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– The Stutsman County Commission by a 4-1 vote Tuesday approved a plan by the Jamestown Stutsman Development Corporation to contribute .75 million dollars to build a railroad loop at the Spiritwood Energy Park east of Jamestown.

The county’s share of the project is $375,000 worth of economic development money.

The plan would create a joint venture between the JSDC and Great River Energy called the Spiritwood Energy Park Association, which would then build the railroad loop on a 551-acre parcel of land and lease land to future tenants. The plan and expenditure of money is contingent on the anchor tenant Dakota Spirit AgEnergy receiving the financing needed to build its planned hybrid bio-refinery.

Commissioner Dave Schwartz voted against approval of the plan Tuesday, suggesting the commission table it to a later meeting so they could gather more information. With the county already facing mounting road costs due to flooding issues, Schwartz wondered how the county would pay to upgrade a road from Interstate 94 to the energy park that would likely deteriorate and need upgrades with more truck traffic traveling on it.

JSDC CEO Connie Ova countered that it is not the JSDC’s responsibility to maintain or upgrade roads. Al Christianson with Great River Energy says the company would be willing to pay its fair share if a special assessment was done to repair or upgrade the road. Road upgrades within the energy park are set to be assessed to the tenants of the park.

The JSDC board unanimously recommended approval of the project in November, and the city council approved it on Monday. The county was the last entity needed to move the project on to the next step. Dakota Spirit AgEnergy plans to know by the end of March if it will have the funding secured to build its planned bio-refinery.