(Milford)– Neighbors of a four thousand-head hog operation being built near Horseshoe Bend County Park southwest of Milford want to know why they’re just now finding out about the project. About 70 people who live near the site attended an impromptu meeting Wednesday evening in Milford and demanded answers.
D-N-R permits for the project have already been approved and a manure management plan is on file for the Fairmont, Minnesota company that’s building the operation.
A 30-day period for the board of supervisors to make a comment has come and gone with nothing being filed. Many who spoke at the meeting were outraged the supervisors never made a comment or even mentioned that they had been notified about the project. Supervisor David Gottsche, who’s district includes the land where the hog lot is being built, was at the meeting. He said the supervisors felt it wouldn’t do any good to respond…saying the matter is out of their hands. But the neighbors of the proposed operation say they would have atleast been made aware of the plans if the supervisors would have atleased mentioned the letter.
Meanwhile, construction of the operation is well underway. Even the person that moderated Wednesday evening’s meeting, Wendell Williams of Fostoria, a former hog farmer himself, admitted it may be too late to get anything stopped.
None-the-less, neighbors of the proposed operation are vowing to fight. They’ve decided to invite company representatives to a meeting; and they’re thinking about hiring an Algona attorney to file a formal protest against the operation.
An estimated 73 homes lie within a two mile radius of the site, along with Horseshoe Bend County Park, a church, cemetary and a retail business.
