To accommodate Great Bend Coop’s growing grain glut, the Barton County Commission Monday morning approved a special meeting for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, to act on a zoning change request that will allow the cooperative to build new storage bunks at Pawnee Rock. 

However, it was noted during the commission’s Monday morning meeting that GBC had already started on the project. This was in violation of the county’s zoning rules and happened after coop officials had been told explicitly not to begin, Barton County Zoning Administrator Judy Goreham said.

“We were up against the wall folks,” said GBC Operations Manager Dennis Neeland. At over 5 billion bushels, the wheat harvest was larger than anticipated and there has been lower demand for the grain from the end users.

“We’re sitting on a lot of wheat,” he said. Now, corn and milo are starting to roll into facilities that are bulging at the seems.

Neeland apologized for “being a bully,” but said they were already dumping grain on the ground and had to do something. “Our main concerns are to our patrons and our stockholders.”

However, “I’m not happy they started,” Goreham said. “They are violating zoning regulations.”

Goreham said she understood the urgency and that the County Planning Commission had already held an earlier-than-normal meeting last Tuesday to accommodate the coop’s request. The Planning Commission OKed the plan after much discussion.

During that meeting, Goreham said a Pawnee Rock resident had several concerns, including increased truck traffic, damage to roads and increased noise. But, she added, Neeland has addressed those by working with the City of Pawnee Rock on additional signage and agreeing to pay for extra road maintenance if necessary.

It was also Goreham who told commissioners they could not vote to approve the project Monday morning, despite the fact that a few of the commissioners were ready to do so. By state statute, there must be a 14-day protest period following the Planning Commission meeting to allow complaints to be filed, and this is over Oct. 5.

Great Bend Coop would be leasing about 13 acres from the Mull family. They do have permission to pile the grain on the ground, just not build the movable bunks that would be covered with tarps.

“I realize they have to get this project up and going,” Commission Chairman Don Davis said. He was also asking about the possibility of voting earlier.

“There’s a process for everything you do,” Goreham said. The land is zoned agricultural, but must be changed to light commercial manufacturing for this endeavor.

GBC’s request was to be a part of the County Commission’s study session which follows the agenda meeting. But, at the request of Commissioner Kenny Schremmer, the agenda was amended to allow coop officials their say so they wouldn’t have to wait around until the end of the meeting.