FAIRMONT– There was standing room only at the Fairmont City Council meeting on Monday evening. Several residents took advantage of the public comment portion of the meeting to speak in support of an emergency interim ordinance– moratorium on the spreading of manure in city limits.

Several residents residents from the north side of town spoke about the smell of the manure in the neighborhood and how it’s limiting activities that they can do outside. Some said it’s negatively affecting their health and everyday life.

One resident who lives on Holland Street said that following the Planning and Zoning meeting on June 7, in which a request from Carlson Walters Group to re-zone 93 acres North of George Lake and West of Holland Street from R-1 to B1- in Fairmont was denied, the Carlson Walter Group had applied liquid manure on the land a total of 11 times over 21 days.

The Carlson Walters Group had requested to re-zone the area in plans of putting a campground on the land. At the Planning meeting, many residents in the area showed up to the public hearing to speak against the idea out of concerns that the access point would go through residential areas. The Planning commission denied the request at the June 7 meeting.

On Monday evening another resident said, “normally I would oppose such a regulation on this as being burdensome, but all of a sudden we need it. It’s never been needed up until this point in time.”

However, one resident said they and their partner farm in city limits and they asked if rather than restrict all of city limits, whether the council could zone certain areas.

An attorney representing the Carlson Walters Group also spoke during public comment to share that his clients have been properly applying natural fertilizer on their land and that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and county have been there and have raised no objections to the application.

“It appears that this emergency ordinance… appears to be targeted at Carlson Walters specifically,” he said.

After a time the public comment portion of the meeting concluded and further down the agenda the interim ordinance came up. At that time City Administrator Cathy Reynolds said that staff has looked at existing ordinances in the city code and while there’s one on odor, it requires upgrading.

“As we’ve been looking at that, we came at the conclusion to do an emergency interim ordinance for a moratorium on the spreading of manure in city limits, which will provide us the opportunity to further study the issue and to determine what is the best approach for everyone in our community,” Reynolds said.

She said the moratorium is intended to protect both the residents of Fairmont and the planning process so staff can look at options in moving forward. She also said staff has contacted other farmers inside city limits to talk to them about the interim ordinance and to let them know the end goal is to come up with a permanent ordinance moving forward.

City Attorney Mark Rahrick, who was available via phone, said that while the draft interim ordinance would prohibit the spreading of manure in residential and business districts, that it’s up to the council to determine how narrow or broad the prohibitions would be.

Council Member Bruce Peters said after listening to the Carlson Walters Group’s attorney, there was a legitimate concern of targeting. He made a motion to amend a portion of the interim ordinance to get rid of the specific zones it would apply to and instead have it apply to the entire city limits.

Council Member Michele Miller seconded the motion to allow for discussion.

“I would like to assure people that this is not permanent. This is interim and it’s certainly not my thought or anyone else’s to make this permanent. We need to get this done now and then we can go forward and get it done correctly,” Peters said.

Council Member Britney Kawecki said, “if we start making restrictions. Where does it end?”

She agreed with the Carlson Walters Group’s lawyer who said the interim ordinance is bordering on targeting and called the move a “slippery slope.”

Miller said she had been asked by John Walters whether she still supported the group and its development.

“Although I do support development in Fairmont and this project, I do not support the harassment or the bullying of the city to get what you want,” Miller said.

Council Member Wayne Hasek said while spreading the manure might be legal, there are ethical things that should be done and he said he didn’t think it had been handled ethically.

In a 4-1 vote, the motion to amend the ordinance to have it apply to all of city limits passed.

Council Member Randy Lubenow offered a motion to change a section of the interim ordinance to read that it has an end date of October 1, 2022.

Peters agreed and said he sees no reason to stretch it out a year.

Lubenow brought up a concern that in order to grow Fairmont, housing is needed. He said that when people are willing to invest in Fairmont, they need to be willing to help them get it done.

“No one I talked to in this area of Fairmont ever said they didn’t want development. They were behind this development until this happened,” Miller said.

Peters added that bridges have been irreparably burnt.

In a 4-1 vote, the council approved to amend a section of the interim ordinance to read that it has an end date of October 1, 2022.

In a 4-1 vote, the council moved to adopt the emergency interim ordinance– moratorium on the spreading of manure in city limits