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HARTINGTON – The Cedar County Board of Commissioners approved a conditional use permit for the expansion of a feedlot near Wynot after hearing lengthy opposition from neighbors.
The Cedar County Zoning Board approved the dairy feedlot expansion by the Heimes Brothers Farms - owned by Adam and Eric Heimes - by a 4-2 margin at their meeting after hearing the same opposition from Aaron Burbach and others who resides nearby.
The commissioners spent more than an hour listening to neighbors’ concerns and also hearing from Adam Heimes before voting 2-1 in favor of granting the permit to add a second feedlot of up to 3,499 head of cows.
Essentially, Burbach said, although they are two separate feedlots, there could be up to 7,000 head of cattle within a 1 1/2-mile radius.
Commissioner Dick Donner made the motion to approve the feedlot permit while Commissioner Mike Meier hesitated before seconding the motion, sending it to a vote. Chairman Dave McGregor was the lone ‘no’ vote.
Burbach expressed concerns about safety with trucks driving too fast for the county roads. The way his driveway is situated in proximity to the crest of a hill is also troublesome, he said.
“I do not believe a semi pulling a full trailer could come to a safe stop if there was an adult, a child, an animal or a vehicle in the roadway or entering or exiting our driveway,” he said.
He also said noise and dust from the feedlot has led to quality of life issues for his family. Although the Heimes brothers have verbally agreed to control traffic and keep the dust at a minimum, Burbach is concerned about future generations’ ability to rely on verbal promises alone.
“We neighbors have nothing to hold as recourse to changes to verbal agreements made by either party,” he said.
Adam Heimes said he is doing his best to be a good neighbor. He said with the additional feedlot approved, the dust and noise would actually be improved with a planned change in the traffic pattern to avoid travel past the Burbach’s residence.
“It’s a little tough for me that it’s been 100 percent focused on the negatives and no positives whatsoever realized from these projects,” he said. “We’ve worked our ass off to build our current feedlot. I’m very proud of it. We manage it extremely well. We’ve had numerous compliments. Most people say they honestly don’t realize there’s that many cattle there, until they’re driving around the place. That’s the way we operate.
That’s the way we will continue to operate.”
The expansion for an additional feedlot, in part, was to create opportunities for other family members to join the business, he said.
Along with following the county’s zoning regulations, the feedlot also is regulated by the state in regard to specifications of the facility and safety standards including criteria related to location in relation to bodies of water and roads, among others.
“When they occupy it, everything has to be up to state standards, our regs, before they can occupy it with their livestock,” said Tim Gobel, Cedar County zoning administrator.
There’s no way to cheat the system, Heimes said.
“We used to be where we weren’t regulated and I can honestly say we cause way less pollution and runoff at 3500 head than we did at 300 head,” he said. “I realize there’s some concerns but to just paint us as villains and we’re going to wreck the neighborhood is unfair and untrue.”
But Burbach, and his father, Chuck, said the dust hasn’t been controlled as promised and there’s been problems with runoff, too. He said he isn’t against the business expanding but would like to see some of the promises made in writing.
Jalen Wieseler said perhaps the additional feedlot could be placed in a different location, but ultimately, he wanted the commissioners to delay a decision until the issue could be studied more in-depth.
“They’ve got land to the west they could potentially use,” he said. “It just feels like a rushed situation. When it’s there, it’s there forever.”
Donner said he doesn’t believe this was a quick decision on the Heimes’ part.
Gobel also followed procedures in the timeline of notifying neighbors of the pending permit.
“I sent notices out two weeks before the meeting in the mail and there’s a couple I didn’t know for sure if they would get them, so I sent them certified. I called the majority of people I could to make sure they got the notice,” Gobel said.
Steve Wieseler said both families - Heimes and Burbach - are good people and perhaps got to this point due to lack of communication. He said it saddens him to see family friendships stemming from generations before crumble.
“I suggest you get together as neighbors and do the best you can,” McGregor said, adding the county can provide additional road signage for safety. “A lot of the issues brought up today were not about whether or not they reached all their stipulations but was about getting together as neighbors and I sure hope that works out. But we have to rule on what the zoning laws are, and in Cedar County, they (the Heimes brothers) have met them.”
