Great Falls orders work stopped on malting plant construction – Malting plant, city clear air next day

The city of Great Falls ordered International Malting Co. to stop working on stainless steel tanks at its $60 million barley processing plant until the company provides specifications for the job and obtains a building permit.

By The Associated Press

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/04/27/montana/a05042704_06.txt

A city building inspector was ”escorted” off the property Monday when he went to inquire about IMC’s specifications for welding the huge stainless steel tanks being fabricated at the plant, said Mike Rattray, director of the city’s Community Development Department where building permits are issued.

”Our inspectors have the right to be on the property, and they know it,” Rattray said.

Rattray said IMC has said the specifications are in Germany and the company wants to continue working until they can make them available to the city for inspection.

Philip Van Rensburg, director of corporate engineering for IMC, said Monday he knew of no problems at the plant.

”To us, this is not an issue,” he said. ”We are still in discussions with the city, and that’s all I can say about it.”

City Manager John Lawton said he was concerned about safety implications of allowing the project to proceed without an inspection.

Building inspector Steve Clark managed to take some pictures of the work before he was ordered off the site, Rattray said.

”If it appears that they’ve continued working, we’ll cite them,” he said, adding that police would accompany a building inspector to the site on Tuesday.

The project, which is about one-third finished, is financed in part by a $33.7 million loan from the state coal tax trust fund.

Rattray said the company has displayed ”extraordinary arrogance” by its failure to obtain proper permits.

”They think this project is so important to the community that they don’t have to follow building codes,” he said.

Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com

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Malting plant, city clear air

By James E. Larcombe

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040428/localnews/310541.html

Issues between the two sides arose on Monday when a city building inspector was ordered off the plant site, and city officials sent the company a letter demanding it stop work on the project.

A meeting between city staffers, Mayor Randy Gray and top officials of International Malting, including the company president, Damien Lesaffre, on Tuesday morning settled the dust-up.

"It was an air-clearing session about why information was not flowing and we got it flowing again," said Gray. "We have a complete, cooperative working relationship."

Chris Kaltenbach, an attorney for the Lesaffre International Corp., IMC’s corporate parent, said the company has no dispute with the city about building permits or inspections.

"There was a miscommunication," Kaltenbach said. "There is no issue."

A city inspector was escorted from the IMC property Monday after he asked to inspect welding on large tanks being built at the plant, said Mike Rattray, the community development director. Rattray outlined the situation with IMC at a city commission agenda meeting late Monday. Rattray told commissioners that IMC displayed "extraordinary arrogance" in its failure to get proper building permits.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Rattray said the differences appear to be resolved. An inspector visited the work site Tuesday, he said.

"As near as I can tell, this issue is behind us," Rattray said. "We are working with them and they are going to provide the information to obtain a permit."

Gray and Kaltenbach, meeting jointly with a Tribune reporter Tuesday, said there may have been questions about whether the tanks were part of a building or simply equipment that wouldn’t need a permit.

The mayor said the city has an obligation to inspect the welding work.

"If it fails, we are on the liability hook," Gray said, adding that arrangements to do regular inspections have been made. "We have confidence in what these guys are doing."

Gray and Kaltenbach said there are differing versions of the story that led to the inspector being asked to leave the plant site Monday.

Work on the malt plant is on schedule and is progressing smoothly, Kaltenbach said. The plant is projected to begin operation in mid-2005.

IMC has received about $4.6 million worth of building permits for the plant to date.

Up to 35 workers will operate the plant. Kaltenbach said IMC is committed to buying as much Montana barley as possible for the plant. The plant will require 11 million bushels of barley annually.

"We are here because this is where the barley is," he said. "This is going to be a tremendous opportunity for the barley growers in this state to sell large quantities of their product."

The big project has prompted complaints from union leaders who say IMC isn’t hiring enough Montana workers. The fact the company has secured a $33.7 million loan from the Montana Board of Investments raises the ante on hiring area workers, the union folks said.

Kaltenbach said IMC is working to provide necessary hiring documentation to the investment board "because we very much want the financing."

Despite the controversy, he said he and other officials believe the plant has strong support in the Great Falls community.

"No matter what you do, there is going to be a small minority who doesn’t think it is getting its share of the pie," Kaltenbach said. "The pot is being stirred by a small minority of people."

Larcombe can be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (406) 791-1463 or (800) 438-6600.