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The Hamilton County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday set July 26 as the date for a public hearing on a master matrix construction permit for Blue Jay Farms I, LLC, in Blairsburg Township, Sec. 25, which means the likely construction of another hog confinement operation in the county.
This is a mile north of Blairsburg, Supervisor Dan Campadilli said.
Campadilli added that the county is required to follow the Iowa Livestock Matrix requirements passed by the Iowa Legislature, which means if the Blue Jay Farms I project fits the matrix criteria, the supervisors are powerless to object because the decision falls into state jurisdiction.
He will be meeting with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources -- DNR -- and Iowa Select Farms at the site to go over the matrix and discuss the project, he said.
Key to his discussion will be compliance with the matrix agreement and continuing maintenance of odor mitigation, including shrubs and trees. Once they sign the matrix, they have to maintain that mitigation for the life of that facility, he said.
"That can be a problem for the operators. So, I will bring that up when we visit with them, but as far as the matrix they did a minimum."
He further commented, "They don't plan these sites unless they know it is going to work."
Rick Young, chairman of the Hamilton County supervisors, said, "The Legislature has given the counties the matrix as the only tool to work with at all, and 80 percent of the counties in Iowa participate in the matrix and 20 percent don't. But, those who don't participate in the master matrix means someone can show up some day with a shovel and a backhoe and start building a building without any filing to the public."
Turbine update
James Stovall presented an update on APEX Great Pathfinder Wind Turbine project in the Stratford area. He stated that the project was off to a good start and complimented Hamilton County Engineer Ryan Weidemann for helping to make sure that the project was meeting the needs of the county.
Stovall said APEX has been supporting the base of the roads that they were using, and the county should have good roads to be able to maintain once they were done. The excavation of the bases is nearly 100% complete and the pouring of the bases is approximately half done
Stovall said he expects four bases of the turbines to be delivered next week, with four more bases delivered the following week. He expects delivery of the blades to begin around Aug. 1.
The turbines will be GE 3.4 megawatts.
APEX currently has about 150 employees on the job now; that figure will be growing to 200 soon, he said. Eventually, the project will employ up to 325 employees.
Lukas Geissbuhler, the project manager, stated that the trucks bringing the turbines would be exiting U.S. Highway 20 at Webster City and then continuing south on Iowa Highway 17 to Iowa Highway 175, and then turning right.
Geissbuhler encouraged the supervisors and public to visit the site and witness the construction of the turbines. He emphasized that the public should maintain a safe distance from the construction site. However, he also said that with proper supervision from the workers that the public could be taken closer to the construction site to view the progress.