Carroll County supervisors approve plan to relocate fertilizer tanks outside Templeton, pending Board of Adjustment review

The Carroll County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the Landis improvement plan to relocate an in‑town fertilizer storage and add an additional 30,000‑gallon tank, creating 60,000 gallons of storage outside Templeton, with the approval made pending review by the county Board of Adjustment.

Stacy Harkett, a project lead who spoke for the applicant, said Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship rules require the company to present the plan to the Board of Supervisors. “We’re gonna start with 60,000, and that’s what I’m here to get board approval on today,” Harkett said.

The plan would move an existing 30,000‑gallon anhydrous tank and place it with a sister 30,000‑gallon tank on a site west of Templeton, moving fueling and truck traffic out of the city limits and under county jurisdiction. Harkett said the new site will include new piping, pumps, working platforms and a small weigh scale so tank units can be weighed on site before leaving, and that the intent is to have the facility operational this fall if construction timing allows.

Supervisors and staff discussed whether the change in location and the added capacity require a special‑use permit from the Board of Adjustment. Board members settled on approving the improvement plan “pending Board of Adjustment approval,” and the motion carried by voice vote. Board members also noted that adding a third tank would require a separate return to the board for approval.

A resident who said he had worked at the site recalled an earlier town evacuation related to the facility and described that as “a scary day,” a comment that supervisors heard during the public portion of the item.

Board members confirmed distances from the proposed tanks to the nearest corner of the property and to the nearest house — the figures stated during the hearing were roughly 939 feet to the property corner and about 1,200 feet to the nearest house — and said the applicant must satisfy setback and permitting rules. Harkett said the applicant is in discussions with an earthwork contractor about relocating a septic field to accommodate the new layout.

The board’s approval allows the applicant to proceed with site work subject to any special‑use determination by the Board of Adjustment and the applicant’s return to the supervisors if it later seeks permission for a third tank.

Clarifying details discussed at the meeting included that the proposal would relocate an existing 30,000‑gallon tank and add one 30,000‑gallon tank (60,000 gallons total now), that the facility would include a small weigh scale for nurse tanks, and that the applicant expects the new facility to be operational this fall if contractor schedules permit and weather allows; if not, the existing in‑town tank may remain in service through this season. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship was cited as the regulatory body that requires the company to present the plan to the board.

The board’s action: approval to relocate the in‑town fertilizer/an­hydrous tank and add a second 30,000‑gallon tank, contingent on Board of Adjustment review; any future request to add a third tank will require separate board review.