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Update: published Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023 at 4:09 p.m. CST. On Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to pass a resolution to proceed with the opening of bids to purchase county land in Freeport. Supervisors Mark Vick, Steve Kelsay and Chair Dan Langreck voted in favor of passing the resolution and Supervisors Shirley Vermace and Mark Faldet voted against. The approved resolution does not include any restrictions for Parcel A that would require solar arrays or raised or elevated building on that portion of the property, as were discussed in the Dec. 4 Board meeting. The restrictions included in the approved resolution are as follows: adult entertainment, slaughterhouse, junkyard or salvage yard, garbage offal or dead animal reduction, and fat rendering. Bids for the property are now open and are due to the County Auditor's Office on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. The public hearing for the proposal of sale of county property has been set for 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2024 at the Winneshiek County Courthouse Annex located at 201 W Main St. in Decorah, Iowa. Original story published Dec. 9, 2023 at 1:51 p.m. CST below. On Monday, Dec. 11, 2023 the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors plans to vote on a resolution to put up for bid county property in the community of Freeport. The property, which is composed of four parcels of land, is located in the industrial park in Freeport and is currently zoned M-2 for heavy industrial use. Although Iowa Rotocast Plastics originally requested to purchase the land, once bidding opens, anyone interested in purchasing the property can bid. One section of the property in Parcel A sits within the current floodplain map. After flooding in 2016 resulted in the total loss of some homes and extensive damage to other homes and properties in the neighborhood, a buffer was created in Parcel A by planting long-root native prairie plants to aid in flood mitigation. Background On August 28, 2023 Chad Wilkins and Kevin Hanson of Iowa Rotocast Plastics (IRP) met with the Board to inquire about the potential sale of a parcel of land in Freeport to IRP to facilitate their installation of a solar array. On Sep. 6, 2023, Jerrine Osenga spoke to the Board about her concerns related to the request to purchase this property. Osenga stated in her comments that she has a landscape architecture degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and has been a volunteer at the Decorah Community Prairie Butterfly Garden for 12 years. Her primary concern about the potential sale of the field in question is that the field and ditch that are included in the parcel are "part of an interdependent system of environmental protections" including part of the floodplain that absorbs toxins and slows down flood waters. On Oct. 6, 2023, Wilkins returned to the Board to answer additional questions related to the potential sale and intended use of the property. At this meeting, he explained to the Board that Iowa Rotocast Plastics was interested in buying just over four acres of the County property and that the solar array that they intend to build would be elevated above the ground by about 2.5 feet with the poles of the array driven nine feet deep into the ground. "There is green space in between these panels where there could be a pollinator garden or flowers planted in between the struts," Wilkins said. Wilkins explained that there would be an environmental site review conducted at some point in the process as part of the requirements for the grant that Rotocast hopes to secure for the project. Present concerns In the past week, several community members and residents of Freeport have expressed their concerns about the potential sale via emails sent to the Board of Supervisors. Amy Ryan wrote to the Board as a resident who went through the floods in both 2008 and 2016. "It is vital [the property in question] remain a buffer for flood waters," Ryan said. "If the small stream that goes through the property is altered, where will that water go? It has already found a home in yards and basements when the field was used as a farm field. We are a small community of people who built in this area due to its feel of country living. Please leave it as such." Longtime Freeport residents Brian and Brenda Freilinger shared their concerns about the potential negative impacts of selling the property and urged the Board to consider the future in their decision. "We are not in favor of selling the county property located in the Freeport industrial park that is located East of Iowa RotoCast and the Winneshiek Recycling Center," they wrote to the Board. "If it does go to auction, there needs to be restrictions set in place, before the sale of the property, that would limit what can be done on the property, so as not to increase the possibility of flood water damage to the property owners downstream now and in the future. We have lived here [...] since 1994 and have seen the damaging effect of high water passing through this property. If no restrictions are put in place, it will most likely have a negative impact in Freeport in the future. Please consider the long-term effects of your decision." Jacob Groth also expressed concerns about the present and future impacts of selling the property. "As a resident of Kylie Ann Rd the flood mitigation provided by the existing vegetation is very important to me and my family," Groth wrote. "Most houses on my street were impacted by the 2016 floods and I remember the mud that filled the street after heavy rains in spring 2019. The potential to have more impervious surfaces installed immediately above our house is concerning." Groth summarized his overall concerns as follows: 1. Impacts of flood events with loss of the existing prairie vegetation; 2. Sale of county owned land without deed restrictions could lead to the land being used for new buildings or parking lots; 3. Sale of county land for the benefit of a single private company sets a bad precedent. He raised a question about future needs of the recycling center, asking "In 20 years, will the county residents regret this land sale when other uses could have been obtained from this site (recycling center expansion for example)?" "I encourage the Supervisors to consider the long-term effects of this land sale, and prioritize future needs of the county and protect its residents from flood events over a quick sale of land with little long term benefits to the county," Groth concluded. Potential restrictions In the most recent Supervisors meeting on Monday, Dec. 4, the Supervisors held off on voting on the resolution that would set a public hearing and open up the bidding process. Instead, they discussed possible restrictions that could be placed on the property before bidding opens. The restrictions they have agreed upon at present include restrictions against the following five potential uses for the land: adult entertainment, slaughterhouse, junkyard or salvage yard, garbage offal or dead animal reduction, and fat rendering. Supervisors Shirley Vermace, Mark Faldet, and Steve Kelsay discussed the addition of a restriction on the use of Parcel A that includes requiring whatever is built on that land to be elevated to allow for the flow of water through the area and to keep the native plantings in place to aid flood mitigation for the area. Next steps Additional discussion and the planned vote on a resolution to set the public hearing and bid procedures for sale of the property in Freeport will take place at the end of the Supervisors' weekly meeting on Monday, Dec. 11 at 11:00 a.m. in the Winneshiek County Courthouse Annex located at 201 W Main St. in Decorah, Iowa.

Support your local businesses

UPDATE: Freeport residents raise concerns about proposed sale of county property