Agenda - Council - 08/11/1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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On March 5, 1992, Mr. Barthold and I met at Ramsey Municipal Center. Mr. Banhold stated that Mark Stevens from PCA had inspected his operation as it relates to his application for a feedlot permit. Mr. Stevens had no particular recommendations for odor management other than reducing the number of pigs being kept on the property. Mr. Barthold told me that he currently has approximately 750 pigs contained within five 200' x 200' pens and PCA recommended reducing that number to 450. Mr. Barthold also provided me with a list of neighboring property owners that have expressed no opposition to the pig farm operation. On March 10, 1992, the City Council directed Mr. Barthold to reduce the size of his pig farm from 750 to 450 pigs as a means of reducing the nuisance odors. Mr. Banhold was given a deadline of July 1, 1992 to comply with this directive. This case is on the agenda as a follow up to Council's verbal agreement with Mr. Banhold in March. On June 8, 1992, I met with Jake Barthold to receive progress reports regarding Council's direction to reduce the size of the operation to 450 pigs. At that time, Mr. Barthold reported to me that the size of the operation had been reduced by 236 pigs, leaving approximately 514 pigs on the site. He stated that he doubted he could meet the July I deadline, but that he would continue to ship pigs at the rate of 30 per week until the herd was reduced to 450. On July 6, 1992, I talked with Paul Anderson, a veterinarian at Minnesota Animal Health Control. As you recall, the Bartholds have a State permit to feed the pigs recycled foods. Paul indicated that the Barthold pig farm is inspected monthly. The last inspection was June 18, 1992 and without a doubt, the operation is in compliance with State regulations. Some of the items inspected are sanitation of garbage treatment area and equipment (garbage is cooked at 212 degrees for 30 minutes); insuring that untreated garbage is not accessible to animals; pest control; leakproof containers for garbage to prevent leakage onto ground; proper disposal of excess garbage; health of animals; maintenance of records; etc. On July 7, I talked to Mark Stewart at MPCA regarding the status of Mr. Barthold's feedlot permit. Mr. Barthold's State feedlot permit that was supposed to have been issued last March has never been officially issued. The reason the permit has not been issued yet is because Mr. Barthold was given two alternatives -- (1) Increase the acreage of that area being used for landspreading the manure because concentrated deposits of hog manure in sandy soil can become a groundwater problem); or (2) Reduce the herd to 550 pigs (200 feeders and 350 grower/finishing hogs). Even though there was a sufficient amount of acreage to handle the landspreading of manure from the number of hogs estimated to be on the site when MPCA inspected last March (more than 550 but less than 700), Mr. Barthold did not want to bring landspreading operations any closer to the existing neighbors than it already was. Therefore, he chose alternative #2, which was to reduce the animal numbers to 550. Mr. Stewart also told me that there has not been any follow-up on this permit because Mr. Barthold indicated that the hog farm operation would be moved to Isanti. As a matter of fact, a MPCA regional inspector has inspected and approved the proposed site in Isanti, but nothing more has been heard from Mr. Barthold in the last six weeks. Mr. Stewart stated that within the next 30 days, MPCA would be inspecting the subject hog farm to initiate enforcement of reducing the hog numbers to 550 or increasing the tandspreading area. Mr. Barthold called me on July 7 to report his progress in reducing the hog numbers to 450. Mr. Barthotd stated that the size of his operation is back up to approximately 700 pigs because the sows gave birth to another 200 piglets. On July I7, 1992, I reported to City Council that the size of Mr. Barthold's hog farm operation is still at 750 animals. City Council directed me to schedule a public hearing on August 11, 1992, to establish a public record regarding the odor nuisance that is claimed to have been created by the hog farm operation. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I