After a two-month pause, Lyon County Commissioners Thursday rendered a decision on a request from the City of Emporia to annex property into the city limits. The verdict: unanimous denial.
The request to annex 800 Road 160 came last fall from the city, as A1 Pump and Jet sought to expand its operations by building a facility on the property to handle composting of excess byproducts from various factories and manufacturers. The expansion would also have added roughly 30 new jobs and increased the business’s payroll “substantially,” according to owner Ron McCoy.
Thursday’s vote by commissioners followed nearly 25 minutes of discussion and comments from commissioners and county residents who live in the area, all of whom expressed outright disapproval of the project. One of the main concerns stated by residents during this time was the potential odor that would originate from the facility, something commissioners also expressed a concern for after touring a similar facility in Lyndon on December 29.
Commissioner Chris Bartel:
According to Chairman Ken Duft, the county had a map created showing a two-mile radius that could be affected by odor should the facility become operational, with the models indicating it would affect a significant portion of western Emporia and possibly beyond.
Following the action Thursday, local media spoke with McCoy, who called the decision a “tragedy.”
In addition to the concerns of odor, Commissioner Peck, a retired law enforcement official, had expressed a concern regarding the proximity of the A1 facility to the new Lyon County 911 Center. McCoy would accuse Peck of having made up his mind before the meeting Thursday and then persuading his fellow commissioners to vote alongside him.
Commissioner Peck declined comment to local media following the meeting; however, both Bartel and Duft denied these claims, with Bartel saying he feels those comments may stem from some ill will following a previous election where Peck and McCoy ran against one another. As for the decision-making, Bartel and Duft say their decisions were made solely from the observations they had from their trips to both the current A1 facility and the processing plant in Lyndon back in December.
Now, it is worth noting that the denial of the annexation does not mean the project can’t move forward, as the property in question is zoned for Heavy Industrial use. McCoy was simply seeking the annexation as it would allow him to tie into certain city utilities and reduce certain costs.
With that in mind, KVOE News asked McCoy if he still planned to pursue the endeavor without the annexation, to which he alleged commissioners had taken steps to ensure that would not be possible.
KVOE News spoke with Lyon County Zoning and Floodplain Manager Sam Seeley, who says there had been a review of processes and regulations for heavy industrial zoning recently; however, he called the claims that new processes or permits were created to stand in the way of the A1’s expansion “completely false.”
In response to McCoy’s questioning the logic of “preventing” progress on what he called the county’s first significant economic development project in the least two years, Commissioner Bartel stated he sees the merits of the project; however, given the current location and potential impact of odor, he does not feel the reward is worth the risk.
Duft also stated that if the project were proposed in a different area, he might be more on board with the idea.
McCoy stated that this was the only viable option for the project. In concluding our interview with McCoy, KVOE News asked if he would consider moving operations out of Lyon County. His response:
In other business Thursday, commissioners approved an agreement with Republic, the parent company of Allied Waste Systems, which bought Hammond’s Quarries, the city and county’s solid waste hauler. This followed the same action by Emporia City Commissioners Wednesday, with both governing boards needing to approve the contract as the Lyon County Transfer Station is jointly overseen by the two.
County commissioners are next scheduled to meet Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission Chambers.
