Blackshirt Feeders new CUP moves ahead

The first public hearing for the new Blackshirt Feeders conditional use permit was held by the Dundy County Planning and Zoning Board Monday afternoon.
Blackshirt Feeders first CUP for a 100,000-head feedlot in Dundy County along the Chase County line was approved by the Dundy County Commissioners in early June.
Commissioners Scott Olsen, Richard Bartholomew and Jerry Fries heard a mixed bag of comments and plenty of concerns.
As in many of the previous meetings, Dean Settje with Settje Agri-Services and Engineering Inc. walked Monday’s attendees through the feedlot new location plans.
Settje said the new plans  address the main concerns Blackshirt Feeders heard about its previous proposed site. The newly proposed feedlot will not have any residences within two miles and all the taxes will stay in Dundy County. The road to the feedlot will come off Highway 34 west of Haigler in Yuma County, Colorado. Blackshirt Feeders would pave the 1/4-mile of road in Dundy County and will meet later this week to discuss a road plan with Yuma County.
Settje also said if the new CUP is approved, Blackshirt Feeders will withdraw its original, approved plan.
The new application is for a 150,000-head feedlot and includes a methane digester.
Settje said there are 250 to 300 methane digesters in use in the United States and the use of roller compacted concrete throughout the facility offers a unique opportunity. Dirt lots contaminate the manure so the methane digester doesn’t work as efficiently.
The methane would be sold as renewable energy and the digestate would be used as fertilizer.
Cost for the facility is expected to be $100 million for the feedlot and $100 million for the methane digestor. The feedlot would be built in three stages, the first costing $50 million and the two successive stages costing $25 million each.
The feedlot and methane digestor would have separate regulations.
Settje predicts $300 million in annual sales in the area each year with a total impact of $366 million per year. With an employee base of 127 with average benefits and salaries of $65,000, Settje said the payroll would put $24,599,900 per year into the local economy.
Following Settje’s presentation, comments were heard. Fewer negative comments were heard compared to the original CUP, but several people spoke up with their worries.
Planning and Zoning Board member Monte Nordhausen said, based on the location, many employees may live in Wray, Colorado rather than in Dundy County.
Nordhausen also worried about an increase in truck traffic hauling grain in the area, but Alex Peterson, from Haigler, said he’s excited for the project and farmers are already using the roads to haul their grain out.
Peterson also said he’d rather see the water go down a steer’s throat than pump it and send it to Kansas as part of an augmentation program, but Haigler resident Chris Jardine said she is worried about the town’s water supply.
Nordhausen encouraged people with concerns about their water to attend the Upper Republican Natural Resource District meetings. The next meeting of the URNRD will be at 9 a.m. Aug. 2 at its Imperial office. Spuds and Suds and Blackshirt Feeders allocation offset is listed on the agenda.
Settje said the feedlot will need to offset nine pivots. The methane digester will use water from the runoff pits “as they figure it out.”
Wells will be north of the feedlot and Settje expects the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy will require monitoring.
Nordhausen also said it may cost $200 million to build the facility, but, if it goes on the tax roll at only 20 cents on the dollar, there isn’t enough to maintain the roads. Settje said the feedlot would be undervalued at that amount.
The new CUP included agreements with Spuds and Suds and signed by Brandon Larson, including a Zoning Consent Agreement and Nutrient Application Agreement. It was acknowledged that there is currently no road coming off Colorado County Road SS east into Nebraska. Larson has been maintaining a road at the proposed site.
Nordhausen wanted Article 5 Zoning Districts, 501.05 Conditional Uses, Section D of the Dundy County Zoning Regulations included completely in the CUP.
The section states, “Any confined or intensive animal feeding use shall generally be located only in areas of the County where the impact(s) on the public infrastructure and services, particularly roads and bridges, will not result in an undue cost burden to the taxpayers of the County in providing such infrastructure and services.  In making a determination regarding the appropriateness of the site, if the County Board of Commissioners determine that the anticipated impacts will unduly impact the present level of services, road maintenance or bridge capacities and maintenance, the Board may require financial participation by the owner of the animal feeding use in the maintenance of said infrastructure.”
Lonna Clegg, nearest Nebraska neighbor to the proposed site, was specifically asked by board member Spencer Parker how she felt about the lot. Clegg said she worries about her water, the smell and flies. She said she would go to the URNRD meeting, but doesn’t think her opinion matters.
The Rex Buck family, nearest Colorado neighbor to the proposed site, was also on hand at the meeting. Four members of the family spoke and each had a different opinion of the project.
At the end of public discussions and board discussions, the board unanimously approved sending the CUP with a list of conditions on to the county commissioners.
Conditions include URNRD approval, the feedlot stays an aerobic facility, Blackshirt Feeders has a fly and dust mitigation plan, there is a road maintenance agreement with the county board prior to construction, the facility may not be converted to dirt pens, the site maintains positive grading for water and waste runoff contained on site, wells are monitored downstream from the feedlot and Blackshirt Feeders withdraw its original, approved CUP with the approval of the new CUP.
The Dundy County Commissioners will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 11.
Other steps before building could begin include water transfer by the Upper Republican Natural Resource District, Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and federal construction approval and a Nebraska Department of Natural Resource Dam Safety permit.