News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Local developer Duane Jennings, left, addresses the Alpena County Finance, Ways, and Means Committee meeting on Tuesday. Jennings is going to build a new gas station and convenience store near M-32 West and Airport Road.

ALPENA — Alpena County commissioners cleared the way for a developer to build a gas station and convenience store near the corner of M-32 and Airport Road.

The county owns six parcels of land where the new business will be built, but none of the properties have utility infrastructure, which almost threw a monkey wrench in the project.

Earlier this year, the county entered into a purchase agreement with developer Duane Jennings to sell him two parcels for the gas station. Jennings was willing to pay $80,000 for one lot and $55,000 for the second.

The agreement stated that the county would make infrastructure available.

At Tuesday’s Finance, Ways, and Means Committee meeting, Jennings presented the committee with an estimate for a little more than $124,000, which would cover the cost of power, water, and sewer to the property.

Instead of paying for utility work, the commissioners decided to sign the property over to Jennings, who will pay for the needed infrastructure added.

Jennings said if the cost of the work is less than what the estimate is, he will pay the county the balance back, but if the infrastructure project exceeds the estimate, he will cover the additional costs.

Jennings described his project and said he would like construction on the gas station to start in the fall and the new business to open next year.

“I envision an up-to-date, state-of-the-art fuel-filling station for residents and commercial vehicles, like semis,” he said. “There will be food options. There is really nothing there for when people come into the base or the airport. I think it will really serve that little area there.”

Jennings installing the needed infrastructure doesn’t fix the overall problem, however, as it still leaves the balance of the parcels with no water, sewer, or other needed utilities.

The commissioners discussed what it could cost to have the work done, knowing it would increase the value of the land, which the county is selling to help bolster revenue to a budget that is more than $1.5 million underwater.

The property is located in Alpena Township, and Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe was at Tuesday’s meeting. Skibbe told the commissioners they should be working on a plan to add the needed infrastructures because there will be little interest until it is done, and developers won’t want to utilize a well for water because of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

PFAS was detected at the base in 2017 and a remediation effort was conducted. Sampling and testing of drinking wells within a one-mile radius of the base showed no unsafe water, but Skibbe said it is likely a developer would want access to the municipal water system and not have a well installed.

“In terms of marketability of those parcels, you are adjacent to a PFAS contaminated site, so without having the connectivity of water and sewer infrastructure, the value of those parcels is less than you can even imagine,” Skibbe said.

The new gas station is slated to have at least one neighbor on the undeveloped land as the new recycling facility is to be built by the Northeast Michigan Materials Management Authority.