Feedlot expansions approved by Nobles County Planning Commission

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WORTHINGTON — After considerable discussion, the Nobles County Planning Commission Wednesday night approved a new conditional use permit for Lane Bullerman of Adrian to construct a 70- by 256-foot bottle calf barn in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 7, Little Rock Township.

Cody Bullerman, Lane’s son, appeared before the commission to request a permit for construction and said the barn will not increase livestock capacity on the site. Because the site already has more than 1,000 animal units, a permit is required for expansion.

“We’re adding a barn to thin our barns down,” Bullerman said. “It saves on labor and bedding stays fresher longer.”

The total confinement barn will be constructed with cement walls and a cement floor and fans for ventilation.

It wasn’t the plans for the barn that created the debate Wednesday, but rather the family’s inability to meet all of the conditions placed on the site back in March 2009. At that time, the Bullermans were required to clean up their open cattle lots and protect an adjacent waterway from contamination.

“One of the things that was required and not done is the mitigation of … the waterway,” said Nobles County Environmental Services Director Wayne Smith, adding that filter strips have yet to be placed along the waterway.

Bullerman said approximately 15 acres of oats was seeded on the land adjacent to the waterway this spring to protect it from runoff, but the Natural Resources Conservation Service hasn’t yet been able to complete the design work for the waterway. Now, any construction will have to wait until after Aug. 15 because of the presence of Topeka Shiner, a minnow that is on the federal endangered species list.

“We drove these stakes in the ground because the 2008 conditions weren’t done,” said Planning Commission member Mike Hoeft, asking Bullerman why the waterway project hadn’t been completed by the 2010 deadline.

“The money only goes so far,” said Bullerman. “We got all the phases done but the waterway. You’ve got to fix the problem … upstream before we fix downstream.

“It doesn’t make sense to do the waterway and still have the open lots,” he added. “Now we have the lots done.”

Smith told the Commission that all the cattle are under roof at this time, and that the NRCS needs to survey the waterway, create a design and submit it to the area hydrologist. The hydrologist needs to approve of the design by the June 15 deadline. The Bullermans had the option of doing the waterway project in 2010 or 2011, but opted to wait until this year.

Nobles County Commissioner Diane Thier, who serves on the Planning Commission, questioned holding up the construction project because the waterway wasn’t mitigated.

“If they’re not increasing anything, this is like a $1 million dollar deal — you just can’t do it all at once,” Thier said. “I just think they’re doing a great job for what they’ve had to do.

“I can’t see why giving a permit for this building has anything to do with the waterway,” she added.

Planning Commission member Brent Feikema said “the boys have tried to better their operation, but it takes a lot of money. They’re getting to the end gate — it’s been a long pull for them.”

Ultimately, the commission cast a unanimous vote — with Thier abstaining — to allow the Bullermans to move forward with construction of an additional barn. Conditions placed on the permit include that the waterway design be submitted to the area hydrologist by the June 15 deadline and that the work be completed by Aug. 1, 2012; that liquid manure be incorporated and that the Bullermans provide dead animal containment on the site.

In other action, the commission:

* Approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for Douglas Bullerman and Son-D Farms to construct a 24- by 116-foot farrowing barn with a concrete pit below in the southeast quarter of Section 24, Westside Township. Conditions placed on the permit are that the site not exceed 340 animal units and that manure be applied as stated in a previous CUP.

Bullerman said he will not be adding animals, but rather wanted an additional barn to provide more space for the pigs so he can raise them a little longer at that site.

* Accepted the environmental assessment completed for Worthington Public Utilities to construct a 115 kV overhead transmission line, and reconstruct an existing power line to boost it from 69 kV to 115 kV on the north edge of Worthington. The assessment will now need approval by the Nobles County Board of Commissioners.

Earlier in the evening, the Nobles County Board of Adjustment approved a variance request from Grant Prins of Iona to construct a 102- by 192-foot hog finishing barn in the northeast quarter of Section 5, Wilmont Township. The variance request was to reduce the standard 250-foot setback from a road right-of-way to a 100-foot setback. There was no opposition to the request.

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