POMEROY — American Municipal Power’s decision last week to table plans for a $3 billion plant in Meigs County will likely affect plans for other projects, County Commissioner Mick Davenport said.

The consequences of AMP’s announcement last week go beyond the short-term benefits of construction and long-term employment, and demonstrate how strongly the county’s overall economic development plans had become tied to the proposed plant.

In particular, plans to build a new 24-hour emergency room could be particularly affected by the decision, not only through the loss of projected tax revenue associated with the proposed plant, but because planners had hoped an influx of workers might convince a health care organization of a need for such an emergency facility.

A new emergency room would be beneficial in attracting other employers to the area, Davenport said Monday.

AMP cited an increase in the projected construction costs for its decision to halt plans to build a $3 billion coal-fired power plant in Letart Township.

Davenport said local officials will continue to work with AMP to develop the site. AMP has said it will give consideration to developing another type of plant.

County commissioners have said they could arrange financing for a freestanding emergency room, which they would build on U.S. 33 near Rocksprings, if a health care provider would agree to operate it. Now, Davenport said, any plans for building such a center will have to wait until an operator comes forward.

Commissioners and others have held preliminary and exploratory discussions with area health care providers and at least one health care organization from out of state, but none has come forward with an expressed interest in offering ER services in Meigs County, even if a new building is provided to them.

“One thing builds on another in a case like ours,” Davenport said. “We just have to keep going, and remain hopeful that we can develop a partnership and proceed.”

Davenport emphasized the importance of Family Health Care’s plans to expand its Meigs County operation to a new building it will construct early next year at the U.S. 33 site near Rocksprings, where the free-standing ER might be located.

Tax revenue from the AMP facility could have been used for construction costs, or other costs associated with improving infrastructure and public services at the county level downward. Davenport said commissioners and AMP had not reached an agreement on tax consideration, or lump-sum payments in lieu of taxes, an incentive often offered potential developers for taxes that are deferred, but he said some type of agreement would have been likely.

Davenport said he is still “hopeful” that AMP will find a means to locate in Meigs County, but said the emergency room project is just one example of how AMP’s decision to halt its construction plans could have a long-term effect on developing infrastructure for the county.

It is also, apparently, indicative of how important the plant had become to the county’s economic future.