The Muscatine County Supervisors waived the 14-day appeal process for a construction permit for a hog confinement feeding operation at their meeting Monday, Aug. 7.
JDSD Farm applied for a construction permit for two swine finishing barns in Section 6 of Pike Township as reported in the Aug. 3 edition of The Index. A public hearing was held at the July 24 for the construction project.
Some residents spoke out against the hog confinement feeding operation during the public hearing. After hearing about the opposition to the project, the supervisors voted unanimously to approve the construction permit for JDSD Farm.
The next step in the process was for the supervisors to decide whether or not to waive the 14-day appeal process.
Muscatine County’s Planning Zoning and Environmental Administrator Eric Furnas provided the supervisors with the construction plan at the meeting. He told the supervisors nothing has changed with the plans.
“A draft permit has been issued by the DNR as is part of their process,” Furnas told the supervisors.
The DNR indicated to Furnas they were going to issue JDSD Farm a construction permit, he added. The supervisors would have to notify the DNR if they were going to appeal that decision, file a written appeal notice with the DNR within 30 days and hold a public hearing on why.
If the county waives the 14-day appeal period, construction could get started, Furnas said. His recommendation still stands that JDSD achieved what was necessary for this process and agreed with waiving the 14-day appeal process.
“Does this 14 days allow public feedback to come back to your office?” Supervisor Danny Chick asked Furnas.
Furnas told Chick it potentially could but they haven’t had any public comment come in.
Supervisor Jeff Sorensen told Chick the process would be extended further than the 14 days because another public hearing would have to be held within 30 days.
"And then you would have to reissue the permit so you’re looking at 60 days possibly,” Sorensen added.
“I think at this point we’d be looking at is there any reason to want to change our mind from our original recommendation,” Furnas said.
Furnas told the supervisors he saw nothing in the plan to suggest changing the recommendation to approve the construction permit.
“I’m fine with it generally as long as we don’t make this an automatic waiver,” Supervisor Nathan Mather said.
Mather made the motion to approve waiving the 14-day appeal process. The supervisors approved it four to one. Chick was the dissenting vote.