SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Lincoln County will require the owners of a milk facility in Delaware Township to pay $25,000 annually to Delaware and Brooklyn Township for road maintenance. The $50,000 payment is one of the requirements of a conditional use permit approved by the county board for a facility expansion.
The CUP is not for more dairy cows but to expand an existing milk condensing facility about 6 1/2 miles northwest of Beresford in Delaware Township. The expansion is a 13,048 square foot facility that would separate whey from milk as an additional step in the condensing process, county zoning official Toby Brown and Red Rock Dairy representative Paul Kostboth said at Tuesday night’s county board meeting.
A video of the meeting was posted Wednesday on the county’s website.
A dairy official said on Tuesday said the company was willing to pay the $25,000 to each township.
The milk condensing facility is located on the Red Rock Dairy which also has several thousand cows. Some of the complaints shared at Tuesday’s meeting appeared to be tied more to the dairy cow operation than the milk condensing facility. But, overall, there were concerns about potential increased road use and damage.
Red Rock Dairy or Red Rock Real Estate LCC is listed as the CUP applicant. The owners is represented by Kostbuth of A1 Development Solutions of Sioux Falls. Several times during the June 16 county planning commission meeting and Tuesday’s meeting, the den Dulk family and Tim den Dulk were referred to as owners.
Tim den Dulk is listed as the principal with DenDulk Dairy Farms, according to Dunn & Bradstreet. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to Dunn & Bradstreet.
Based on comments shared on June 16 and Tuesday night, some members public, dairy representatives and township representatives have shared or discussed concerns about the dairy and condensing operations over several years.
One of the county board’s requirements with CUP approval is to require the county planning staff to facilitate an annual neighborhood meeting to include the dairy, the district commissioners and the sheriff’s department.
The county’s action was on an appeal by the planning commission decision to approve the CUP on June 16. The board’s decision was to uphold approval with additional requirements.
Kostbuth said the expansion will increase the number of trucks that use the overall facility to 70 to 75 per day.
Several people said on Tuesday the dairy operation already negatively impacts road conditions. An expansion of the condensing plant will increase the negative impact.
County commissioner Joel Arends recommended the $25,000 from the dairy to help with roads.
“…roads are getting beat up,” Arends said during the meeting.
“I’m hoping the townships got not what they wanted, but what they needed tonight,” Arends said.
Brooklyn Township Board Chairman Steve Holmberg did want more.
“I guess I hoped it would be more,” Holmberg said of the $25,000 in a Wednesday interview with KELOLAND News. The cost of gravel to maintain roads has increased over the past 10 years, he said.
“We’re spending over $90,000 (a year) on gravel,” Holmberg said. The cost doesn’t include labor or maintainer equipment cost, he said.
Although the overall dairy operation primarily uses 291st Street and roads near that in Delaware Township, it also uses roads in Brooklyn Township.
Kostbuth said during the meeting that road use in Brooklyn Township is primarily limited to silage harvest season. Dairy officials estimated that about 11 miles of road are used for about 22 days a year, he said.
Road use concerns are not limited to the damage complaints, but some of those concerns are not tied to the CUP request on Tuesday’s agenda, County planning director Toby Brown said.
“Throughout the public hearing process we’ve heard comments from the public about the silage trucks,” Brown said.
Silage trucks are used during harvest, he said. The concerns were mainly traffic safety, Browns said.
Those trucks do not go to the condensing facility under discussion Tuesday, Brown said.
The entire facility discussed on Tuesday night started as a roughly 4,000 head dairy. In 2013 and 2016 CUPs tied to the dairy cows were approved. A CUP was approve by the county in 2023 for the original milk condensing plant, Brown said. Raw milk is hauled to the milk condensing plant.
In response to some road concerns, the county approval also required the dairy to have raw milk tanker trucks adopt a best practice of using interstate, federal, state and county roads, that exclude 468th Avenue between 290th and 291st Streets and 290th Street between 467th and 469th Avenues.
The June 16 meeting in which the county planning and zoning board approved the CUP with conditions included opposition from township officials and those who live nearby. Road concerns, including increased traffic, noise, light pollution and odor were among the complaints on that day. Similar complaints were shared on Tuesday night.
Supporters of the proposed project on June 16 and Tuesday night cited the economic benefits to the county, the benefits to the Beresford School District, and some saying the nearby roads are in better condition because of the dairy operation.
The CUP will require the dairy facility to have additional screening and a traffic impact study to be accepted by the Lincoln County Highway Superintendent.
But Holmberg said on Wednesday that none of the conditions properly address concerns about odor, noise or light. And the screening required was not explained in any detail, he said.
Commissioner Jim Schmidt said on Tuesday night that the board understands that people have concerns about the dairy and its operation but the board’s task was to evaluate if the CUP request met county zoning requirements and the county’s comprehensive plan.
“That is what I have to vote on,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt, Arends, Betty Otten, Tiffany Landeen voted in favor of the CUP with requirements. Commissioner Doug Putnam voted no.
