County solar farm, feedlot hearings set for Dec. 12

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County Commissioners set Tuesday morning, Dec. 12, for one hearing on an expanded feedlot operation and another on proposed zoning regulations for solar farms.

There’s no guarantee of the latter, however, as the proposed regulations first have to be approved by the county zoning board the night before, Monday, Dec. 11.

There will be no regular commissioner meeting that Monday. Tuesday’s meeting, Dec. 12, begins at 9 a.m.

The first hearing is to allow Mike Daffer to enlarge lagoons for an expanded feedlot.

A moratorium on renewable energy projects in Red Willow County will expire Jan. 1. Neighboring property owners have expressed concerns about two proposed solar farms, one northwest of McCook and another north of McCook.

The one northwest of McCook is entirely in the county’s zoning control, but the other also falls under the zoning control of the city of McCook.

In other business, commissioners approved surplussing electronic equipment from the district court and clerk magistrate’s offices, and an occupancy agreement for Telcom/Century Link to cross a county road to a residence.

They also reviewed a letter from the Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment giving Ruggles Feedlot approval to operate.

Acting as a board of equalization, commissioners approved two tax roll corrections for homestead exemptions, increasing property taxes in both cases by $187.18.