The Cherry County Commissioners met Tuesday, March 9, 2021 for their regular meeting and at 1:30 p.m. met in the County Courtroom to make a vote on CUP 001\20 for Danielski Harvesting and Farming LLC\Valentine Feeders Swine Facility.
Commissioner Tanya Storer told those assembled that there would be no public comment as that period has been closed as of February 11, 2021. The time period was to be used by the commissioners, James Ward, and Martin DeNaeyer, and Storer to further discuss the Conditional Use Permit and ask questions of Dean Settje and Leonard Danielski.
Storer opened with a statement: Agriculture is the number one industry in Nebraska. Most jobs in Nebraska are either directly or indirectly tied to agriculture. Lest we or people in Omaha forget, the number one industry in Nebraska is not tourism or vacation homes. It is agriculture. Agriculture must be protected and it starts at the local level.
Profit margins in production agriculture continue to tighten and one of the burdens is the rising cost of onerous regulations. Regulations often created by demands from people deemed to be stakeholders yet without any financial risk or investment. It is happening across this nation as we see agendas such as “the new green deal” unfold. Creating a new law/regulation for one segment of the industry, as means to address every concern, fear or opinion is guaranteed to be applied to other segments of the industry very soon, so we must be disciplined in how we address those concerns. Every regulation also comes with a cost of enforcement, further burdening the already tired shoulders of the taxpayer.
Our small rural communities have been losing population for over 50 years begging for a reason for our youth to return, much less attract new residents in order to strengthen our communities.
The Sandhiller was born out of a true pioneer spirit and a determination to find a way to “make it work.” Entrepreneurship is ingrained in our fabric. Its that kind of fearless determination that built places like Valentine, planted tree groves, put in thousands of miles of fence and “put up the first haystack” for winter feed, crossbred cattle, built feedyards and more recently… established Cherry County Nebraska as home to the largest seed potato business in the nation.
I have considered the permit we have before us, for the purpose of building a commercial livestock production facility, through that lens, in addition to being very aware of the concerns that have been brought too us, particularly by neighbors to this proposed facility. I hear you.
Commissioner DeNaeyer asked if there are other livestock in the area, in particular 4-H hogs -- and the answer was yes.
Commissioner Ward asked Settje if the plan for the dead animals was also part of NDEE’s plan, according to state law - and the answer was yes. It was clarified that the dead animals cannot be put into the waste facility but instead a composting pit.
Each of the Commissioners did say that they had more calls requesting them to allow the project than not to. Regardless, Storer said their vote can’t be made on the basis of the number of yes or no letters, it needed to be done according to the law.
It was reiterated that the liquid organic fertilizer would be applied in the spring, for spring crops. In an instance when fall crops would be planted, it could be applied then. It won’t be applied to frozen ground.
Other questions were asked and answered, and ultimately Storer offered a motion for approval. She stated that the 96 percent annoyance uses by Settje was a credible tool, and further than Ed Brown, who is in opposition, uses Settje’s services for his own feed lot. She added that Ed Brown’s experts did not appear before the board.
A change was made so that deep samples would be done every three years versus every five years.
Ward said that there was a tremendous amount of public comments but that isn’t the basis of his decision. DeNaeyer also said overwhelming calls in support of the project. Again not what caused them to made the decision to support the CUP, but whether the CUP followed county and state regulations.
The meeting continued with this portion concluding at 2:08 p.m.
