FREMONT, Neb. (KMTV) — After seemingly an army of opponents testified against it, the Dodge County Board of Supervisors denied a Nebraska family's request to put a ten-barn chicken farm in Nickerson.
The Camenzind family, who owns the land north of Fremont, previously tried to get the Costco plant built there, before their neighbors in Nickerson objected, like they did Wednesday.
"This has come full circle, we've started with this, they wanted to put the chicken plant up here we said no, and now we're back up here again, fighting to not get the chicken barns up here," says Ron Brickell, who’s against the project.
Case and Jocelyn Camenzind said little, but they were backed by Lincoln Premium Poultry, who would buy the chickens from the farm to use in the Costco chicken plant, once it's built in south Fremont.
Jessica Kolterman with LPP says the farm would add nearly a dozen jobs and give the county a quarter-million dollar tax boost.
"Those are real numbers. That's growing your tax base in this county, it's growing the amount of money people have to spend in your community, back into your local businesses," says Kolterman.
The plan calls for nearly a half million chickens to be houses on a 15-acre plot of land in rural Dodge County
All those birds had many worried about the smell, but supporters of the plant say the manure from the chicken farm is something farmers want.
"We are getting calls from organic farmers, across the state, hundreds of miles away, trying to get their hands on some of the litter produced in this project," says Andy Scholting, president/GM, Nutrient Advisors in West Point.
Traffic was another worry. The plant would go just west of Highway 275, leaving some concerned about big trucks making left turns.
"We're going to have more deaths on this and that isn't fair, to the citizens and the farmers that live there that have use this road," says Ellen Vollmer, who’s against the farm.
On a 4-2 vote the board agreed that 10 chicken barns in that spot was too much, but chairman Bob Missel said if the Camenzind's re-apply for a smaller chicken farm, the board may re-consider
