LEE COUNTY – Lee County officials have announced a meeting Wednesday to inform the public about the ongoing negotiations with Mesabi Metallics, the company wanting to build a $15 billion steel facility in Iowa.
Lee County Auditor Sherri Yasenchok sent out a special meeting notice Monday afternoon announcing the meeting set for 6 p.m. at Quality Inn and Suites in Fort Madison. There will be an online option and the meeting was moved to accommodate a larger attendance. It will also be recorded for review.
Lee County Board Chair Ginger Knisley said two representatives from Mesabi will be at the meeting along with officials from Lee County Economic Development Group and Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission.
Knisley said the county board intends to vote on a resolution on the following Tuesday, six days from the public meeting, that would allow the project to move forward with IEDA.
“I had my reservations about six days, but that will be signing the resolution to keep the process moving forward with IEDA. There are further agreements and contracts that need to take place, is my understanding,” she said.
Mesabi is currently under a 60-day exclusivity deal that would expire in the first days of December, so the county has been on a clock to get something resolved with the company.
Lee County Supervisors Garry Seyb and Denise Fraise have been the two from the board involved in the ongoing discussions. The other three supervisors, Tim Wondra, Chuck Holmes and Knisley have been brought up to speed on the negotiations, Fraise said.
Seyb said his hope is that Emily Benjamin, President of LCEDG, will discuss incentive packages that have been tentatively agreed to, while Mesabi will be giving a high-level look at the proposed facility.
“They’re going to discuss the project and this will be the first high-level look the public has seen,” he said. “This will be an informational meeting and our chair wants to give the community time to comment and hear those details.”
Seyb said this is shaping up to be a generational project for Lee County. He said the county can take the time they need to review the “term sheet”, and respond to public comment, but there is a ticking clock.
“I think we can take the time we need, but there is a time frame here and IEDA cannot move forward until there’s an incentive agreement at the local level,” he said.
“There is a clock ticking and, for it to move forward, there has to be an agreement in place. A week gives time for the information to be digested by the public. And anyone can call us anytime or email us. We’re all accessible. It’s been on people’s minds for a quite a period of time.”
According to the IEDA, Mesabi must first file a formal application with the state. Second, the department and the company must negotiate and finalize an actual contract. Third, the IEDA board must approve that final deal.
The Minnesota-based company owned by The Essar Group of Mumbai, India, is considering building in Lee County and would feed the facility from its own iron ore operations on Minnesota’s Iron Range.
Mesabi was offered $1.4 billion in benchmarked incentives by the state. Those incentives are amortized over 10 years and are triggered by employment and development thresholds.
According to a preliminary economic impact assessment done by Mesabi in September, the project will generate total annualized state and local revenues of $228 million; create 7,041 jobs including construction phases; generate $5.59 of incremental tax revenues for every public dollar invested in the program; and create a total annual GDP of $4.8 billion.
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