Linn supervisors plan Friday special session on factory farm plan

Linn County supervisors will hold a special session Friday to decide the grounds on which they'll challenge a proposed factory farm near Center Point.

Supervisors voted 4-1 Wednesday to recommend the state Department of Natural Resources reject Matt Ditch's application for a permit to build and operate a 5,661-hog confinement on land owned by his parents northeast of Center Point.

To block Ditch's plan, the county must also disallow points in the "master matrix" accompanying Ditch's 124-page application. Points are allotted for a plan's siting and construction features, manure disposal plans, and other details, with 440 points required for DNR approval.

Ditch's plan scored 450 points. Opponents, many of them nearby residents, have challenged enough points to drop his application below the required minimum.

The sole item on Friday's agenda calls for a decision "to direct staff for specific challenges" to Ditch's score.

The meeting will be 9 a.m. on the informal board room at the county's Jean Oxley Public Service Center, 935 Second St. SW.

CAFO 01 12 Application Document