Neighborhood councils in Great Falls, concerned about the impacts of a proposed meat processing facility and a cheese plant on the city, are pressuring city commissioners to OK a study.

While the Madison Food Park and Big Sky Cheese are proposed in Cascade County, outside of the city limits, the impacts on schools, roads, public safety, social and medical services and water will be felt by municipal residents, who also pay county taxes, said Eric Ray, chairman of Neighborhood Council 5.

Members of that council, which represents residents on the east end of Great Falls, passed a resolution in October that calls on the city government of Great Falls to formally evaluate the slaughterhouse and the cheese processing plant, which are proposed eight miles east of Great Falls.

Another six neighborhood councils have since ratified and signed the resolution, with seven of the city’s nine neighborhood councils now in support.

Ray is expecting the other two neighborhood councils to follow suit.

A joint resolution of the councils calling for the city to complete the study will be presented to the City Commission in January, Ray said.

“While this is a county decision, we believe the majority of the impacts will be borne by city residents who may have to absorb crowded schools and roads, lowered property valuations, increased crime, stressed social and medical services, and threats to our water and air quality,” the resolution states. “It could also harm our community’s reputation and damage its quality of life. We ask that each of these issues be evaluated by the city and those findings be shared in full with the community.”

Neighborhood councils, whose members are elected, advise the City Commission and staff on city issues.

The resolution is not anti- or pro-business, nor do neighborhood council members wanted to be painted as troublemakers, Ray said.

Rather, Ray said, members want to bridge communications between residents and elected commissioners.

“For 30 months we’ve asked the City Commission and staff, ‘Hey, what about this slaughterhouse and we’ve been consistently told that’s not city business, it’s county business,” Ray said.

There is general consensus among city commissioners that the city needs to make sure the project does not harm the quantity or quality of water in the Madison aquifer, Mayor Bob Kelly said.

The Madison Food Park permit application estimates that a fully operational production facility would use up to 3.55 million gallons of water a day — all drawn from three to four deep wells drilled into the Madison aquifer — the same subterranean water source that feeds Giant Springs at the state park on the eastern edge of Great Falls.

More: Great Falls slaughterhouse project thrown into uncertainty. Consulting firm cuts ties

Kelly noted that City Manager Greg Doyon has reached out to the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation about water concerns.

Doyon said he learned from the DNRC that any developer who taps into the Madison aquifer has to offset that supply with water from Canyon Ferry Reservoir. 

Kelly said the city is aware of potential impacts to transportation, jobs, schools, housing and other resources, but added that it may be premature for the city to offer an opinion. The city also may not be the right forum because the plans are not before the city, he said.

“At this point, we’re as concerned as we need to be, and we’ll be as involved as we can be going forward,” Kelly said.

Approval of the Madison Food Park, planned on 3,000 acres off of U.S. Highway 89, is in the hands of Cascade County.

Madison Food Park notified the county last year 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 not been resubmitted.

Other aspects of the development are moving forward.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved Big Sky Cheese in August.

More: Commissioners repeal, revise restrictions board placed on cheese processing facility

“We are confident that this approval marks the beginning of the development of a value-added industry that will benefit all of Montana,” Madison Food Park said following that OK.

Madison Food Park submitted an application for a permit for the distillery in November.

More: Madison Food Park developer proposes distillery east of Great Falls

The neighborhood council resolution notes that the proposed slaughterhouse would employ as many as 3,000 people processing about 1,800 head of cattle, 9,200 hogs and 135,000 chickens daily while using an estimated 3.5 million gallons of water daily from the Madison aquifer.

Madison Food Park describes itself as an environmentally conscientious developer that is planning a value-added, robotically controlled, multi-species food processing plant for cattle, pigs and chickens and further processing facilities for beef, pork and poultry. In addition to food processing, the plant will include a large-scale packaging, transportation and distribution network to ensure the quality of the product supply chain from the farm to the consumer’s table.

Karl Puckett covers the city of Great Falls and Cascade County. Reach him at 406-791-1471 or kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com. Subscribe and receive a special offer.

Read or Share this story: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/12/11/residents-pressure-city-study-proposed-food-park-county/4403604002/