Dairy feedlot hearing keeps commissioners on their toes

Visitors to the Feb. 13 Chase County Commissioner’s meeting kept board members Dave Hogsett, Chuck Vette and Don Weiss, Jr. busy with the public hearing for the Stromberger/Marshland West dairy feedlot, updates on the hospital’s planning process and the needs of the proposed veterans’ memorial.

Stromberger/Marshland public hearing
    Plans for a 20,000-head dairy feedlot passed through the Chase County Planning and Zoning Committee after meeting all the requirements from Chase County, the Upper Republican Natural Resource District (URNRD) and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ). The committee also heard public comments.
    Enough members of the public were on hand for the commissioners’ pubic hearing that it was held in the courtroom of the Chase County Courthouse.
    It was stated that the county tries to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. Though seven households within the setback area signed off on the project, other residents of the area had concerns.
    Public comments began with asking Hogsett to recuse himself because he does business with Strombergers, namely he has a feedlot that Strombergers manage. Hogsett refused, saying he doesn’t have any connection with the proposed feedlot.
    It was also asked if irrigation wells would have to be retired to provide water for the cattle. The commissioners said that was a question for the URNRD. Because it met the URNRD’s requirements, it was not up to the county.
    Other concerns were where the feedlot’s employees would come from, the quality of the roads for everyone in the area, how the setbacks were measured and a variety of questions about the construction and maintenance of the feedlot.
    Weiss said there will be hard feelings no matter what.
    “That’s just the way feedlots are,” Weiss said. “Bart does a good job, I have no complaints.”
    Vette said he wants to see the county adding jobs, especially ag related.
    “If we’re a county not moving forwards, we’re moving backwards,” Vette said, echoing his thoughts from this past spring during the public hearing for Jorge Marquez’s auto salvage yard.
    Much like Marquez’s auto salvage lot, Hogsett said he feels if the issue passes through Planning and Zoning, they should follow the recommendation.
    At the end of the hearing all three commissioners approved the conditional use Class III permit.
    Zoning board chairman Charley Colton said the county can review conditional use permits to make sure everything stays in order.

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Dairy feedlot hearing keeps commissioners on their toes | Wauneta Breeze

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