sandpiper Project is an approximately 616-mile interstate crude oil pipeline that will bring growing supplies of North Dakota crude oil from our Beaver Lodge Station south of Tioga, North Dakota, to Clearbrook, Minnesota, and then into an existing Enbridge terminal in Superior,Wisconsin. The Sandpiper pipeline will follow Enbridge's existing Line 81 Pipeline to Clearbrook, then follows existing pipelines and transmission lines south and east to Superior. Subject to receiving applicable permits, Sandpiper will be in service in 2017. The mayor and city administrator met with Todd Olson of the National Resource Group to discuss the project and the current and future rail line impacts on Elk River. Mr. Olson has asked the city to support the project,which would lessen future oil transport through Elk River by rail. On April 13, 2015, the Administrative Law Judge assigned to the Sandpiper Pipeline Project recommended that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) grant a Certificate of Need Permit for the Project. This recommendation is significant and the MPUC will make a decision on the Certificate of Need next week. Sandpiper has broad and deep support throughout Minnesota. In January, more than 900 landowners and elected officials along our route, laborers, farmers, business people and more came out en masse to provide direct personal stories as to why this project is needed and how it will benefit Minnesota. They outnumbered opponents by more than a 2:1 margin. Approximately 60 Minnesota state legislators, 12 Chambers of Commerce, 6 county commissions and a variety of city, township, farm bureau, economic development groups and agricultural coops signed letters urging support of the Project. Several spoke from personal experience and testified to the company's commitment to safety and environmental stewardship. Sandpiper is important for the State of Minnesota. It will help address rail congestion throughout the state by transporting increased Bakken oil supplies by pipeline. Sandpiper will benefit Northern Minnesota communities with economic stimulus by generating an estimated $25 million in annual property taxes. Sandpiper also will create 1,500 family-sustaining construction jobs while providing an economic boost to the region's businesses during construction. p 0 W I R E a 0 NA UREJ