EAGLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – With NDAs signed, local and state officials not answering questions to the satisfaction of the community and land secretly being acquired through property options, many residents in Eagle Township and the surrounding communities are asking questions. They are trying to figure out what’s going on concerning a large high-tech development site in their township before it’s too late.
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According to a local community group called “Stop the Megasite” that started a website to preserve farmland in Clinton County, Eagle Township, Clinton County and other government and economic development agencies are proposing to rezone nearly 1,400 acres in Eagle Township for a multi-billion dollar industry complex. This complex is being marketed as “Michigan Manufacturing Innovation Campus” (MMIC) but is called the Eagle “megasite” by the community that is opposing it. The development is mostly being looked at for a chip manufacturing plant.
The Stop the Megasite group, which currently has 2,700 members in their Facebook group, says, “Along with the loss of agricultural land, we worry about the environmental impact an industrial facility would have on the community. The supporters of a large industry coming to Eagle Township cite the proximity of this land to I-96, the state capitol, and the Capital Region International Airport, but what about the proximity to several homes and neighborhoods? Is the township saying that economic development is more important than the residents who make the township what it is?”
Cori Feldpausch, who administers the Stop the Mega Site Facebook page, says that no one wants to live next to this megasite and that many are working to fight to save the community of Grand Ledge, Wacousta and Eagle. She told the Lansing State Journal that she wants her grandkids to be able to “enjoy growing up in a rural community, ducking into the woods, chasing squirrels, and farming, if they choose to, as adults” and that a large chip manufacturing plant would change Eagle Township for the worse.
The megasite project is a state initiative using the combined forces of LEAP (Lansing Economic Area Partnership), who is assembling the land needed for the project and the MEDC (Michigan Economic Development Corporation) who is marketing and advertising the project so that it becomes a reality. Their main focus, like the Gotion project, is that it would bring many good-paying jobs into the community.
The MEDC website says about the project, “Farming and agriculture are being crippled by the chip shortage making it difficult to maintain and upgrade essential farming equipment leaving fields empty or unable to harvest. Expanding US chip making capacity will significantly impact farming and agricultural livelihoods and the broader food supply chain.”
LEAP says that Eagle Township is the only choice for the MMIC because “Large-scale developments that create thousands of jobs require large, contiguous parcels of flat, open greenfield land. LEAP has scoured the entire tri-county area and Eagle Township is the only place in the entire surrounding area with the combination of land and proximity to major airports, interstates and highways, and access to first-class educational institutions like Michigan State University (MSU) and Lansing Community College.”
LEAP is assembling properties for the MMIC (Michigan Manufacturing Innovation Campus) through a subsidiary entity, PG&W LCC, with assistance of professional real estate broker, CBRE.
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Businessman Todd Thomann told Michigan News Source that there was a previous buyer who almost went through with a deal but backed out. He also said that purchase prices for the land could be over two times the market value of the property. Being a strategic partner to MEDC and LEAP in various economic development pursuits, the sale of the property would bring a large windfall worth millions of dollars to Michigan State University as they own a majority of the properties needed for the project.
Bob Trezise, President and CEO of LEAP, who controls the land, says about the properties, ”There are very few sites like this across America.”
The land for the megasite is located near M-100 and Grand River and was formerly owned by farmers David and Betty Morris of Morris Farms. The land is currently zoned “A2 agricultural preservation” and that means it is designed to “conserve and protect farm operations.” A majority of the land, about 1200 acres, is owned by Michigan State University through a donation. The land would have to be re-zoned if the deal is to go through and that decision currently sits with Clinton County.
11 properties plus land from Michigan State University make up the megasite that LEAP put together in this small rural area that’s northwest of Grand Ledge with a population of just over 2,500. If the megasite goes through, it would be one of the largest industrial development sites in Michigan. But many in the community want to make sure that doesn’t happen, including Thomann.
Thomann is working on forming a non-profit to fight against the megasite and wants to organize fundraising to fund the fight. Included in the many issues that the community is concerned with are a lack of transparency involving the site, ending up with a possible buyer from China similar to what happened with the Gotion project, the decimation to their township’s agricultural land and water resources including possible PFAS water contamination and contaminated aquifers, the fact that the area sits close to a large National Guard helicopter base and a municipal airport, water usage, traffic, housing of employees and a possible issue involving MSU trying to break the contract of how the donated land was supposed to be used.
