Courtesy Photo This graphic shows a preliminary design Fairfield Inn and Suites proposed for downtown Alpena.

ALPENA — If the proposed Fairfield Inn and Suites is to be built on the Thunder Bay River in downtown Alpena, the use of taxpayers money will be needed to help cover the costs of environmental clean up.

At its meeting Monday, the Alpena Municipal Council voted to approve a Brownfield plan to help cover the cost of the pollution that must be addressed before any construction can begin.

The council also voted to apply for a grant and loan from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy that will help the project along, and help pay for infrastructure improvements along the river.

The grant, which has been preliminarily approved, is for $615,000 and the EGLE Brownfield Loan is for $450,000 and will help fund a portion of the environmental activities.

The Brownfield plan includes environmental and non-environmental eligible activities totaling $4,161,600 plus interest. The eligible activities include improvements to the Riverfront Park and trail, as well as water and sewer improvement that directly benefit the riverside property.

The proposed five or six story hotel, if built, would have about 70 rooms and include all of the amenities guests expect, Mac McClelland, a consultant for the Brownfield Authority said. However, he said, the environmental challenges are severe enough that if financial assistance isn’t received, the project would likely not move forward.

“This is a pretty exciting opportunity, but there are extensive environmental conditions that have created some extraordinary costs, but those are what Brownfield plans are designed to deal with,” he said. “Without some help, support, and incentives, the project really can’t move forward.”

Over the last century, the property in question has been used as an auto repair shop, used for storage of coal, and other uses. Preliminary environmental studies have found an old underground storage tank and a large gasoline burner, to go with tons of contaminated soil that will need to be removed and shipped to Detroit to be treated.

The investigation identified the presence of lead, volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds in soils above EGLE Generic Cleanup Criteria.

The property is owned by Target Alpena, which has a purchase agreement with Pranvay, Inc. who is a hotel developer.

McClelland said if the Brownfield plan is approved and the additional state funding and loan granted, some of the environmental work could begin in the fall.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.