School Board Votes ‘No’ to Supporting Hydrogen Plant

In a unanimous decision Monday the La Grange School Board voted not to offer any tax incentives for a proposed hydrogen fuel generation plant that was being considered in La Grange.

The vote came after a threehour meeting (including more than an hour in closed session) and drew applause from a vocal group of locals who stayed for the duration of the marathon meeting to hear the result.

Voting no on the proposal were board members Mary Gunn, Calvin Mersiovsky, Gary Drab, Anthony Wessels and Dr. Karen Roberts.

Board members Dr. Travis Ulrich and Dr. Marc Fitzpatrick were absent.

Monarch Energy VP of Development, Aaron Smith, who was at the meeting to give a presentation and answer questions on behalf of the proposed project, declined to comment on the decision after the vote.

The vote concludes what had been a months’ long consideration by the LGISD board of involvement with the project, in which Monarch would have paid the district $4.2 million over the span of the next 15 years in exchange for the tax breaks.

Members of the public who attended two hearings on the issue were decidedly against the proposal.

At last week’s hearing some public comments turned personal. That prompted a warning from school board president Gary Drab before this Monday’s hearing, “we are a welcoming community ... keep that in mind when you make your comments.”

Here’s a quick summary of Monday’s public comments, all of which were against the plant proposal and associated tax breaks: Gene Kruppa and Barnell Albers both said they were concerned about the amount of water and energy the plant would use. The plant would use 1,500 acre feet per year.

Craig Moreau said La Grange and Fayette County didn’t have the infrastructure from an Emergency Management or Homeland Security standpoint to ensure safety of such a plant locally.

Ken Taylor, Randy Matura, Jason Fowler, Mike Mabry and Mark Sacco said they were concerned that there were not enough details about the project to vote yes. Monarch admitted they only had about 15-percent of the details of the plant finalized, but the rush to get school district approval for the project was to take advantage of Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code, which is expiring at the end of 2022.

Robin Haas expressed concern about potential foreign investment in the project and suggested there were better ways to help out the school district financially.

Dick Frenzel said the Corpus Christi area would be a more appropriate site for the project because of their abundance of water.

Monarch has been considering six different sites around Texas for this project, one of which was in the Corpus area. Monday’s vote was only related to the school district’s assistance with the project. There is no assurance that Monarch won’t just move ahead with the project even without the tax breaks, but at the meeting last week Smith said that without the tax breaks, a plant in this area “would be uncompetitive versus other school districts.”

Ken Dernehl voiced concerns over water usage of the project and the lack of details about the project.

Deborah Frank said the school board had the opportunity to stop such a project with a no vote. They will move on if they don’t get this abatement, she said. Jeff Parker said he was worried a large scale solar farm might be part of this project.

Connie Sacco said she had contacted two local reps to gauge their thoughts on the project. One declined to comment and another was unaware of the Chapter 313 program.

At the end of about an hour of public comment Ken Taylor again addressed the board saying, “I haven’t heard anyone say please vote yes on this so hopefully you represent the people who came to speak.”

He was followed by board member Mersiovsky addressing Smith saying, “You’ve heard the comments from the public. I’d like to hear your rebuttal.”

Smith pushed back on the hits about Monarch’s credibility.

“Non-credible parties don’t get $500 million to build projects like this,” he said.

In reference to some of the more personal comments that had been made at last week’s meeting about himself and Monarch being a California-based company, Smith even pulled out a Texas Drivers’License to show the board.

“I’m not from California,” he said.

At the close of the public hearing, La Grange superintendent Andy McHazlett said, “Your voices are being taken into consideration. This board doesn’t take this lightly.”

“We heard you last Monday. We hear you tonight,” Drab added.

After more than an hour of discussion behind closed doors, the board reached their verdict against supporting the plant with tax breaks.

Monday’s meeting:

• The board officially called a school board election for May 6, 2023. The spots of board members Gary Drab and Marc Fitzpatrick are up for re-election.

• A teaching contract was approved for Sean Henkel (high school computer science) as was paraprofessional hires of: Samantha Wischnewsky and Madison Castellano (elementary teachers), Yeli Cerda (Intervention support), Victoria Sheridan (bus driver) and Hailey Hill and Elyse Glisson (afterschool care).

• McHazlett said total enrollment stands at 1,876, up by 10 from this time last year. Student attendance was “hit hard” he said by flu, stomach viruses and strep, but things have been better since Thanksgiving.