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Pompano refuses $10,000 `gift' from Texas firm that wants power-plant OK 

By LISA J. HURIASH Sun-Sentinel?????? 
Web-posted: 11:43 p.m. Dec. 7, 2000

???POMPANO BEACH -- The city has returned a $10,000 check to a powerful 
Texas-based company that wants to build a controversial power plant here.
???Enron North America, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, has 
proposed a 510-megawatt plant for a 30-acre site south of Sample Road and 
east of Florida's Turnpike. 
???Company officials hand-delivered the check last Friday, requesting that 
the money be used for cultural arts programs. The city manager returned it on 
Tuesday. 
???"While your donation is believed to be a genuine and unrelated corporate 
support of the community, the timing of your donation has the potential of 
creating a false impression and perception of its intent and purpose," City 
Manager C. William Hargett Jr. wrote in a letter to Steve Krimsky, director 
of Enron. 
???"Therefore, I am returning your check." 
???The company is planning to pitch its development project to the city's 
Planning and Zoning Board later this month. Eventually the issue will come 
before the City Commission.
???The company hopes to start construction in April and begin operating the 
plant on May 1, 2002. It would be the fifth power plant in Broward County, 
and the third largest.
???City officials applauded returning the check to Enron.
???"I think their intentions were very questionable," said Commissioner Kay 
McGinn. "The city did the honorable thing in returning the check."
???"We have been talking about cultural arts. But did they do it for 
something in return?" asked Mayor Bill Griffin. "The best thing we did was to 
return the check."
???There wasn't anything improper about the gift, said Eric Thode, spokesman 
for Enron.
???"The city has a right to its opinion. I would say Enron nationwide has 
been recognized for its philanthropic activities. We want to be a good 
corporate citizen and support the community. These are not political 
contributions. Supporting cultural activities, children's activities, these 
are things we have typically supported in various areas where we do 
business," he said.
???When the company built a plant in Illinois, for example, it also built a 
playground in that city, Thode said.
???Two cities near the Pompano site, Margate and Coconut Creek, have 
expressed concern about the plant and air-quality regulators, worry it would 
rely too heavily on diesel fuel. Diesel fuel releases nitrogen oxide, a 
leading cause of smog, which can worsen asthma, bronchitis and other 
breathing problems. 
???The plant would burn diesel fuel up to 1,500 hours a year, according to 
its permit application to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
???Hargett said in his letter that he hopes when the plant controversy is 
over, and the timing is better, Enron will come through financially.
???"Hopefully, Enron will continue its support of the community and consider 
a future donation following completion of the various matters pending before 
the city," he wrote in his letter to Krimsky.
???Thode noted that the check was not written to the city.
???"We would not cut a check directly to a city government," he said. "Our 
budget has standards."
???The check was made payable to the non-profit Pompano Beach Cultural Arts 
Foundation, which raises money for city-sponsored cultural programs. The five 
city commissioners, who will vote on the power plant, act as the foundation's 
directors.
???Enron officials met with Coconut Creek City Manager John Kelly and his 
staff Thursday to discuss their concerns about the plant's impact. Because of 
the area's wind conditions, the gases from the plant's 80-foot stacks would 
blow in the general direction of Margate, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs and 
Parkland.
???Kelly said it was a "good exchange of information" and he expects future 
meetings.
???"They're trying to be the good neighbor and get into the community," Kelly 
said, referring to the returned check. "It probably came off the wrong way."
???He added that he was relieved Pompano Beach returned the money.
???"It gives us all a comfort level we're going to deal with it objectively," 
he said. "Checks don't make the air better." 
???Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sun-sentinel.com or 
954-356-4557.
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