Support for continued environmental testing at an industrial site in Oxford Twp. was high as long as the actual cleanup doesn’t involve local tax dollars.
‘It’s part of the cost of development,? said Treasurer Joe Ferrari. ‘That should not be up to the taxpayers.?
Township officials June 27 voted 4-3 to send a letter to Oakland County encouraging use of its brownfield assessment grant dollars for a Phase II environmental testing of the former Odyssey Industries site at 925 N. Lapeer Road.
Brownfields are industrial and commercial properties which are contaminated, abandoned, under-used or obsolete. There are between 600 and 900 brownfield sites located throughout the county.
The county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority works with developers to obtain funding ? provided through grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ? for the first two phases of environment assessments. Financing is also available to remediate sites, thus offsetting development costs.
Located on the west side of M-24 (north of Market St. and across from Meijer), the 21-acre site being targeted for a Phase II assessment used to house Odyssey Industries until it moved to Orion two years ago.
Longtime residents will remember the property as the old Sea Ray facility in operation from the early 1960s through early 1990s.
Talon Development Group, of Bloomfield Hills, has an agreement in place with owner Randy Bellestri to purchase the property and redevelop it into a commercial mix of retail, office, hotel and outlot buildings.
No site plans have been approved by the township.
A Phase II environmental assessment, which will cost $30,000 or more, includes soil sampling and ground water testing. It’s designed to give the developer a better understanding of the contamination’s extent and what might be required in terms of cleaning up the site.
‘At this point in time, we don’t know what we’re going to find,? said Michael Polsinelli, president and CEO of Talon Development Group. ‘We have no idea what’s there. A lot of speculation has come up. We’ve received phone calls from residents about things they claim they’ve seen.?
Conducted by the Brighton-based ASTI, a Phase I environmental assessment has already been completed and paid for using county brownfield funding.
‘In the process of performing their Phase I, they did come across a number of RECs, which are Recognized Environmental Conditions,? Polsinelli said.
Phase I involves examining and reviewing historical documentation related to the site including previous environmental investigations
‘If they find anything of record or anything suspicious or anything relative to a report (from) the prior business, that becomes an REC,? Polsinelli explained.
Some of the RECs identified include:
n Well water with arsenic levels above county standards. All the tenants currently in the building must use bottled water.
n A plume of soil contamination near M-24.
n Two adjoining septic fields where hazardous substances and petroleum products may have entered the drain fields.
n A 2,000-gallon underground storage tank that used to hold leaded and unleaded gasoline.
n Two former soil stockpiles.
n Four former underground storage tanks, three fuel pump areas and five former machine pits.
n Two historic above-ground storage tanks that once contained acetone and waste acetone.
Township officials were all for a Phase II assessment and working with the county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, but wished to make it clear they will not agree to anything that captures local tax dollars ? be it abatements, incentives or tax increment financing ? to help the developer pay for cleaning up the site.
‘If I’m going to give an abatement, I’m going to lower tax millage rates for everybody and give everybody a tax break,? Ferrari said.
‘It needs to state up front that we’re not in favor of any future requests for tax abatements,? said Trustee Sue Bellairs.
In its letter to the county, the township stated, ‘With the state budget crisis directly impacting local units of government, the township cannot afford to forego any potential future tax revenues associated with this site.?
‘With the state budget being so tight, we’ve got to be very cautious of that,? Ferrari said.
Polsinelli noted he’s not asking for any tax abatement or incentives right now, only a letter of support from the township so he can get brownfield grant dollars from the county to pay for the Phase II assessment.
He also pointed out that there are a number of brownfield incentives that could help pay for the cleanup, if necessary, without capturing local tax dollars.
Bellairs asked if an ‘extensive? cleanup of the site was required, would Talon Development be able to pay for it all out of its own pocket.
‘No, we would not,? replied Polsinelli. ‘The project could not support extensive remediation.?
‘If our cost and exposure are such that (it) doesn’t make this thing work, and we walk away, then you’re sitting with Sea Ray as it is currently with six or seven little tenants in there and no redevelopment,? he said.
But there’s no way of knowing unless a Phase II assessment is conducted.
Rather than say they ‘will not agree? to capturing any local tax dollars, Polsinelli asked officials if they could simply say, in a ‘softer way,? they’re ‘not in favor of? the idea.
‘All you’re saying is you’re not in favor, you didn’t say no, but you didn’t say yes,? he said. ‘The door could be closed, but not necessarily locked.?
If the township appears to be dead set against local tax incentives, Polsinelli said, ‘there’s a very good chance? the county will decide not to fund the Phase II assessment and invest the money in another project elsewhere.
But a majority of the township board didn’t agree to soften the letter’s language. ‘There’s no sense leading anybody on either way,? Bellairs said.