Supervisors approve permit application for hog confinement expansion

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, October 26, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing regarding the proposed expansion of a hog confinement operation owned by Paul Link and Troy Peterson located approximately five miles south of Waukon just off Highway 76. Allamakee County Sanitarian Laurie Moody said that the expansion would add 1,375 nursery pigs to the current operation, bringing the total number of “animal units” to 1,737.5 (where one animal unit is equivalent to one beef cow) and requiring a permit under the Master Matrix system administered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Moody said that she had met with owners at the site and reviewed the self-scoring on their permit application. She explained that the DNR requires at least 440 “points” for minimizing the impact on air quality, water quality and the community through separation distance from wells, waterways and neighboring properties, for example. Moody said that she agrees with the 465 points claimed on the permit application and recommended that the Board accept the scoring and recommend that the DNR accept the permit application.
Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour pointed out that, because such confinement operations are exempt from the County’s zoning ordinance, the permitting process does not provide any opportunity to address the potential impact of such operations on County roads. Allamakee County Assessor Ann Burckart added that such operations do not add to the County’s property tax base because they don’t affect the productivity formula used to calculate the taxable value of agricultural land.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Schellhammer and Supervisor Dennis Koenig expressed disappointment that the DNR did not send a representative to attend the public hearing. Schellhammer said that the DNR has been “very aloof” about the permitting process under the Master Matrix and does not provide any feedback to the County, citing as an example a recent manure spill that was not reported to any County agency. Supervisor Koenig added that he doesn’t fully understand the Master Matrix and would have preferred to have it explained by a representative of the DNR.
The Board followed Moody’s recommendation to accept the scoring as presented and to recommend that the DNR approve the permit application.
The Board also met with County Social Services CEO Bob Lincoln and TASC Director Mary Ament for a discussion of the transition to “managed care” in Iowa and how the privatization of Medicaid would affect sheltered work programs. Lincoln said that sheltered work programs, such as the program offered by TASC, are being phased out nationwide due to concerns by the U.S. Department of Justice that such programs may restrict the rights of participating individuals. Lincoln added that while Medicaid programs in other states have been turned over to private managed care organizations, none have been done as comprehensively and as quickly as in Iowa and that it’s hard to predict what managed care organizations will do with regard to sheltered work programs.
Ament said that changes going into effect January 1, 2016 would affect 18 TASC clients. She said that the sheltered work program at TASC would be reduced through attrition but added that she is very concerned about the timeline for implementing managed care in Iowa.
Supervisor Koenig expressed his own concerns about managed care, saying, “Reform is okay, but they never ask the right people. We all hope it works, but this date is ridiculous.”
Lincoln said that he predicts that TASC will do well through the transition and that County Social Services will continue to assist the organization however it can.
In other business, the Board met with Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake, who presented the Board with two applications for an appointment to the County Zoning Commission. Blake said that Nancy Walleser has announced her resignation from the Commission and that applications had been received from Marlene Duffy and Jack Knight. He recommended that the Board appoint Duffy to maintain gender equity on the Commission. The Board agreed with Blake’s recommendation and appointed Duffy to the Commission but encouraged Knight to re-apply when other vacancies occur.
The Board also scheduled a public hearing for Monday, November 9 at 9:15 a.m. regarding a proposed amendment to the County’s zoning ordinance to add “public use buildings and facilities” as a conditional use in agricultural, industrial and commercial zones, which would allow the County to apply for a conditional use permit to construct the new jail facility at the Makee Manor site.