Gale town board to discuss zoning for fertilizer plant

The town of Gale board will meet again next week to determine if it will recommend the rezoning of land that previously housed Sacia Orchards for the construction of a new fertilizer plant.

Allied Cooperative requested 28 acres of land that it purchased from Sacia Enterprises Inc. be rezoned from traditional agriculture to industrial agriculture for the construction of a new dry bulk fertilizer plant. The town board will not give final approval for the rezoning, but could offer a recommendation to the Trempealeau County Environment and Land Use Committee. If approved by the county committee, the full county board would make the final decision. The Gale board is expected to hear more detailed plans at its meeting next Tuesday. 

At its Aug. 12 meeting the board heard from Joseph Spinler, Allied Cooperative’s executive vice president, regarding its plans. The company purchased 160 acres of land that was previously used by Sacia Orchards and requested that 28 of those acres be rezoned. Also appearing at that meeting were several area residents who had objections and concerns about the request.

Spinler told the board that the current building used for bulk fertilizer is outdated. It was built in 1979 and met the cooperative’s needs at the time, but the company has since outgrown the facility. A new plant — expected to utilize one acre of the property — would allow products to be loaded and mixed indoors, which would also make it more environmentally friendly, he said. 

But Spinler’s plans weren’t as specific as some in attendance would have liked. It was noted that the area that was requested to be rezoned would go right up against a housing development, which concerned some property owners in attendance. 

Spinler said he didn’t think any new buildings would be built that close to the development, but couldn’t say for sure without soil borings. 

“I don’t think anything down there is going to be buildable, but it might be a nice spot for our retention pond,” Spinler said, adding the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources would ultimately dictate where new buildings could be constructed. 

Spinler said the company hoped to have the recommendation before further developing plans. He acknowledged that the company would have to develop preliminary plans for county approval and was willing to provide them for the town’s decision-making process.

It was suggested that the new building could actually be further from the houses in the area than the current plant is. 

The cooperative’s current dry fertilizer plant will be demolished. Spinler said both the demolition of that plant and the construction of the new plant will be required to meet requirements established by both the DNR and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. He noted that the requirements for the new building are going to be considerably stricter than what was approved when the current building was constructed. 

While the initial plan is just to build a fertilizer plant, Spinler acknowledged there could be more buildings constructed on the property in the future. He noted there will also have to be space for roads so vehicles can navigate the property. 

As for the rest of the land recently purchased, Spinler said that the company isn’t in the business of owning land.

“Today we don’t have a plan to sell it, but I would say that could be a real strong possibility as we move forward,” Spinler said. 

Other attendees had questions about access, noting that traffic on Winnebago Road could be problematic. Spinler said the company hoped to utilize both the Winnebago Road and the U.S. Highway 53/54/93 access points, but the Wisconsin Department of Transportation would have final say. 

As of now, Spinler said the plan was to continue running business as usual once the new plant was constructed. Though he added that could change depending on what the cooperative decides to do with its building in Arcadia. 

Other attendees questioned the safety of having the entire operation contained indoors, but Spinler said the fertilizer is not flammable. “I don’t know if you could get it to burn if you tried.” 

The board ultimately voted to table its recommendation for a month in order to see more specific plans.