Geoff Hirson, president of Powerdyne, a California company, said he is getting “close” to not wanting to do business in Terre Haute.
Speaking after a special meeting of the City Council Thursday evening dealing with the city’s Powerdyne partnership and related agreements, Hirson told the Tribune-Star he would not set a deadline for a decision on whether to move forward with his project, but was nearing a point of dropping the project.
“I’m really getting close to saying, ‘I don’t want to be in Terre Haute anymore,’” Hirson said after the meeting. “I love the people. I love the location. Mark Thompson [the city’s wastewater utility director] works great with me. Everything is great, but if I can’t do business, what am I hanging out here for?”
During the meeting, Hirson told the council he plans to spend $300 million on a new plant to convert waste into diesel fuel. Some of that waste would include sludge from the city’s wastewater treatment plant, but it would also include wood waste from other areas, carpet waste and other materials, he said.
Hirson also said the plant will produce between 100 and 150 permanent jobs paying from $30 per hour up to $200 per hour. He also said the plant would take 24 months to build and would employ 1,000 workers in construction.
As for the $3 million Mayor Duke Bennett has said Powerdyne will give Terre Haute as an upfront payment, Hirson called it a “concession” payment and said that it would be given to the city when the plant “breaks ground.”
Hirson said his company, with the backing of a pension fund, has $1 billion at its disposal. After the meeting, he declined to identify the pension fund stating Powerdyne is a privately held company.
After Hirson gave a PowerPoint presentation to the council, several members of the elected body welcomed Hirson to the city and thanked him for his interest in investing in Terre Haute. Councilman Norm Loudermilk, D-3rd, offered to introduce a tax abatement for the promised Powerdyne plant in view of the jobs it would create.
But there were some moments of apparent frustration for the California businessman. Councilman Todd Nation, D-4th, asked where he or anyone might see a plant doing something like what the company proposes to do in Terre Haute.
Hirson stated Powerdyne has a “pilot plant” for two different kinds of technology, but added: “We’re a private company. We hold our technology close to our chest.” Powerdyne is financing the “whole project from A to Z” so “I don’t think you’d have any interest in it,” he told Nation, adding, “but if you really wanted to, I’d be more than happy to take you, at your expense” to laughter from some in the packed City Hall courtroom.
Nation, in response, stated he takes his job seriously, to which Hirson stated he also takes his job seriously. “As you can see, we’re not playing with pennies,” Hirson said. “We’re playing with a tremendous amount of money, and we’re a private company playing with that tremendous amount of money. ... If I, Geoff, were coming into your town, I’m going to open a restaurant, what do you want from me?”
In response, Nation said he believes everyone in the room wants Hirson or any new business to feel welcome.
“I really want to feel welcome, but when you push my buttons ...” Hirson responded. “I need to know, I need to know pretty soon actually, if you want me in the town or you don’t want me in the town.”
Powerdyne has other options, Hirson told reporters after the meeting. Asked why he would not want to show off his company’s “pilot plant,” he stated it is not necessary. “I have a billion dollars, and I have people wanting to come to me.”
Thanks in part to publicity generated by Powerdyne’s partnership with Terre Haute, other cities have contacted his company wanting to do business, he said. He declined to identify those cities.
“I’m an ethical guy doing ethical business straight by the book,” Hirson told reporters.
During a PowerPoint presentation to the council, Hirson mentioned there are other Powerdyne-run plants in operation. After the meeting, he declined to stated where those plants were located stating he has nondisclosure agreements in place that he would not violate.
Council President John Mullican kept the roughly 90-minute special meeting from becoming very confrontational, stating he wanted it to remain a “fact-finding” meeting. However, two people who have publicly questioned the Powerdyne partnership, Roger Ward, a microbiologist, and Craig Shumaker, a materials engineer, were also allowed to speak to the council. They raised questions about the viability of the project, but many council members echoed Hirson in stating that a private company can invest its money as it wants.
Revealed for the first time during the meeting was the news that Highland TH LLC, a company that was formerly a subsidiary of Powerdyne (according to one of the Powerdyne contracts), was purchased in December by Overseas Lease Group of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. George Badcock represented the group before the council.
Speaking after the meeting, Badcock said his company is not affiliated with Powerdyne. He also said it was his group that purchased the former International Paper property on Prairieton Road.
Also, speaking after the meeting, Mayor Bennett said revised sludge-to-diesel contracts should be going before the Board of Public Works next month. “That’s the goal,” he said. The contracts are being renegotiated now in light of concerns raised, city officials have said.
Also, the mayor told the Tribune-Star that the city’s side of the negotiations of the sludge-to-diesel agreements have been largely handled by him, the wastewater utility director and Chou-il Lee, the city attorney. Speaking in the regular City Council meeting, which followed the special Powerdyne meeting, Councilman Nation said he becomes angry when he reads those contracts, calling them full of errors and other problems. He said it is in the council’s best interest to review the contracts further.
Finally, in response to multiple questions about the “green waste” requirements in the city’s Powerdyne contract, Hirson said Thursday he would be “happy to strike the green waste” from the city’s obligation.
Speaking after the meeting, Bennett said he thought it went well, although he was disappointed at the sort of questions being asked of a private business. Other businesses coming into town do not receive this sort of scrutiny, he said.