The Gage County Board of Supervisors voted to reopen discussion of a draft livestock-regulations letter and sent an amended draft to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review, removing numeric setback values to allow P&Z to set specific distances.

The action followed public comment and a board debate about whether the board followed proper procedure during an August 6 meeting. The board first voted to reconsider a prior motion that had prevented the draft from going to Planning and Zoning; that reconsideration passed. On a subsequent motion, the board approved sending the draft to Planning and Zoning with the setback numbers left blank so the commission can recommend specific distances and other changes.

Supporters of reconsideration said Planning and Zoning should have the formal review and public hearings that accompany regulatory change. Opponents said the county will undertake a comprehensive plan review in coming years and worried duplicate or conflicting work could confuse residents and applicants. Several residents and advocates urged an inclusive public process.

Jonathan Leo, a retired environmental and land-use lawyer who identified himself as a Nebraska Farmers Union member, urged an open, multi-step public process. “It is a process that requires at least one public hearing,” Leo told the board, and recommended Planning and Zoning consider cumulative impacts of repeated CAFO approvals as part of its review.

Marcella Rademaker, a local resident who said she lives within about a mile of a proposed facility, told supervisors many neighbors work during the day and asked that Planning and Zoning hold evening public hearings so more people can attend.

Roger Swavely, who chaired the three-member subcommittee that drafted the language from public input, said the subcommittee intentionally left some items as a starting point for Planning and Zoning to refine. Swavely described the draft as a vehicle to start formal discussion, not a final rule.

The board approved the motion to send the draft with the numeric setback fields removed. The vote on the sending motion was 5 in favor, 2 opposed (Supervisors Teeman and Lytle voting no). Before that, the motion to reconsider the prior “not send” vote passed by a 6–1 margin with Teeman voting no.

Planning and Zoning will now receive the draft and schedule its review, including public hearings; any recommendation from P&Z would return to the Board of Supervisors for final action.

The board and members of the public also discussed the timing relative to a countywide comprehensive-plan review slated for 2028, and whether parts of livestock regulation should be handled now or deferred into that larger process.