This megasite is one of several that MEDC is looking at for development of large-scale industrial projects. It’s a strategy that they have come up with under the Whitmer administration according to what they said to MLive. Josh Hundt, chief projects officer for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said, “These mega sites are being assembled in order for us to catch up and surpass our competitors for economic development opportunities. These types of sites can be where major investments that attract jobs of the future in high-tech manufacturing, including semiconductors, battery manufacturing and electric vehicles are able to locate.”
LEAP says that the megasite will create thousands of high-paying jobs. However, residents don’t appear to be willing to give up their way of life and face the risks of the negative impacts that this development could bring to their community.
In a township meeting on Thursday, about 250 people showed up to ask questions and voice their concerns about the project. One speaker said, “I’m not against people having businesses…I own one of my own and I operate it…but this is ‘raping’ the land…” He also said it will affect people in ways they don’t understand.
At the end of the Eagle Twp. meeting, there was a unanimous vote by the township to start a planning commission which is needed to establish a zoning commission. This would replace having Clinton County remain in charge of the zoning and Eagle Twp. instead could vote for any re-zoning issues that are currently controlled through the county. Township residents, at a meeting in February, had requested that planning and zoning be brought into the township from the county.
There are rules put in place by the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act that requires a process to go through for townships to be able to establish their own planning and zoning commissions that includes things like open meetings and publishing of ordinances. Additionally, it was vocalized at the latest township meeting that the zoning ordinance would also be subject to referendum where the ordinance, or part of the ordinance, could be put on a ballot for voters to decide.
In the winter of 2022/2023, Clinton County began to undertake a special study of the area that may result in an amendment to the Clinton County Comprehensive Plan. The purpose of the study is to review land use issues, gain public input and amend the 2022 Clinton County Comprehensive Plan to guide future planning and zoning decisions. In March of this year, a resolution was sent to Clinton County from Eagle Township to put a hold on the amendment until December 1st.
In addition to zoning issues that have to be dealt with, community members are also questioning whether MSU is trying to break a lease and quash a donation stipulation that the farm land given to them by the Morris family can only be used for agricultural purposes.
Morris Farms established a 25-year lease with a local farmer, Jake Clark of Clark Farms, and granted that lease to the local farmer to farm the property for 25 years. The revenue that came out of that lease would go to fund MSU agricultural endowments that Morris had set up for MSU. Community members contend that the intent was that the property would always be used for agricultural purposes or agricultural education purposes. But MSU disputes that.
About the donation, Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D., interim president at Michigan State University, issued the following statement, “In 2005, Mr. David Morris made the decision to donate to Michigan State University a significant land holding that he and his wife farmed. His expressed expectation was that the land would eventually be sold and that 55% of the proceeds from the sale would fund four endowments within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and therefore benefit agricultural research, education and outreach in perpetuity. Mr. Morris was clear in his wish that this gift to MSU would support the college’s causes closest to his heart, and MSU fully intends to honor that wish.”
Woodruff goes on to say, “The four endowments that bear Betty and David Morris’ names will support Michigan agriculture for generations to come through programming in communities, agriculture and natural resources; through college discretionary funding; through livestock research; and through a named chair in state and local government finance and policy. Those endowments reflect the Morris’ life’s work and Mr. Morris’ enduring commitment to advancing that work as their family’s legacy.”
About Clark Farms, Woodruff says, “The Morris property is currently under a 25-year crop lease to Clark Farms, which Mr. Morris initiated in his lifetime and which will expire in 2031. If MSU sells the property, the crop lease will transfer to its new owner, who will work in partnership with the leaseholder to determine the future of that arrangement. Until there is an end-user identified for the land, Clark Farms can continue to farm it.”
At least one community member has tried to FOIA that agreement and was denied. Michigan News Source contacted MSU for a copy of the agreement but they did not respond to our request.
This is a developing story…
Michigan News Source reporter Lauren Smyth contributed to this story.
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