Laidlaw pays off
deposit, sets closing
date for mill site
purchase
BY BARBARA TETREAULT
THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — Laidlaw Energy yesterday
announced it paid the balance of its deposit
on the former pulp mill property and has
set a tentative date of Oct. 22 to fi nalize the
purchase.
Laidlaw has been negotiating to purchase
the boiler and 60 acres of land from North
American Dismantling for well over a year
now. In May, the company reported it signed
a defi nitive agreement to purchase the
boiler and land. At the time, Laidlaw said it
put a percentage of the purchase price down
as a deposit.
Laidlaw President Mike Bartoszek said
the deposit was split into two parts. The
fi rst part was paid on the signing of the purchase
agreement. He said the balance of the
deposit was due once North American Dismantling
met certain conditions.
Bartoszek said the parties have spent a
lot of time over the past few months working
on land use, title, environmental , and other
issues which allowed the parties to clear
another hurdle. The amount of the deposit
was not released but Bartoszek called the payment a “big step”
for his company.
While Laidlaw and
NAD hope to close
on Oct. 22, Bartoszek
said the two companies
signed an extension
that the allows
for the closing date to
be pushed back.
Laidlaw has outlined
plans to convert
the boiler into a
60-megawatt biomass
facility. Earlier this
year, it filed an interconnection
application
to get into the queue
to connect to the Coos
transmission loop.
Y e s t e r d a y ’ s
announcement came
two days after the
mayor and city council
affirmed its opposition
to the project.
At Monday’s council
meeting, Mayor
David Bertrand said
a biomass plant in the
center of Berlin is not
the direction the city
wants to take.
In addition to the
Berlin proposal, Laidlaw
has proposals
for biomass plants in
Henniker and in Ellicottville,
N.Y.
Laidlaw is seeking
two variances from
the Henniker Zoning
Board to allow it to
build a 20-megawatt
biomass plant in that
community.
In Ellicottville,
Laidlaw is locked in a
legal battle with the
town over its battle to
convert a 7-megawatt
plant from natural
gas to biomass.
