Board recommends approval for Brent Murphy confinement permit at one site, postpones second after notice error

The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors voted to recommend approval of a confinement construction permit for Brent Murphy’s site in Plum Creek Township after staff confirmed the application met setback and master-matrix requirements.

County staff member Corey Peterson told the board the scoring and property setbacks were accurate and that the application reflected only an increase in the number of animals, with no new construction proposed. With no members of the public asking to speak, the board closed the public hearing and approved resolution 05262601 sending the recommendation to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Tammy Eden was directed to send the required notice to the DNR.

A second public hearing on a separate Brent Murphy site was opened but then paused after board members discovered the legal description published in the public notice did not match the application. Consultant Ken Krauss of Pinnacle said he would resend the application pages and correct the legal description so the county could republish the notice. The board agreed to hold that hearing again after the notice is corrected.

The board’s action on the first site was a formal recommendation to the DNR, not a final state permit; the DNR will complete its review under state procedures. The board recorded its support by roll call vote; no substantive public opposition to the first application was recorded at the meeting.

Next steps: Tammy Eden will transmit the county’s recommendation and the county will republish and reschedule the hearing for the second site after Ken Krauss provides corrected application pages.