Complex deal

rate hikes and an $800,000 loan that the company executives took out of the company coffers to buy themselves a Florida condo, paying about double its value.

Branaman and Lawson took the money out of the company after being provided with city cash and bought the condo from Couch, the reported.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation got involved, taking a look at the deals, though charges were never filed, the

reported. In 2005, a judge invalidated the contract between the city and the company, and that was appealed. The company filed bankruptcy after that, seeking about $15 million in a settlement, the reported. Finally, in 2007, the city came to an agreement to pay about $3 million to get the utility back.

“The matter was settled by all parties in 2007, and we all went our separate ways,” Branaman said.

Branaman, who also works with a Christian organization called Stephen Ministry, said he was hired the next year by Vieste.

Though not an ordained minister, Branaman is among a team of caregivers that counsel people in need, he said. The Stephen Ministry organization has helped more than 150 religious denominations establish such services, he said.

“It is a worthwhile, helpful organization,” he said.

Vieste’s complex deal with Glendale is expected to net the city about $561,000 a year and extend the life of the landfill west of Loop 101 between Northern and Glendale avenues.

According to Kent, the city public-works director:

» The city will earn $100,000 a year leasing land to Vieste (with annual 2 percent increases).

» The city will get a $476,000 fee (increasing 0.5 percent annually) for selling recycled material from the project.

» The city will pay Vieste an estimated $1.2 million a year for the recyclables delivered.

» Vieste will pay the city an estimated $1.07 million a year for the trash that is not recyclable.

» The city will earn an estimated $115,000 a year from property and sales taxes.

» The city and Vieste will share revenue from the sale of recyclables.

The Glendale project is expected to cost about $110 million and be built for Vieste by Spain-based Abengoa, the same company building a large solarpower plant west of Gila Bend.

The Glendale plant will use a process called pyrolytic gasifi- cation. Rather than burn trash to make steam and electricity, the technique heats the trash to extreme temperatures, turning it into a gas that can be burned to make steam and electricity.

The Glendale project would sort about 180,000 tons of trash a year, turning as much as possible into gas for electricity, according to the Abengoa announcement. However, nobody has agreed to purchase the electricity it will produce, and Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service Co. said they have no plans to take the electricity.

Branaman declined to comment on whether Luke Air Force Base, which is mentioned in a company report to the city, could purchase the electricity. The Defense Department has requirements for using renewable energy, making the base a potential buyer.

A description of the Vieste trash-to-energy project by the engineering firm Environmental Systems Design Inc. says that the intended user of the power will be a large data center planned in the area.

“A data center is the obvious selection for the type of real-estate asset to receive the sustainable renewable energy due to the high level of energy consumption per square foot,” the undated ESD report said.

Branaman and city officials declined to say whether the data center still is part of the plan.