Tuesday night’s Green Charter Township board meeting was a contentious one, as the board brought the controversial Gotion battery plant one step closer to becoming a reality.
In front of a fired-up room of residents and local college students, the board approved a land development agreement that lays out terms and obligations for both the township and Gotion after Gotion acquired 270 acres for their plant.
Reactions from the audience Tuesday night were mixed, as the room was split with supporters and those opposed. The mixed crowd bickered until Supervisor Jim Chapman yelled at the crowd to quiet down.
Supporters to the project pointed to the 2,300 jobs expected to come with the new plant and assured they’re just as invested in the community as they are.
A man at the meeting stated, “The pro-Gotion people are very much involved in safeguarding what’s going to happen in this community, and for us to be accused of being a rubber stamp for this project is not true,”
While those opposed continued to doubt the amount of jobs the plant will bring to the area as well as the company’s origin and environmental impacts.
A woman said, “If this factory comes to Green Township and you’re right, what do we gain, maybe a few jobs? But what if we are right and you are wrong? We will lose our community.”
The 270 acres Gotion acquired sits toward the west end and across the street from the Roben-Hood Airport on 18 Mile. The battery plant was originally supposed to sit on over 500 acres before Big Rapids Charter Township and the Big Rapids Industrial Park was cut out of the deal.
The acquisition required Gotion to purchase “some homes” near the site and will require 10 acres to be rezoned from agriculture to industrial.
With the land development agreement with Gotion, the plant’s next hurdle is passing an environmental review by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
