Members of the City Commission will vote Tuesday on two resolutions that call for both the state and the county to study the cumulative impacts of the proposed Madison Food Park on the city of Great Falls, even though the project is located outside of the city limits.

One requests that Gov. Steve Bullock and the agencies he oversees conduct studies required by the Montana Environmental Protection Act on the cumulative impacts of the package of Madison Food Park proposals.

The proposed projects, which would be located on 3,000 acres off of U.S. Highway 89 eight miles east of Great Falls, include a food-processing plant where cattle, chickens and hogs would be processed and turned into foods, a cheese processing facility and a distillery.

A second resolution requests that Cascade County require a study of the cumulative impacts of the slaughterhouse and the cheese and distillery facilities on the city.

Cascade County has jurisdiction over the proposals, not the city.

However, the city’s nine neighborhood councils, concerned about the impacts of the county projects on city schools, roads, water and other city services, have pressed the City Commission to approve a study on how Great Falls would be affected.

More: Residents pressure city to study impact of slaughterhouse

Commissioner Mary Sheehy Moe, who is bringing the two resolutions before the Commission, said the city won’t conduct the study because of the expense, which would be more than $100,000.

There also is no requirement that the permitting agencies rely on the city’s study as they make decisions, Moe said.

However, the resolutions, if approved, would ask the state and county to study impacts to:

» Roads.

» Water quality and quantity.

» Employment.

» Wastewater quantity and treatment.

» Schools.

» Medical and social services.

» Law enforcement.

» Recreational, historical, cultural and economic assets.

» Fire and emergency services.

» Housing, including property values.

» Tourism and agriculture.

» And noise, dust and air quality.

City commissioner: Madison Food Park requires ‘calm consideration’

The resolutions note that employment of the food processing facility would be up to 3,000 workers who would process about 1,800 head of cattle, 9,200 hogs and 135,000 chickens daily, with water use estimated at 3.5 million gallons daily from the Madison aquifer.

Daily traffic would be 3,165 incoming trucks and 32 outbound trucks. 

“Whereas, the direct, secondary, and cumulative impacts, both beneficial and harmful, of a project of this size and scope on the physical, biological, economic, cultural and aesthetic factors of the human environment of Great Falls, and, indeed, the sustainability of our community itself could be transformative and irreversible and are as yet unknown,” the resolution asking for the state study says.

The resolution adds that the intent of Montana Environmental Protection Act is that the state “looks before it leaps” when considering major proposals “and the proposal for the Madison Food Park represents a significant leap that should be taken not on faith, but on facts systematically gathered, analyzed, and, if needed, addressed.”

The resolution regarding the county requests that Madison Food Park LLC be required to meet the burden of proof by contracting with an independent entity to identify the impacts on the city.

Approval of the Madison Food Park is in the hands of Cascade County and state regulators.

Madison Food Park LLC notified the county in 2018 that it was retracting its special-use permit application, citing the need for additional time to complete the application.

An amended application on the food processing plant has yet to be resubmitted.

In December, Montanans For Responsible Land Use filed a lawsuit arguing Cascade County commissioners. The group argues commissioners illegally removed restrictions on the cheese plant’s special-use permit that had been approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which approved a permit for the $9 million cheese plant in August.

The City Commission meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Civic Center, 2 Park Drive S.

Karl Puckett covers the city of Great Falls and Cascade County for the Tribune. He can be reached at kpuckett@greatfallstribune or 406-791-1471, or on Twitter at @GFTrib_KPuckett. 

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