GOSHEN COUNTY – A public hearing was held by the Goshen County Commissioners during Tuesday, April 15 regular board meeting. The hearing was regarding the Lewis Feedlot Confined Feeding Operation permit. The facility is owned by Robert Lewis. Chairman Michael McNamee called the hearing to order. Commissioner Aaron Walsh was in attendance along with county clerk, Mary Feagler. Commissioner Justin Burkart was absent, attending training. 

“Again, this is only for the opportunity for public hearing regarding the permit,” McNamee reiterated. “I know that we have two members of the planning commission here with us today who are fully aware of the process and the status of that permit application. So, the purpose of this is to hear public comment or to allow public comment in regards to that. I would encourage those of you that are present for the purpose of public hearing – I know that you have, Mr. [Ron] Stuckert, you and I have talked on several occasions,” McNamee said.

“I would encourage you to keep in mind that if there is further development or information that you would like to present or would like to have heard at this point, that that be included. I would remind you that this is a public hearing for that purpose,” McNamee said. “The final determination on the permit will be made down the road.”

The chairman then opened the floor to any public comment. 

“I was wondering how come it states that he has to keep his cattle back a quarter of a mile from our residence? They made him put in a fence a quarter of a mile away. There are cattle up next to where they’re not supposed to be,” Ron Stuckert, a neighbor to the facility said. “We said, ‘leave your processing stuff there to be only used for processing only.’ They are not to be kept there to be fed. Why? Is that asking – is that out of reason?” he asked.

“Yes, it is. And I’m going to tell you exactly why. So, in the process of the siting visit that we made, that Mr. [Mike] Tietjen (county planner) and other individuals that came out there that were present for that siting visit, the process was explained to us as that he was given 90 days from the time that he brings cattle into his facility to have them – Ron, I’m not here to argue with you. That is part of his permit. Mike [Tietjen], am I correct on that?” McNamee stated.

Tietjen responded.

“He can. As a definition of what a feedlot is, anything that’s 90 days or more is considered a feed lot. You know, the confined area, that’s what the state regulation says. If you keep cattle confined 90 days, that’s a feed lot,” Tietjen explained.

According to McNamee, Lewis keeps his cattle in pen up for debate in order to run them through a series of vaccinations.

“He has to be able to five them the introduction that they have to have into the general population of his feeding operation. That takes, by time you go through and you vaccinate, you give them the rounds of vaccination. It gives him 90 days from the time that they come into that feed lot and to work through the process before they’ll go into the general population,” McNamee expressed. “In his explanation, during that siting visit that we had out there, that is the reason that the cattle are in those pens. They have to be fed in those pens because he can’t move them until they’ve had their full rounds of vaccination.”

According to Stuckert, the feedlot brings cattle in from all different areas. 

“They’re all mixed together. He’s got to keep some of them in there all the time. No. These cattle are brought in from Timbuktu, all put together in pens, processed and put back. But to him, he’s got to keep them up in that area just for harassment only,” Stuckert said.

“Again, according to Mr. Lewis, during that visit, it is absolutely not in his best interest to keep them in there a day longer than they have to be there because of the need to put them in with the general population and where they need to be,” McNamee stated.

Stuckert explained the feedlot didn’t appear to have brought any cattle into the facility in 60 days.

“But [if] you go up there right now and there’s cattle in there. They’ve been processed and fed for 60 days already or longer and he still keeps them up there. Why?” Stuckert asked.

“I wouldn’t have any explanation for that,” McNamee said. “And I can tell you that if there are situations were cattle become – if they have to be run back through for additional treatment, additional vaccination – Ron, you know the feeding situation better than I do. You understand that at different times, cattle have to be taken out of the pens that they’re being fed in, whether it’s in that general population or not. They have to be brought out. They have to be pulled out for vaccinations and different things like that.”

McNamee explained Stuckert’s request to monitor which cow had been in the pen for longer than Lewis’ 90-day period was asking too much.

“This goes back to a situation of you are asking either the commissioners, the planning commission, the county sheriff, somebody to go out there and police that situation and question why he is having cattle in that pen. When, in your opinion, it is nothing more than trying to be offensive to you and in his opinion, your attempts to monitor that are nothing more than being offensive to him,” McNamee stated. “So, I will go back to a conversation that we had with our county attorney in which you were in there along with myself. The county attorney’s advice to you was that your beef is not with Goshen County. He indicated that it is with DEQ because DEQ is the one that has the final say on what happens with permit violations or the enforcement of those if there are what you believe to be violations of that permit. Is that correct?” he asked Stuckert. “Is that what our county attorney told you that day in that meeting?”

“Yeah, but at the same time, Mike [McNamee] how can you get them to do anything over there when the county won’t help me to get after them? Yeah, I know, you got bigger fish to fry, but this is a simple thing. You can go up there right now. There are cattle in there. There’s no reason for them to be there other than to harass me.”

Another member of the audience spoke up, stating the feedlot has not been complying with the county regulations to where the chairman asked how the feedlot was able to obtain a permit previously. The debate continued for a brief moment.

“Let’s go back to the regulations and the permitting. I think that I really believe and we’ve learned a lot about the process just as it seems like with a lot of different things that we’ve gone through with the planning commission. We’ve learned about the public hearing. We’ve learned about the ability for people to come in and voice their position whether for or against. We’ve had people speak on Robert’s [Lewis] behalf, those that feel like he’s a good neighbor, like he’s done a good job out there,” McNamee said. “Well, Ron [Stuckert], I know that you don’t believe that it’s true, but you can ask the members of the commission.”

“There are people who have stepped up and have said that he is a decent neighbor, just as they said the same about you. They don’t want to be in the middle of it. Obviously, you have a little different stake in this. We understand and appreciate that,” McNamee said. “But I will go back to what we have done to and fulfill our part of the process. Making a site visit, trying to get understanding as to why he’s operating the way that he is, as to what the day-to-day operations of it look like and are they in compliance with the rules and regulations set forth by the county’s CAP flow permit and that will be the final recommendation of the planning commission to let us know, as commissioners, if he has met that or how we should proceed with it.”

McNamee asked the planning commission members if they had any objection to the permit. There were no objections. Tietjen noted the planning commission had also held a public hearing regarding the feedlot where the permit was favorably forwarded to the county commissioners. Tietjen further noted there were public comments in favor of the permit during the hearing but no one spoke against the feedlot. 

A motion was made for the commissioners to enter their scheduled executive session regarding and IT personnel update.