Confinement plans draw no complaints at board meeting

By MEGAN COOPER

Mt. Pleasant News

A hog confinement expansion in Henry County didn?t receive any complaints from the public.

During Tuesday?s regular Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting a public hearing was held regarding a hog confinement for SA Pork L.L.C. in the northwest section 27 of Marion Township.

The hog confinement, along with another one that was brought before the board at a previous meeting, will be put on next Tuesday?s agenda a resolution in order to move forward with the project.

?We had no written or verbal comments,? said Marc Lindeen board chairman, ?so we can proceed with the public hearing concerning the hog confinement.?

The hog confinement will be an expansion just east of Highway 218 on 200th Street. The expansion, according to Henry County Planning and Zoning Director Joe Buffington, will put the confinement into the master matrix category.

?They fit the 440 points needed to meet the master matrix,? said Buffington. ?The Department of Natural Resources will look at it and review it, but they don?t have to. It?s not a requirement, but I like to add that. I don?t see anything that I disagree with regarding this confinement. The distances are well above what is required.?

According to the website Iowansdownwind.com, in 1995 the Iowa Legislature ended local control over animal feeding operations, which are typically large-scale, industrialized livestock operations. Regulatory power over these enterprises was handed over to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), along with a set of minimal standards with which to comply. These standards are listed in the master matrix, a points-based document used in the permit process.

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), such as the proposed hog confinement, above a certain size in animal-units must submit a construction permit application, manure management plan and a master matrix. This master matrix is a proposal of how they intend to comply with state regulations. It is a self-test with points awarded for complying with various items. The maximum score possible is 880 points, with 440 points being the minimum passing score.

Becky Sexton, founder of Twin Lakes Environmental Services, was available at the meeting to answer any questions that the board or anyone else had regarding the master matrix or the hog confinement.

?There are 10 counties that are not on the master matrix,? explained Sexton. ?The matrix is good for counties to have. If they can?t get the 440 points required, then they can?t build. It?s good, you have something that you (the board) should be appreciative of. Some counties who don?t have the master matrix can build wherever they want. It really does make a difference.?

Sexton believes that having the master matrix is beneficial to the county and feels it is necessary to keep people from building wherever and whenever they want.

?I believe in farmers, but we have regulations we need to meet and I think it?s a good tool,? said Sexton. ?Even in a non-matrix county I tell them to act as if they have a matrix because you never know what will happen in the future.?

In other board news, Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss discussed the maintenance that took place last week.

?We spent most of last week working on hauling rock in order to resurface some areas of the various townships,? said Hotchkiss. ?The rock we are hauling is used to resurface approximately 20 miles in each of the townships in order to get a new surface out there.?

The engineer also stated that his crews worked on ditching, seeding, patching some culverts in order to give them more life until they can be replaced, working on signs and various blading projects during the week.

?An update on the Oasis Avenue bridge project is that the contractor is out of the water, he finished the encasements last week and now is working on the false work,? explained Hotchkiss. ?The false work is a temporary structure that holds the bridge up while they are pouring the base. The contractor will be working on the south abutment next week. He?s had great weather to work on this project.?

The engineer discussed the oil containment system that is being constructed at the Henry County Road Department as well.

?They are installing the system today,? said Hotchkiss. ?I just need to get some pallets in order to help with any leaking, but it definitely looks different in there. There is more light now, now that window is uncovered. I definitely think it will be a good thing for us.?

Hotchkiss also stated that the weather as been great and the guys have being doing well getting work done.

?The guys have been out doing a lot of work this past week,? said Hotchkiss. ?They have been working hard and we will keep at it.?

The Henry County Board of Supervisors will meet again in regular session on Thursday, May 22, at 9 a.m. in the board room at the courthouse.