Second Springfield Underground slated for northwest

And the owners of the property have a reputation in Springfield that’s rock solid.

The land is owned by Springfield Underground Inc., and the company has plans to develop an underground facility similar to the one currently in operation at LeCompte Road and Kearney Street. The current 2-million-square-foot facility, located in the space created by limestone mining, is now used as a storage and warehouse facility for 10 area companies.

Springfield Underground presented an annexation request to Springfield City Council for the northwestern county property at council’s June 12 meeting.

Company CEO Louis Griesemer said the land is in an ideal spot for the company’s planned rock mining and underground storage development.

“It’s immediately south of the airport, and with the construction of the new midfield terminal, there’s going to be a lot of new traffic in that area,” Griesemer said. “What we’ve got in mind is essentially what we’ve done here on our east property. It’s going to be a good fit with the development plans for that area.”

He said that the company has extensively studied the city’s Vision 20/20 plan and traffic corridor studies for the area, adding that the corridor serving the new terminal will run near or directly through the property.

Greg Williams, economic development director for Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said Springfield Underground’s plan is on par with the city’s vision for northwest Springfield, where Partnership Industrial Center West kicked off new development four years ago.

“We are going to see a tremendous amount of new business activity in northwest Springfield,” Williams said. “It’s been one of the more ignored parts of Springfield for quite some time, in terms of development. With T-Mobile, the Chestnut Crossing, and now the Underground development, there will be a noticeable enhancement in business activity.”

He added that the cross-section of business types – manufacturing, services, retail and residential – will mirror the development during the last decade in northeast Springfield.

Griesemer wouldn’t set a time frame for completion of the project – saying only that it would take “many years to complete.” A planned development for the property was approved by the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission at its May meeting and will be presented to council June 26.

CU budget amendment

City Utilities wants to increase its budget for this fiscal year by $65.4 million – and CU officials say the utility’s customers already have paid for most of that increase.

The utility presented a budget supplement to council that would bring CU’s 2005-06 fiscal year budget to $455.2 million.

Jim Shuler, CU associate general manager and chief financial officer, said the majority of that increase – $50.3 million – is due to higher than anticipated natural gas costs. The budget was created in May 2005.

Shuler added that customers already have paid for that increase through increased fuel prices over the winter. CU is only able to spend what is initially budgeted unless council approves additional spending.

The remaining money that CU is requesting is split among several items:

• $2 million to begin construction on the second plant at Southwest Power Station; initial construction must begin before Dec. 15 in order to preserve the facility’s valid air permit.

• $850,000 for repairs from the tornadoes that hit the area in March.

• $2.1 million for repairs and pump rental at Stockton Lake after the pumps there failed earlier this year.

• $200,000 to begin implementation of its energy conservation plan; a rate increase to take effect in October will provide an additional $1 million for conservation programs, but CU wants to start those programs before then.

• $10 million for a fuel contingency fund, in case fuel costs are higher than expected for the last few months of the fiscal year.

Public hearing was continued to council’s June 26 meeting, when a vote is expected.