Members of the Superior Planning Commission held a public hearing Thursday evening to consider a request from Agrex to change the zoning and annex into the city all of the land south of East First Street, north of the city’s sewage treatment plant, west of county road that serves the sewer treatment plant and east of a strip of land owned by Aurora Cooperative.
The elevator company wanted to move quickly on the proposal and have the site prepared to received grain this fall.
Eric Krotzinger, speaking on behalf of Agrex, said the ground pile would be the last to be filled and the first to be emptied. Currently the elevator has nearly exhausted all possible space for additional silo construction.
Though not in the immediate plan, Krotzinger said he expected a hoop house style storage building would eventually be constructed on the site. As currently planned, a scale would be added and trucks would enter off of First Street, dump and exit onto the county road along the east side of the property. The installation would add two employees to the elevator staff.
Aeration fans would be needed to hold the tarp covering the grain in place. They would be placed on the east side of the pile to minimize noise within the city.
Several residents of the area voiced concerns over the noise, dust, smell and varmint problems they thought would be associated with a ground pile. Members of the planning commission also voice concerns over the ability of the First Street bridge and the roads serving the site to handle the increased traffic.
If the area is annexed, the upkeep of the county road along the east side would become the city’s responsibility. First Street is currently armor coated but drainage problems were noted.
Krotzinger said the elevator company had first considered property in the Kottmeyer Business Park but development of the site would have meant trucks moving the grain would have to cross Highway 8 potentially creating traffic problems. When the First Street property became available, the company began formulating plans to utilize it.
He said the elevator’s farmer customers had been asking for expanded storage options.
While members of the planning commission present for the meeting voted unanimously to deny the application they indicated they would look at the application differently if it contained firm plans for a hoop house.
Since Thursday night’s meeting, Agrex has appealed the planning commission’s decision to the Superior City Council. It is now expected the council will schedule another public hearing before considering the question. Notice of that hearing will be published in this newspaper.
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