Cascade County loan will help Montana Specialty Mills plant explore move

Cascade County commissioners plan to loan Montana Specialty Mills http://www.mtspecialtymills.com/ up to $50,000, at the company’s request, so the oilseed processor can investigate expanding or moving.

MSM also is suing Cascade County over pollution on its property at 415 3rd Ave. N.W.

By SONJA LEE
Tribune Staff Writer

But county officials say there is no connection between the suit and the Community Development Block Grant, a forgivable loan the westside company is seeking with the help of the Great Falls Development Authority.

"This cannot be construed in any way, shape or form as an attempt to settle," Deputy County Attorney Greg Bonilla said.

MSM sued Cascade County in 1998, alleging spills, leaks and other releases of hazardous substances migrated onto its property. The county maintains it is not responsible.

The Department of Environmental Quality is investigating a 12-acre strip of property upon which sits the Cascade County shops, MSM, the J Bar T tavern and West Bank Park. Several potential polluters, including an oil refinery, have occupied the West Bank area over the years.

MSM, which employs about 25 full-time people in Great Falls and Conrad, buys more than $5 million in agricultural commodities from regional growers each year, according to the county.

Company officials have considered expanding the local operation over the last several years, but are limited by the thin strip of land on which it is located.

The loan would allow MSM to complete a business expansion engineering study.

"I think we are being active in promoting a business that is good for agricultural producers in northcentral Montana," Commissioner Tom Stelling said.

The money would come from the county’s Community CDBG revolving loan fund. If MSM chooses to move out of the county, the loan would be repaid. If it stays, it would not, Commissioner Peggy Beltrone said.

The development authority also could help repay the amount with bonds and other programs, Beltrone said.

"It’s a good thing for the company, it’s good for us and it is a good thing for the agricultural community," GFDA President John Kramer said.

MSM attorney Tom Marra said he couldn’t comment on the $50,000 loan.

The company is waiting for the commission to vote at its regular meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Courthouse Annex.

Commissioners plan to apply for a federal Environmental Protection Agency "brownsfields" grant to clean up and redevelop the state superfund site, which includes MSM and the Cascade County road and bridge department. Brownsfields are abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.

The county is working on a $3,650 contract with Maxim Technologies of Missoula to prepare the application.

That money also would come from the CDBG revolving loan fund.

In early September, the GFDA announced that it will study how best to use 45 acres of land near West Bank Park.

The $50,000 study will determine whether the existing industrial properties could be relocated to make way for commercial development.

It will include property along 3rd Street Northwest to the south of the new Stockman Bank, 711 3rd St. N.W.

County officials contributed $7,000 to that study, but again said they are not admitting responsibility for the area’s past pollution problems.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20021006/localnews/230692.html