The Powell City Council voted 4-1 on Monday to move forward with a change in ordinance that will permit the slaughter of animals in the general industrial zone at facilities with state or USDA certifications. Councilor Tim Sapp voted against the decision and Councilor Lesli Spencer was absent.

The change was initiated by a request from Dave Peterson, owner of the Proud Cut Saloon in Cody, who wants to open a meat processing facility inside the industrial zone, which is in a corridor between Coulter Avenue and South Street.

Monday’s vote didn’t change the ordinance, which will still need to go through three readings before becoming final. With the decision to move forward, the city’s attorneys will be working out the specific language of the changes, and the council will vote on the first reading at its Nov. 2 regular meeting.

Assistant Attorney Scott Kath outlined some of the details of the change, which will alter two separate ordinances. The first was a change to an ordinance that prohibits the keeping of livestock, including exotic pets, in the city limits. The second change would allow for animal slaughter.

The wording is being crafted to not only limit the activity to the industrial-general zone and only by USDA and state-certified facilities, but the approval of any individual slaughterhouse would still be subject to review by city officials and approval of the city council.

“In short, this ordinance change allows us to maintain a certain amount of control approving slaughterhouses as they apply,” Mayor John Wetzel said.

Petition

The proposed location for the facility, on East North Street, abuts a residential neighborhood. The council took public comment on the ordinance change prior to voting to move forward. Earlier on Monday, opponents dropped off a petition at City Hall with more than 70 signatures from Powell residents —  many from the area around the slaughterhouse. They requested the ordinance be left unchanged over concerns the facility would diminish property values and the area around the facility be covered in insects, manure and urine.

Comments at Monday’s meeting also came from a dozen supporters, including representatives of Northwest College, people who work in the cattle industry, representatives from Powell Economic Development and members of 4-H. 

Tammy Howard, who lives near the proposed location of the facility, said she was unconvinced that there wouldn’t be powerful odors and noise coming from the plant. She said that since there will be a holding pen outside — where the cattle will be kept briefly before processing twice per week — there would be odors from cow manure and urine.

“You can’t tell me there isn’t going to be stink and flies all along this road and this pen,” Howard said. “They’re not going to have a streetsweeper out there all the time cleaning it up. So who’s going to get stuck cleaning it up?”

She pointed out there’s a commercial building out past Powell High School that’s for sale, which isn’t near any houses. Howard asked why Peterson wouldn’t use that building instead.

Peterson explained that it would increase his costs about fivefold to use that location. He said he went over “every millimeter and inch” of Powell, considering commercial properties that would suit his needs and budget. The only one he found was the location in question.

Chuck Keele, who also lives in the area, said when he first learned about the project, he was very concerned for all the same reasons as opponents. However, after researching everything and speaking with Val Murray of Murraymere Farms, Keele said he changed his mind.

He pointed to the controversy surrounding the City of Powell’s transfer station, which was also met with a lot of opposition over the potential for odors and insects before being built on North Ingalls Street.

Now, “I never even think of the transfer station. I never smelled nothing,” Keele said, who once owned a sanitation business.

Educational opportunities

Murray also spoke in support of the facility. She referred to six letters backing the project, from cattle producers, bankers, NWC President Stefani Hicswa, state Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell, and Rep. Dan Laursen, R-Powell. Murray said she reached out to three feedlots in the Big Horn Basin, and the people she spoke with were so “excited about this opportunity, they can hardly stand it.”

Peterson is attempting to build partnerships with NWC and Powell High School to create educational opportunities in the area.

Harlie Riddle, a 4-H leader, spoke of the benefit of the facility for such kids’ programs. She said youth who sell livestock at the Park County Fair have to wait months to get their animals processed because of the lack of facilities in the area that can do it. She said the facility could allow high school students to potentially learn a trade, which might become a career.

“I did not know I wanted to be working in the cattle industry when I was in high school. 4-H opened that for me,” Riddle said.

Gary Mills said he’s been “associated with cattle” for 50 years. He said even large plants that process thousands of cattle per day are “surprisingly clean.” With the size of the facility Peterson is planning, Mills said it won’t cause the impacts opponents are saying it will.

Mills explained that the requirements facilities must meet to be certified by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture or the USDA are so stringent that they need to maintain a high level of cleanliness.

“If it gets too bad, they’ll close them down,” the cattleman said.

Lynn Guccion, instructor of animal science at NWC, praised the educational opportunities the facility would open up for college students. She said the college offers one meat processing class, which has been filled to capacity for several years. They utilize Roger’s Meat Processing — a slaughterhouse just north of Powell — and the additional capacity at Peterson’s facility would improve the offerings at NWC, which in turn would help with their recruiting efforts.

“I think there’d be a really good synergism between the college and this business,” Guccion said, including internships and real world experience.

Economic benefits

Martin Kimmet, owner of the Bar Bar K Ranch in Clark, said he’s been working in the cattle industry his whole life. He spoke on the economic benefits the facility would provide, which go beyond the jobs at the facility itself.

“We’re faced with a tremendous dilemma in the state, as well as the neighboring states, where the cattle producer just can’t get their cattle slaughtered,” Kimmet explained.

He said Powell is well-positioned geographically to play a significant role in processing cattle.

“We have cattle. We’ve got corn. We got silage. We got barley. And all these things at this point in time are very depressed,” he said.

Kelly Spiering, chair of the Powell Economic Partnership Board of Directors and owner of Spiering Farms, pointed out that Peterson was doing this project without any public funding or public land; the project is being created with his own money.

Spiering said every agriculture producer puts up to $500,000 per year into the local economy.

“We as a community — you as leaders of this community — can really say thank you to agriculture by allowing this facility to be built,” Spiering said.

Jeremiah Vardiman, University of Wyoming Extension agriculture and horticulture educator in Powell, spoke on the value expanded processing would bring to the area. He said he wasn’t speaking in support or opposition of the change in ordinance and was only offering his perspective on the expanded processing capacity. Vardiman said a big issue with agriculture in the state is the lack of markets and lack of access to markets.

“If we can open that bottleneck up, it will help access more markets for our Wyoming producers,” Vardiman said.

Peterson thanked the community for its outpouring of support and said he remained committed to mitigating the impacts of the facility on the surrounding neighborhood.

“We want to be good neighbors,” he said.