By Dewey Terrill
Economic development leaders have been working on a prospect that is beginning to receive public attention. Some members of the community are concerned about the potential impact in the community with odor and on property values.
Chamber officials have not been able to reveal all the details, but no final action has occurred . Junction City Mayor Jeff Underhill confirmed a group of citizens met Tuesday evening at the Geary County 4-H / Senior Center to express their concerns and provide statistics to back up those concerns. " I was there as mayor to hear them out and listen, and help them out as we continue along and research and move forward on EDC project."
Underhill stated that, "A Kansas family wants to "vertically integrate their cattle operation and is looking at Junction City as a possibility because we have resources, people and I-70 visibility. " One of the locations that could be developed is in the area of the proposed Taylor Road interchange on the southwest edge of the city. When asked if this was a live-kill operation, the mayor indicated he could not answer that question.
Underhill addressed the concerns that were raised. "The citizens had concerns regarding the smell of that type of facility and the type of worker that could be brought by that type of facility. Underhill added that both he and County Commission Chair Trish Giordano were there and they do not want to do anything that would give the community a "black eye or create smells, or devalue our properties or anything like that. Simply at this point we're just exploring what could be high paying jobs." Underhill assured that at some time this project would be opened up to the public so all facts are known, and that there would be opportunities for discussion. "Last night the theme was you're either for or against this and the point that we were trying to get across is we're not at that point yet. There's nothing to be for or against yet."
Giordano said, "There are some concerns about a traditional slaughterhouse going in off I-70 and Taylor Road. I have the same concerns as the group that held the meeting. I live in that area and I let them know that I would not support anything that was detrimental to our community or devalue any of our homes. "She wants to do her due diligence on the project. "I am not convinced that there won't be a smell but I'm going to do some checking." The commissioner added that there are allegedly several new technologies that would dissipate or contain the smell.
Giordano confirmed that more research will be done on what the company is proposing to bring to the community, and input will be obtained from the community. She estimated that more than 100 people were in attendance at the 4-H / Senior Center.
EDC Director Mickey Fornaro-Dean talked with JC Post and stated that it's their job as an economic development organization to make contact, build relationships and hopefully they can recruit investment and jobs to the community. "In the process of doing that there's an awful lot of confidential information that gets exchanged between companies and / or our community and we are under a responsible point to not step out of bounds with confidential information that firm may have while they're in the process of working on a project."
Fornaro-Dean noted that this project is in the due diligence phase from the standpoint of both the community leadership and the company. "I personally and several members of this community are in what we call a non-disclosure agreement. The EDC director added that is not because companies want to be coy but it's a private industry, "and they have business concerns that they have to look after in order to be successful, whether they make a decision to come here or not, we have to have the respect and the ethics to honor that."
Fornaro-Dean indicated the project will be taken public when the time is right. She added that companies sometimes have issues that local leaders may not know about, possibly ranging from vendors to contracts that they may be working on. "Nobody would want their private industry to be jeopardized when they're in the process of looking at a potential opportunity."
Fornaro-Dean stressed that "this is not a done deal." The proposal is in the due diligence phase, which could take months to complete.