by Theodore Wiesehan

    If all goes according to plan, Seward County will join the growing ranks of ethanol production by the end of 2008 or early 2009.
     Representatives from Central Bio-Energy, LLC, met with the Seward County Commissioners during the board's Oct. 31 meeting.
     Senior Vice President of Operations Dennis Schulz, Senior Vice President of Development Danny Petersen and Tim White outlined their company's plans to build a $160 million ethanol plant east of Tamora capable of producing 100 million gallons of ethanol per year.
     They emphasized their desire to be a beneficial part of the community and to utilize local investment, corn and employees.
     "We're all Nebraska-born and bred and we're here for a reason," Schulz told the board.
     The plant would provide a major economic boon to the county.
     "You're talking about a plant that's going to be approximately $160 million injected into the Seward County economy," Schulz said.
     In addition to the amount of property tax dollars such an investment would provide the county - Schulz estimated a minimum of $1 million annually - the plant is expected to provide approximately 65 jobs with salaries ranging from $40,000 to $50,000 per year and a benefits package worth "a minimum of one-fourth of the salary." Schulz also estimated that building the plant would add around 200 construction jobs.
     Most of the 36 to 40 million bushels of corn needed for ethanol production will come from local producers, the company representatives said. Due to seasonal fluctuation in the availability of local corn, however, they said the company will require additional corn to be shipped in to continue year-round production.
     The plant's by-products will benefit area producers, as well, as the company anticipates selling one-third to one-half of the corn mash locally as animal feed, with the remainder to be shipped elsewhere.
     Representatives said the plant's water needs would average 350 million gallons per year, approximately 60 percent of which would be returned to the local watershed. They stressed that the plant plans to use the most water-efficient technology on the market.
     Initially the company plans to produce strictly corn-based ethanol, but the representatives said they are exploring new options - such as biodiesel - and new technologies further down the line.
     The Seward County plant is one of three planned by Central Bio-Energy, LLC. The company also plans ethanol production sites near St. Paul and Imperial.
     The representatives told the board that the company hopes to locate significant investment locally and will offer subscriptions on the local level before seeking outside funding.
     The company still needs a water study from the Upper Big Blue Natural Resource District before plans can move forward.
     In an unrelated matter, Seward County Road Superintendent Russ Daehling told the board that national and local candidates Pete Ricketts and Curt Friesen met with Cordova residents Oct. 27 to hear complaints about the paving schedule of 462nd Road.
     Daehling said the citizens of Cordova reiterated their intent to secede from Seward County if commissioners do not step up the road's paving schedule, currently set for 2011.
     In other business the board:
     - heard a report from Seward County Emergency Manager and Weed Superintendent Gary Petersen about a grant available for weed management from the Environmental Trust:
     - after a public hearing in which no one spoke, approved a conditional use permit for United Farmers Cooperative to change land zoned commercial ag business to ag district southwest of Tamora where the company plans to build a dry fertilizer warehouse;
     - authorized the chairman to sign the title sheet and agreement with Nebraska Department of Roads for a bridge project in southeast Beaver Crossing;
     - authorized Road Superintendent Russ Daehling to advertise for professional engineering consulting services;
     - appointed Sherry Luebbe to the at-large position on the Seward County Extension Board and reappointed Joan Gloystein as the extension board's representative for District 3; and
     - heard a report from Seward County Clerk Sherry Schweitzer that volunteers who provide work in an abandoned cemetery would not be covered under the county's liability insurance and therefore would have to provide their own insurance.