Source: News Channel Nebraska Central
Gage County Planning Commission to hold another meeting March 28th, to get more information.
o action yet to advance a major swine operation permit application to the Gage County Board. One member of the Gage County Planning Commission expressed skepticism Tuesday night about the information provided by Otto Farms and Summit Pork, an Iowa-based company.
The partnership wants to establish a 6,200 head swine feeder-to-finish operation between Pickrell and Adams along South 82nd Road. The local farm would use the liquid manure produced by the operation to inject as fertilizer on its farm ground and sell the excess manure for similar application elsewhere. Summit would construct the operation on land owned by the Dean Otto family.
Commission members heard from Manager of the Lower Big Blue NRD, Scott Sobotka…on the NRD Board’s recent approval of a permit for commingling a new water well with an existing well, for the operation. Sobotka said the permit application was filed February 8th with the NRD. Under NRD rules, one permit is required for all commingled water wells in the system.
Sobotka says the NRD Board takes no position on the proposed operation itself….only considering the well permit. He says the permit ensures it will not be a high-capacity pumping operation.
Commission members sought to ask questions of the applicants on various issues brought forward by Commission member Terry Acton, but the commission’s attorney recommended against it….saying that would reopen the public hearing process, which was recently held.
Instead, the commission will meet again on the permit application March 28th, to review written responses and information provided by the applicants.
