WICU12

 It's costing Erie City Council more than expected to fight the proposed tires to energy plant.  CLICK FOR VIDEO  New questions, tonight, about the city's legal fight, over the proposed tires-to-energy plant. An attorney, hired by council, is exceeding his budget.

Council is appealing a ruling by the Erie Zoning Hearing Board that says the city's zoning ordinance is exclusionary against power plants. The ordinance states that smokestacks in a manufacturing zone cannot exceed 100 feet. The developers of the tires to energy plant say the ordinance is unfair against power plants because those types of facilities need smokestacks higher than 100 feet.

The zoning board agreed.  Council hired a Philadelphia attorney to appeal the zoning board's ruling.  The spending limit set by council was $6700.  The attorney is already $1900 dollars over budget.  

One council member is worried that number will grow, and says this is a case that should have been handled by the city solicitor anyway.

"The city solicitor, whether he likes it or not, has to represent us.  And so we have our own attorney who should be representing us at no cost.  To spend our entire professional services budget on this attorney, who we knew was going to exceed the amount.  He's already exceeded the amount.  It's going to continue to grow.  I have no insight of how long this case will go on," said Councilman Jim Thompson.

The Sinnott administration hasn't really gone on record as to how it feels on the tires to energy plant. So council decided they wanted to hire their own attorney to handle the appeal, instead of the solicitor.

Meanwhile, the state still has to grant the developers an operating permit. And, most importantly, the sales agreement for the developers to buy the land to build the plant was canceled. That issue will also be decided in the courts, and without that agreement, every other matter pertaining to the plant would be moot.

John Last