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All three Fernandina Beach candidates oppose proposed bioethanol plant; city has legal opinion

Fernandina Observer City Commission seat 4 candidate forum · July 29, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Candidates told the forum they oppose the Ryan bioethanol plant; one candidate said the city sought a land-use legal opinion, and the city intends to defend its comprehensive-plan interpretation in court this fall.

Candidates uniformly opposed a proposed bioethanol plant (referred to in the forum as the Ryan proposal). Len Krieger said the plant is "inconsistent" with the comprehensive plan, is prohibited in the appropriate industrial zone and that "the city did the right thing" by seeking a legal opinion and preparing to go to court in October. "It is prohibited, pure and simple," Krieger said.

Stacy McMonagle also opposed the plant and said she would back using the land-development code and, if necessary, legal action to keep the plant from locating in Fernandina Beach. Scott English said litigation is already in motion and expressed environmental and safety concerns about moving hazardous byproducts into populated areas. No candidate supported allowing the plant to proceed inside city limits.