The Powell City Council has cleared the way for a new slaughterhouse to begin operating on the city’s south side.

On Monday, the council amended two ordinances to generally permit the slaughter of animals within city limits — under a number of restrictions — and then specifically allowed a Cody businessman to open a meat processing facility on East North Street.

The decisions followed months of contentious public hearings and council debates.

The two councilors who represent Ward 3, which includes the slaughterhouse and the surrounding area, voted against allowing Proud Cut Foods to operate at 887 E. North St. However, the rest of the council supported the request in a 4-2 vote.

Speaking after the meeting, Dave Peterson of Proud Cut Foods thanked the council for approving his request and “seeing the vision.”

“This is exciting,” he said, “and we cannot wait to get started bringing Wyoming beef to the local market.”

While the changes open the door to slaughterhouses within the City of Powell, all such facilities face a long list of restrictions.

Under the now-adopted ordinances, meat processing facilities are only permitted in the industrial zone that covers roughly the area along the train tracks, south of Coulter Avenue. Since that zone abuts residential neighborhoods, many residents raised objections at previous meetings over the change in ordinance. They expressed concerns about noise, odors and sanitation.

The newly modified ordinance requires the slaughterhouse owners to sign an agreement outlining a number of specific requirements, including the mitigation of noise and odors. The council must approve both that agreement and the location, while the facility must also be state or federally inspected.

Peterson, who owns the Proud Cut Saloon in Cody, initiated the request for the ordinance changes in September as he announced his plans for the slaughterhouse. After approving those general changes at Monday’s meeting, the council considered Peterson’s specific plans — which led to some considerable debate among the councilors.

Dissent on the council

Ward 3 Councilor Tim Sapp, who was alone in voting against the change in the ordinances, argued that all the comments he’d received from constituents across all wards in Powell were overwhelmingly against the facility.

However, Ward 2 Councilor Scott Mangold asked if other odor- and noise-producing businesses in the area had to go through so much scrutiny from the council in order to open.

“Are we to a point of micromanaging basically what businesses can go into an industrial zone?” Mangold asked.

Sapp said he didn’t think it was micromanaging, since the approved change in ordinance requires the facility operators to mitigate any noise or odors that could adversely affect areas outside the industrial zone.

Mangold countered that Peterson had already laid out all the steps he would take to mitigate those problems at earlier council meetings.

“We don’t do it for other businesses in the industrial area,” Mangold added.

Ward 1 Councilor Steve Lensegrav focused on the word “adversely” in the ordinance and agreed Peterson had addressed those concerns. While the operation would not eliminate all possible noise and odors, Lensegrav said the mitigation plans ensure they won’t rise to a level that could be characterized as adversely affecting people in nearby homes.

While a cowbell might be heard, Lensegrav said, “a cow running wild in the street would be different.”

Sapp also brought up property values, arguing the facility would cause neighboring home values to decrease. Sapp said one new homeowner near the facility would never be able to sell the house for as much as he paid for it.

Mayor John Wetzel pointed out the same objections were raised during protests of the city’s garbage transfer station, which was built on North Ingalls Street. However, he said home values in the area have actually gone up.

Likewise, the mayor said, the industrial zone abuting the neighborhood was created many years ago. So, almost all the residents who bought homes there knew they were going to be living next to an industrial area.

“I sort of feel the city and the business owner have done their due diligence on this,” Wetzel said.

He said the Gluten Free Oats plant was constructed without the kinds of requests Peterson has been required to satisfy. On that point, Mangold recalled that, when a fan at the Gluten Free Oats factory drew a complaint from a neighbor, the business addressed the problem.

“We trust Mr. Peterson would do the same thing,” Mangold said, adding, “Being a good neighbor yourself is only good business.”

At the end of the discussion, Sapp moved to deny the approval of the facility at the North Street location, and fellow Ward 3 Councilor Lesli Spencer seconded the motion. But the other four councilors voted against the motion.

Mangold then made a motion to approve the location, Lensegrav seconded and it passed, with Spencer and Sapp voting no.

Limited hours on site

The council then considered the city’s agreement with Proud Cut Foods. In 18 bulleted points, it details how the business must deal with by-products, must construct a manhole for testing of the facility’s sewage, specifies the maximum number of animals allowed on site at one time and various costs the business must cover.

Exactly how long live animals can be kept at the facility was a point of contention on Monday.

Spencer said when Peterson first proposed the facility, he told the city he expected animals to be on site for no more than eight hours before being processed.

“I don’t want to see animals overnight, personally,” Spencer said.

The agreement Peterson asked the council to approve called for no animals between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., but with a 48-hour grace period for extraordinary circumstances.

The problem Peterson faces, he explained, is what would happen if a state or federal inspector rejected an animal for slaughter — something that can happen for a number of reasons, including illness — on a Friday. Peterson might not be able to remove the animal until the following Monday, leading him to request a 48 hour rather than a 24 hour grace period

“I’m not trying to be greedy, and I want to be a good neighbor,” Peterson said, but he would have nowhere to take a rejected animal. This was something he didn’t anticipate when he originally proposed the times.

Speaking after the meeting, Peterson said finding a producer willing to hold a sick cow would be very difficult while buying his own land for a pen would add an expense that his margins might not allow for.

Despite the obstacle, councilors were not open to extending the grace period.

Wetzel said he would “stand hard” on the 24 hour limit, because “I do feel the one thing I promised the citizens is we’d get the cattle in and out of there.”

The mayor said it would be better to make the agreement as the citizens expected, build some trust that the operation won’t be the nuisance many fear it will be and then consider loosening the restrictions in the future.

Morning deliveries

The other issue raised was allowing the delivery of animals at 5 a.m. Spencer pointed out delivering animals would produce the most noise, and argued it shouldn’t be done so early.

She said that, “5 a.m. is awful early for cattle to be coming off the truck, bawling.”

Peterson said he requested the earlier hour because an inspector must be present during the entire slaughtering process. So, if they pushed the start time later, he might not have an inspector available for the full time required to process profitable volumes, as inspectors wouldn’t be available after 7 p.m.

Ward 2 Councilor Floyd Young said 5 a.m. is not an unusual hour to start an agricultural operation.

“Farmers are going right around me at 5 a.m., and I don’t notice them,” Young said.

Rebekah Burns, executive director of the Powell Economic Partnership, said the noise levels would not warrant a later start time. She compared the expected animal noise to other sources of noise in the area, using decibel levels, which is a measure of sound volume.

She said slaughtering animals has a volume of 75 to 93 decibels, compared to a train horn, which is 110. Air compressors, like those used at a nearby tire shop, are about 94 decibels, and traffic on Coulter Avenue is 70 to 100 decibels.

The cattle would be processed inside a closed facility, and the noise they’d make is no greater than a blender. So, if people in the neighborhood couldn’t hear their neighbors’ blenders, Burns said they were unlikely to hear any noise during the slaughtering process.

“Do you really want to put on major constraints to the business and tell the producers you have to show up on the dime of this window?“ Burns said.

Ultimately, the council agreed to allow live animals on site between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. while putting the grace period at 24 hours.

Wetzel suggested that if Peterson operated without any major noise problems, the council could consider altering those parts of agreement in the future.

The amended agreement was again approved on a 4-2 vote, with Sapp and Spencer voting against it.