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  • Kuhni receives affirmative vote for conditional use permit


PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVES SPECIAL USE PERMIT • The Juab County Planning and Zoning commission approved the special use permit for the Kuhni's project at the Mill's Interchange sight. The project will face additional state and local permits before a building permit will be issued. Above, several people came to the meeting with signs with their concerns.

By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent

There was an affirmative vote by the Juab County Planning Commission to grant Kuhni's the conditional use permit the Utah County-based company was seeking to build a animal rendering facility in Juab County between Mills and Levan and fronting I-15.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Glenn Greenhalgh, county planning commission director, who does not have a vote, explained that there were three steps Kuhni's must take before they can begin building.

"The first step was to obtain the conditional use permit, which they did tonight," said Greenhalgh. "The planning commission still needs to establish the conditions of that permit."

Once those conditions are established, other agencies must sign off on the proposal. For one, he said, the health department will be called upon to establish that public health codes are met.

Other state agencies must confirm that building codes and other issues are addressed and satisfied.

"Then Kuhni's will need to apply for a building permit," said Greenhalgh. As part of that process, another public hearing will be held where public input will be taken.

Not as many people attended the public meeting held by the Juab County Planning Commission on Monday--40 as compared to the 85 interested citizens who showed up at a public hearing held a week ago--and the meeting was short, lasting only 10 minutes.

Jim McWilliams, planning commission chair, said the meeting was not being held to take public comment but to have members of the planning commission vote on the proposal.

"We went to the proposed site today (at 5 p.m.)," said McWilliams. He said the visit satisfied him that the property proposed for the siting was not in a wetlands.

In addition, McWilliams said that representatives, of which he was one, visited a large animal rendering facility near Boston where state-of-the-art equipment prevented there being an unpleasant odor attached to the processing facility.

That had been one of his concerns before the trip, he said.

McWilliams also refused to take comment from the floor. That had been done at the public hearing, he said.

Robert Steele, county commissioner who sits on the planning commission as a non-voting member, said he had investigated the water table concerns some citizens had voiced at the public hearing.

"The water basin will not be effected," he said. "There will be no effect. Period."

Steele said the well water for the land is already being used there and so the water table should not be adversely affected.

Kuhni's will use 20-acre feet of water per year, he said. "That is just enough water to raise five acres of alfalfa."

"Last meeting I was concerned about the location proposed as the site," said Planning Commission member Paul McPherson. "After visiting the site, I agree with the place it is proposed to be built."

Russ Mangelson, commission member who will soon build in Levan, said he supported granting Kuhni's a conditional use permit.

Only Wallace Ballow disagreed with the proposed Mills site. Ballow said he thought the planning commission had been going to review some site plans at the meeting.

"We are having a meeting to take a vote," said McWilliams.

Ballow said that only two sites--one just south of Nephi and the Mills/Levan site had been considered. "I can think of several other places in the county where Kuhni's could be built," he said.

He did not have confidence in the state and federal regulations being enforced because the Bateman Dairy had built their holding pond according to state code and it was not as effective as it should be in controlling odor.

"We have to specify in the conditional use permit what we will let them do," he said. A bad smell and health concerns would have a negative effect on the county.

Nevertheless, Ballow was the lone negative vote on the commission. One commission member, Art Cornish from Eureka, had car trouble on the way to the meeting and called to tell the others he would not be in attendance.

McWilliams, as chair, was called upon to cast a vote so the quorum would be complete.

McWilliams, as chair, and Mangelson, McPherson, Ballow, and Cornish sit on the commission as voting members.

Following the affirmative vote, Don Martin spoke up and asked the commission if they had ever heard of a class action suit.

"I feel that it is unfortunate that there is so much emotion and bad feeling," said Hans Kuhni, one of the owners of the company. "The planning commission has been very good at turning over the rocks and making informed decisions."

When the plant is ready for a building permit, there will no longer be issues, he said. There will not be odors and the concerns of residents will have been addressed.

There is still a great deal for owners to do in the next few weeks--detailed site plan will be drawn, waste water permits will need to be obtained, and the conditions of the permit will be set by the planning commission.

Some citizens attending the meeting thought the conditional use permit would now come before the county commissioners for a vote. However, that will not happen.

According to Juab County Code, 12-1-304…"The Planning Commission is specifically given authority to approve conditional use permits as provided herein."

Some county residents did not think they had been heard and were unhappy with the results of the meeting. They stopped in the hallway, gathered in clusters, and discussed their views.

"That was the fastest public meeting I have ever seen," said Graham Misbach. The meeting, which took less than 10 minutes from start to finish, he said, was of great importance to many people in the county.

Sherm Peterson, who is a retired Juab County Road Department Superintendent, said the area proposed for the construction of the new Kuhni plant was a wetland.

"It is boggy down under there," he said. "That is one of the reasons the freeway is unstable in that location."

All three Juab County Commissioners--Wm. Boyd Howarth, Joseph Bernini, and Robert Steele--were in attendance at the public meeting.