COQUILLE - The Coos County Board of Commissioners tentatively approved a land use application Wednesday to allow the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit. The applicant, Jordan Cove Energy Project, has until Nov. 21 to submit additional findings to satisfy the county’s request for more information. A final hearing has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 26.

The decision marks the first time the Board of Commissioners has voted on the controversial issue. Although the project’s fate ultimately rests in the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the commissioners made an effort to ensure local concerns are not lost in the process.

The commissioners tacked on 21 conditions to the application, 10 recommended by the county’s hearings officer, nine suggested by Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean and two from Chairman John Griffith.

The two key issues the commissioners’ conditions addressed were safety and highways.

As acting roadmaster, Stufflebean focused primarily on the latter issue. He said Jordan Cove should be required to conduct a traffic impact analysis of the area surrounding the North Spit, including Jordan Cove Road, the Trans-Pacific Highway, North Bay Drive, East Bay Drive and U.S. Highway 101. Based on the findings of the traffic analysis, Jordan Cove should pay for a portion of road maintenance. Determining the costs would fall to a contractor approved by the county and subject to the discretion of the commissioners.

Stufflebean said he wanted to make sure the county would have some oversight in the process, even though the final decision will be made at the federal level.

“Since we are very much impacted by this project, I want to ensure our residents are considered in this process,” he said.

Griffith was concerned about the project’s potential for limiting the public’s access to the North Spit. His suggested conditions would prohibit Jordan Cove from restricting access to public lands, roads, trails and shorelands except on the project’s property.

Access also was an issue Stufflebean wanted to address, though his condition related to getting into the site in the event of an emergency. He noted that if a train were crossing the rail line bisecting the Trans-Pacific Highway, emergency responders from outside agencies would not be able to provide assistance.

His condition was not specific as to how access could be ensured, but one suggestion Stufflebean had was building an overpass.

Sticking with the safety issue, Stufflebean also said the county should be privy to the company’s emergency response plan. The plan has been kept confidential due to Homeland Security concerns, but Stufflebean argued the county should be given access if it promises to maintain confidentiality.

The commissioners’ legal counsel, Jackie Haggerty, said the county could make the request, though she was unaware of any precedents for it.

“It may be a FERC issue, but we should make sure safety issues can be addressed,” Stufflebean said.

Griffith also wanted to address this issue, but from a monetary standpoint. His second condition would require Jordan Cove to pay for training, equipment, personnel and materials to ensure the protection of public health.

This same issue came before the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay when it fashioned an option for Jordan Cove to lease the property in June 2006. If the project goes forward, the port would build a fire station on site, staff it and have a three-tug fleet with fire monitors. Jordan Cove would reimburse the port for all its costs.

Griffith’s condition went further to require Jordan Cove to provide funds “as deemed prudent or necessary by the U.S. Coast Guard, or other federal agency or local or state law enforcement or safety agency.”

Commissioner Nikki Whitty said she felt the wording was a little open-ended.

“I’m concerned local agencies might request something more than is really necessary,” she said.

Griffith said he didn’t want to limit the decision to the U.S. Coast Guard because a local agency might have a better understanding of what would be needed in the event of an emergency. Rather than pay for the resources themselves, they should have a voice, he argued.

“Someone is going to have to take care of those costs,” he said.

Despite her reservations, Whitty joined Stufflebean in signing off with the condition.

“I just hope our conversation about being prudent carries weight,” she said.

Looking into the future, Stufflebean also proposed a condition to limit the aesthetic impact of the project once its service is complete.

He suggested Jordan Cove should be required to set up a reserve account dedicated to pay for the removal of the project’s storage tanks within a year of the facility’s closure.

“In the past, we have had tanks sitting there for years without being decommissioned,” he said. “I don’t want to see these facilities sit there, too.”

Whitty agreed, but wanted a different approach to ensure funding would be available.

“I don’t think it’s good business practice to ask for cash when there is a better mechanism,” she said, floating the idea of a bond.

Stufflebean argued a bond was risky because disagreements could arise between the two parties over the bond that would lead to delays in the tanks’ removal.

It was agreed that staff would review the issue, as well as other commissioner conditions, and present their ideas at the Nov. 26 meeting.

After wading through their own conditions, the commissioners turned their attention to those submitted by the hearings officer, Anne Corcoran Briggs.

The commissioners spent the most time looking over the first one, which would require the approval of the Oregon Gateway Marine Terminal for the LNG terminal to go forward.

Griffith was somewhat leery about connecting the two projects, noting they have been segmented throughout the process thus far.

But Coos County Planning Director Patty Evernden said the condition made sense from a practical standpoint, as the LNG terminal has been deemed water-dependent by the county.

“They will need a dock,” she noted.

After initial hesitancy, the board approved all of Corcoran Briggs’ conditions except one limiting the extension of water systems, which was deemed irrelevant because water lines already exist in the area.

The board members had some debate about a condition regarding a parking plan recommended by Corcoran Briggs, and the commissioners decided to  not allow construction-related parking on Trans-Pacific Highway and Jordan Cove Road.

Having dealt with the conditions, Haggerty reminded the board it needed to make the decision whether to approve the application.

“Right,” Griffith said.

A silence ensued before the chairman made the motion to adopt the hearings officers recommendations, her conditions as well as those presented by the board, subject to edits from planning staff. The vote was unanimous.

Despite the commissioners’ conditions, several members of the 15-person audience thought the county representatives hadn’t done enough.

Camby Collier, of Coos Bay, said the county is underestimating the stresses that will be put on the county’s infrastructure during the construction process.

Mary Margaret Muenchrath, of Coos Bay, said the county should have obtained more information about the project and made more concrete conditions.

“It’s all very nebulous,” she said.