WATERLOO -- Three members of the Waterloo City Council joined about 40 community members for a community meeting hosted by opponents of the coal-fired power plant proposed in Waterloo by LS Power.

Council members were advised by Waterloo City Attorney Jim Walsh not to discuss the power plant with anyone outside of the council. However, council members are allowed to attend public meetings and listen to opinions on the project, which will come before the council at its April 28 meeting.

"I want to hear both sides," said council member Ron Welper, who was joined by members Reggie Schmidt and Steve Schmitt at the meeting. "Of course, I've already sat through four public hearings, so it isn't like something is being said that I haven't heard before."

Many of the issues addressed at Thursday's meeting, which was hosted by opponent group Community Energy Solutions at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Waterloo, were previously brought up at Planning, Programming and Zoning meetings, as well as last year's City Council meeting on the same issue.

However, at the zoning and council meetings, public comments are limited to three minutes per speaker, leaving little time for individuals to expand on their message.

The 10 speakers at Thursday's meeting filled nearly two and a half hours with their comments and opinions on the 1.5 billion, 750-megawatt plant proposed by New Jersey-based LS Power.

The city council will vote on April 28 whether or not to annex and rezone land in northeast Waterloo for the project. Both measures were recommended by the Planning, Programming and Zoning Commission on April 1. The City Council approved a similar request by LS Power one year ago before Iowa's City Development Board denied the plan. Because the new request for annexation is 100-percent voluntary, it will not require the approval of the City Development Board.

Opponents of the plant said questions remain about truck and rail traffic, emissions and the economic costs of the project.

"This is a life-changing decision for every person in the Cedar Valley, and more due diligence must be expected from our elected officials," said CES member Jeri Thornsberry.

Proponents of the project have pointed to the economic windfall expected from the plant as the primary motivation to support the project.

Much of that information is based on a study commissioned by the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance. The report states that the project will annually pump 67 million into the local economy during the construction period and 28.6 million per year once the plant is operational.

The plant is expected to employ about 100 people, but could directly and indirectly lead to an additional 331 jobs.

The study measured only economic benefits without measuring any of the costs the city could incur as part of the project, including for infrastructure.

City officials so far have deferred the task of evaluating emissions to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Sierra Club organizer Mark Kresowik said this could lead to a serious problem if Waterloo's air quality reaches non-attainment status for any of the six criteria pollutants measured by the DNR as required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Kresowik claimed that the area was close to reaching non-attainment status for two of the criteria pollutants ï½ ozone and fine particulate matter ï½ and if the limit was breached, the DNR would no longer issue construction permits.

Under those circumstances, no new manufacturing would be allowed in the area, and even expansion of current manufacturing would not be allowed.

"Both Muscatine and Scott Counties are in non-attainment status for fine particulate matter," said Kresowik. "The expansion of the I-74 bridge in the Quad Cities (the Iowa half is in Scott County), a major project, is now in limbo because it could contribute to these fine particulate matter levels."

Dr. Catherine DeSoto, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Northern Iowa, sited academic papers that concluded mercury emissions, which are not currently regulated by the EPA and are often associated with coal-fired power plants, can lead to brain damage in developing fetuses.

"I am against the coal plant because I understand the science," said DeSoto, who has performed extensive research on the link between mercury and autism.

Following the presentations, Thornsberry encouraged those in attendance to speak at the April 28 City Council meeting.

Others at the meeting encouraged one another to broach the subject with council members wherever possible, even if the council members are not allowed to respond.

Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.