Supervisors approve master matrix, first reading of voting precinct ordinance

FAIRFIELD — The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Monday to continue using the master matrix scoring system for confined animal feeding operations.

The master matrix is a scoring system administered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that assesses the methods hog confinement owners use to mitigate possible harmful effects of a confinement on soil and water quality and the quality of life for neighbors. For instance, owners get points if they plant trees or leave trees in place around their confinements because this reduces the intensity of the odor that can be detected at neighboring properties.

Owners get a certain number of points for various mitigation plans, which when added together, determine whether they have reached a “passing” score.

Supervisor Dee Sandquist said the master matrix allows the county to play a role in where hog buildings are built. If the county did not participate in the master matrix, hog buildings with more than 2,500 hogs would go straight to the DNR for approval, but with the master matrix they come before the county first. A county can approve or deny a master matrix application, though the state has the final say on whether its building permit is approved.

The master matrix does not apply to hog buildings with fewer than 2,500 hogs.

In other news, the supervisors approved reappointing Dan Miller as the county’s weed commissioner, and approved two pay increases for employees of the Treasurer’s Office that had been planned in the budget.

The supervisors held a public hearing on redistricting, and approved the first reading of a voting precinct ordinance. After the state Legislature approved a new state House and Senate district map in 2021, it has prompted counties to update how they group townships for polling places.

According to the proposed ordinance, Jefferson County will change which townships share a polling place. The proposed changes include:

Walnut Township will be grouped with Penn Township, as it was 10 years ago.

Lockridge and Lockridge township will be by itself.

Round Prairie Township will be grouped with Center and Cedar townships.

Lockridge township and Round Prairie used to share a polling place, but the new district borders split those two areas so they need to have separate polling places.