A surprise petition has postponed a decision to allow construction of a feedlot near Outlook, Sask.
Council for the Rural Municipality of Rudy was set to make a land zoning decision during a special meeting Oct. 21. But hours before the meeting was to start, the RM administrator received a petition calling for a referendum on the project.
Trent Michelman said he has 30 days under the Municipalities Act to review the petition to determine its validity and sufficiency. Council has not even seen it yet.
“I will also be seeking a legal opinion on the validity of the petition,” the administrator said Oct. 25. “I’ll be reporting back to council once I’ve made my findings.”
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Fifteen percent of taxpayers in the RM must sign the petition in order for it to be valid.
It has 66 signatures. The RM’s population, according to the 2006 Census, is 434.
Stuart Thiessen of Strathmore, Alta., based Namaka Farms, wants to build a feedlot capable of handling 36,000 head.
He said he didn’t know ratepayers could petition for a referendum in this situation and he won’t make any decisions until Michelman completes his review.
“It just barely makes the minimum names,” he said.
Thiessen had hoped to break ground next fall.
“If the petition is valid, we’re delayed a strong year, if not more,” he said. “If not forever.”
The earliest a referendum could be held is November 2011, said Michelman. That’s because this year’s election is being held this week.
Some residents have expressed concern about the proposed intensive livestock operation’s proximity to the South Saskatchewan River and M1 irrigation canal.
Landowner Doug Bigelow, who lives in British Columbia, presented the petition and told media outlets he was worried about potential tax increases coupled with decreased land values.
But Elayna Vestre, who with her husband has a mixed farm close to the proposed site, said there are many benefits to the facility.
She said jobs at the feedlot and economic spinoffs are bound to be good for Outlook and area.
If the feedlot goes ahead, her farm will lie in the middle of a geographic triangle formed by the feedlot and two hog barns.
She said they rarely smell the hog barns.
“I’ve got confidence in the system by virtue of the lack of problems that I have with the two present ILOs within several miles of my farm,” she said.
“I’m not worried in the least that this is going to be built in my backyard.”
Vestre said that all farming operations have to be environmentally responsible in order to be sustainable.
She said she empathizes with people who live within 1,200 metres of the proposed site but noted that neighbours within 800 metres of Namaka Farms’ Strathmore operation did not express any concerns when asked.
The feedlot has not yet gone to the provincial agriculture and environment ministries for approvals and full public consultation. Thiessen said that was phase two of Namaka Farms’ four-year plan.
Namaka already owns grain land in the area south of Outlook.
“Our longer term plan is to develop a (feedlot) presence in Saskatchewan and we think that’s still the right area,” Thiessen said. “We’ve received a lot of support.”
Michelman said if the petition is deemed invalid, council can ignore it and proceed as it chooses.
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