Resident tells Harvey County commissioners floodplain maps and battery storage worry farmers and neighbors

At the Harvey County public comment period, Newton-area resident Amy Bridal asked commissioners to reconsider proposed floodplain maps and warned that new designations could affect insurance and the ability to build on properties.

Bridal said mapmakers did not account for local sandy soils and suggested aerial imagery assessments were inaccurate. "The people that created these maps didn't account for our sandy soil," she said, urging the commission to "consider that before you adopt a new floodplain, which would dramatically impact insurance, people's ability to build, and everything else."

Bridal also raised safety concerns about a proposed lithium‑ion battery storage facility in nearby Halstead. She said a majority of Halstead city council members opposed the project and that residents gathered signatures to require a ballot measure; the mayor vetoed the council action, she said.

She cited a large fire at the Moss Landing facility in California and described evacuation and shelter‑in‑place impacts: "When the Moss Landing fire occurred in California, they had to evacuate within 6 miles of that fire," Bridal said, and she said an additional 26‑mile radius sheltered in place because of airborne contaminants. She and commissioners emphasized the issue affects Harvey County beyond Halstead’s city limits.

Commissioners did not take formal action during public comment, but county officials acknowledged the concern and said the county is considering the matter as it relates to countywide impacts and resident safety.