The Greene County Board of Supervisors met yesterday in regular session.
Several people spoke during the public hearing for a hog confinement expansion project in Junction Township for the Wessling Ag Site #2 in Section 18. All comments were for the project, with a couple of concerns addressed. One was from representatives with RPM Access who owns the Rippey Wind Farm. They had concerns about the remaining hog carcuses attracting Bald Eagles to their area and those birds possibly hitting a wind turbine. However, the company wasn’t against the project, but they wanted to work with the Wessling’s to make sure that it doesn’t become an issue. Another concern was brought up by Patti Edwardson. She requested a moratorium on any more hog establishments or expansions from big companies because she believed in family farm operations. The project had a master matrix score of 450, with the minimum requirement of 440. Following the hearing, the Board approved their recommendation to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to go ahead with the project.
Board Chair John Muir says hog expansions are becoming more popular of a system than creating one huge operation.
“I don’t think this will be any great secret and I don’t know if this is the case for everybody but you build one (hog facility) and neighbors get use to it (and) they adapt and hopefully they aren’t as much of a nuisance as people are worried they are going to be or aren’t as much of a change of life for the neighbors and then they expand them.”
The Board also approved two landowners to not allow family farm credits, the auditor’s quarterly report of 56 passports, the recorder’s report of fees for March of $7,310.24 and the appointment of John Paul Fiedler as Bristol Township Trustee.
Finally, County Engineer Wade Weiss gave an update to the Board. He mentioned that there will be a budget amendment due to purchasing crushed concrete for the secondary roads department. Additional discussions took place on fabrication for a structure to hold a full carillon bell system on the Mahanay Bell Tower and signage along the Raccoon River Valley Trail. No formal action was taken by the Board on any of the discussions.