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 Logan County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said, "Gro Alliance is
asking for conditional use approval for the expansion of a storage
building." He said Gro Alliance is located in an agricultural zoning
district, but their use is classified as agricultural business use
and any kind of expansion requires conditional use approval.
Endsley said Gro Alliance is a family run business with headquarters
in Cuba City, Wisconsin. At the Cuba City facility they condition
corn, which prepares the harvested seed for market.
Endsley said about four years ago, Gro Alliance purchased the old
Bo-Jac site near Mount Pulaski and conditioned corn there for the
first three years. He said, "Since that time, we have run across a
firm that has contracted with us to condition soybeans. Soybeans are
a little larger volume crop than corn is, so we work with larger
volumes of it."
Endsley said, "The company we have contracted with has increased our
potential conditioning crop for 2017. Their requirements are that we
have a third of their annual production and static one-time
storage."
Endsley said, "We do not have that [amount of storage area]
currently. To meet their demands, we are looking 27,400 square feet
of expansion at the warehouse inside the property that we own
there."
 Endsley said, "We try to contract with local growers in the Mount
Pulaski area. If possible, we stretch out towards Decatur and Maroa.
We also have some new growers in the Pontiac area."
Endsley said, "What we would be storing in the expansion would be
conditioned soybeans in hardside packs and bags on pallets."
Endsley said, "We do have a contractor accepted bid. Part of our
plans is to have a ten foot setback from any surrounding buildings."
The setback will help with any fire concerns and will help control
rodents.
Endsley then gave commission members a chance to ask questions.
Commission member Blair Hoerbert asked, "What does the current
zoning require for setbacks?"
D'Andrea said the Agricultural District does not set a specific
setback.
Endsley said they approached the fire chief in Mount Pulaski and he
has been to the site and approved the setback.
Commission member Scott Schaffenacker asked, "Will there be any
buildings removed?"
Endsley said, "At this point, no. All the buildings that are at the
site will remain up."
County highway engineer Bret Aukamp said, "On your application, it
says that the truck entrance will be enlarged. Has that been
approved by the township?"
D'Andrea said, "The expansion of the driveway will require a
driveway permit."
Endsley said, "The road from the north to the site was built up as
an 80,000 pound road back in the 1960s. We have a letter of
agreement from the township commissioner that it is an 80,000 pound
road."
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Aukamp said, "County Road 1 is not an 80,000 pound road." Aukamp soon clarified
the road is not 80,000 pounds tolerant at all times of the year.
Endsley asked, "Are we allowed access to that to do business?"
Aukamp said, "Yes, it is 80,000 pounds unless posted otherwise. County Highway 1
has seasonal weight postings at the end of that road. During certain times of
the year, it may not be the best access."
Aukamp said, "I wanted to point that out because obviously you are making
investment onto a property that does have limited truck access. I know that with
moving the soybeans because of the high volume, there are definitely more
trucks."
Aukamp said, most of the moving happens "during that time of year when it is
freezing and thawing outside. It seems like every year I get calls in January
when soybeans need to be moved and the roads are being shut down for hauling. It
is a complicated time trying to get commodities in and out."
Endsley said they would need to have more discussions about that issue.
Endsley said, since they store corn, "the site has a lot of rectangular storage
that we utilize for storing beans. We have 200,000 bushels of storage there that
might allow us to work around that period."
Commission member Chuck Ruben asked, "What is going to be the processing
capacity for soybeans?"
Endsley said, "We are working with the client to work on half a million units
per year."
After all the questions had been answered, Commission Chairman Bill Graff asked
for a motion to approve or deny the request.
Commission member Fred Finchum made a motion to approve the conditional use
request from Gro Alliance and members unanimously approved it.
Gro Alliance's request for conditional use for the expansion will be presented
to the Zoning Board of Appeals at a public hearing on Wednesday, March 8.
Commission members present were chairman Bill Graff, vice chairman Blair
Hoerbert, Fred Finchum, Jim Fuhrer, Jeff Hoinacki, Gerald Lolling, Ryan Murphy,
Chuck Ruben, and Scott Schaffenacker. Zoning officer Will D'Andrea and county
highway engineer Bret Aukamp were also present.
[Angela Reiners] |
