(Red Oak) Joseph Cosgrove, Project Manager for Summit Carbon Solutions, appeared in front of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors this morning. Summit is under new ownership. Cosgrove stated that they have over 25 years of experience in pipeline construction and operations, with a focus on safety and efficiency.
Cosgrove stated the new CEO is Joe Griffin, who has over 40 years of experience in building project pipelines and pressure stations.
Cosgrove introduced a seven-part community benefit agreement. The first point is emergency response and preparedness. He says every county will receive $50,000, plus $1,000 per mile of pipe within their county. Specifically, in Montgomery County, the emergency management would receive a $92,000 grant, 180 days or earlier, before operations begin.
Cosgrove aims to foster open and honest communication with the public through enhanced public outreach by revamping their website to facilitate easier question-asking. Additionally, they are offering a new $500 survey payment to any property owner who voluntarily allows Summit Carbon Solutions to survey the property.
Additionally, Summit added a new Royalty payment for each foot of pipeline for each landowner across the entire project. A state acquisition percentage will drive the royalty payment. It will continue to rise as the number of acquisitions increases. There is also a royalty for counties based on footage of the pipeline in each county. Additionally, they will pay $1.276 million annually in property taxes for having the piping underground. Additionally, they are exploring recycling as a means to reduce their water usage.
On September 15, Summit filed an amendment. One was an update on pipe size, pipe location over roads, and railroad crossings.
Before the presentation, several community members stood before the supervisors voicing their concerns and opposition to the project.
Summit has scheduled an open house on November 10 at the McAlpin Building.
