Following a public hearing that lasted only eight minutes the Greene County board of supervisors on Monday approved a motion to recommend to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that it approve an application for a permit for Jay and Justin Ostrander, doing business as Greene Valley Inc, to expand their confinement hog operation.
The operation is located in Section 22 of Hardin Township. Greene Valley currently has two confinement buildings with a capacity of 4,800 hogs. The permit is for a third building with additional capacity of 2,480 hogs. The new building will be to the west of their current buildings.
Only one person, neighbor Roy Highley, spoke at the public hearing. “I know he’s a responsible person,” Highley said about Jay Ostrander. “He’s just a good person. I think we’re going to be OK.”
Kent Crouse of Pinnacle, the ag consulting firm that worked with the Ostranders on the manure management plan and the construction application, highlighted the scoring on the master matrix. The project scored 480 points, with 440 required for DNR consideration. The supervisors had looked at the matrix at their April 7 meeting and concurred with the scoring, as did zoning coordinator/sanitarian Tim Healy.
Greene Valley’s master matrix can be found on the Greene County website at http://www.co.greene.ia.us/sanitarian/gvmmp.pdf
“Expansions are easy. Everyone is used to what to expect,” board chair John Muir said following the hearing.
