Carroll County supervisors approve construction permit, authorize chair to sign master matrix for large swine operation in Washington Township

The Carroll County Board of Supervisors approved a construction permit application for a swine finishing operation filed in the name of Jason Opperman in Section 29, Washington Township, and authorized the board chair to sign the Master Matrix scoring and recommendation letter after a short public hearing.

At the hearing, opened at about 9:01 a.m. and closed near 9:02 a.m., supervisors said they had heard a comment from residents north of the site who expressed concern about the project. A county staff member told the board there would be no new buildings associated with the application and that the permit reflects an increase in animals on the existing site: "There's no building. It's putting more pigs in. No change to the site," the staff member said.

The application as discussed in the hearing increases the operation from 1,920 animal units to 4,800 swine finishers. After brief discussion, the board moved to authorize the chair to sign the Master Matrix scoring and recommendation letter; the motion carried. One supervisor noted the county had not updated the Master Matrix in many years, saying, "This is the first time in 15 or in 10 years we've changed the master matrix." Another supervisor added after the vote: "If it passed the scoring, there wasn't much we could do about it."

Why it matters: the Master Matrix is the county scoring tool used to evaluate confinement feeding operation permits; when the matrix yields a passing score the board's options are limited to the conditions allowed by county procedure. Neighbors' concerns were recorded during the hearing, and the board approved the application and the accompanying administrative actions that enable issuance of the permit.

The board did not record a roll-call vote naming each supervisor for this item in the transcript excerpt; the motion carried by voice vote.

Votes and next steps: the chair was authorized to sign the Master Matrix scoring and recommendation letter. The transcript indicates the public hearing was brief and no additional hearings were scheduled in connection with this specific permit application.