Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

Lake Township and Holmes Township have sent representatives to meetings with Aquila’s “Capacity Building Team,” which meets at the company’s office in Stephenson, Michigan, according to sources familiar with the meetings.

The working group has developed a draft “Community Agreement” that, if accepted, would require local units of government “not to oppose the mine or take any action which would serve to unreasonably delay the construction of the mine.”

In return, the company would make commitments still to be negotiated.

“Aquila is trying to trick townships and local governments into not opposing the mine,” said Tom Boerner, who owns property next to the proposed mine site. “If Aquila thought they were winning they wouldn’t be doing this.” Boerner, and other parties, have challenged two state permits for the mine in “contested case” administrative proceedings and in federal court.

The draft “Community Agreement” was marked “Confidential,” but has been widely circulated by sources who had access to the document. In it, Aquila states that it wants Menominee County, the city of Stephenson, Lake Township, Holmes Township, Daggett Township, the village of Daggett, and possibly others, to be parties to the contract.

Chantae Lessard, an Aquila representative, spoke about the proposed agreement on the record at the July 10 meeting of the Lake Township board of trustees. She stated that meetings of the company’s Capacity Building Team are by invitation only and declined to identify which local units of government have participated, according to a source who attended the meeting.

Aquila Resources did not respond to requests for comment on this report.