‘THIS HAS TURNED INTO AN ABSOLUTE HELL’

Weiss, others speak out strongly against Dakota Protein Solutions

When Timothy Weiss and his wife, Becky, decided to move to Freeman from Valley Springs a decade ago — bringing their metal art/fabrication business with them — they did so for one simple reason: Freeman was an attractive community too good to pass up.

Now, he told the Freeman City Council at its regular meeting last week Tuesday, Aug. 5, “I’m desperate to get out of this town.”

“I chose this town after leaving the Navy because I found this town absolutely beautiful, and I loved it,” he said. “And this has turned into an absolute hell.”

Weiss’ comments came during a public forum in response to concerns about Dakota Protein Solutions (DPS) and the odor coming from the rendering plant located a mile-and-a-half south of Freeman, which began processing dead livestock last September.

Weiss, who owns 81 Metal Art near the eastern edge of Freeman along with the property that served the now-closed East River Furniture next door to the west, was one of eight residents to share concerns about the impact the rendering plant is having on the quality of life in Freeman at last week’s city council meeting.

And he was passionate in his comments.

The loss of property value “is happening right now,” Weiss said. “I cannot sell a freakin’ thing and I don’t have a person interested in my lot and I’m pricing it at half the value of anyone else in the state of South Dakota,” he said.

Weiss speculated that the impact of the odor could reduce property values by 30% and that the city stands to take a $100 million loss over the next 10 years.

What’s that going to mean for the police force, or street repair, or updates to city parks? he asked. What about job retention or new employment opportunities, he asked, suggesting Freeman is going to become “an absolute dump.”

“We need to fight this,” Weiss continued, saying that local legal counsel should also include additional resources. “It’s all a math formula for them. Is it cheaper for them to fight this or cheaper for them to move? We need to make sure it’s cheaper for them to move.”

‘Who are we protecting?’

Tiffany Mehlhaff, formerly of Sioux Falls, bought a house on Wynken Drive late last summer because she “got tired of the big city crap.”

“Why not move back to my hometown, where I know this is a good community that takes care of itself,” she told the council. “It’s nothing like any of the other small towns around us. It’s better. We have great people here. I wanted clear skies and fresh air and peacefulness.”

She moved one month before DPS started its operation. “I never thought I’d be  living in the back yard of a rendering plant,” Mehlhaff said, wondering if the 12 jobs DPS has created is worth it, and what this will mean for students at recess, athletes practicing outdoors or businesses — like her employer, Freeman Regional Health Services — that want to expand.

“Who are we protecting and who are we taking care of?” she asked. “You will lose 12 jobs — you will lose much more — if something doesn’t change. This is not what we asked for.”

Points raised

A number of other used the public input portion of the city council’s Aug. 5 meeting to make statements and ask questions. Here’s a rundown.

Slade Ammann asked about the possibility of the city of Freeman annexing property just beyond the city’s current jurisdiction that would require the plant to abide by the city’s nuisance laws on the books. DPS is located just outside the one-mile radius beyond city limits, of which the city has authority.

City attorney Mike Fink didn’t say no, but to “wait to see what the regulatory agencies do here before we think about annexation,” he said.

Fink also said he believes that, should the city choose to go that route, DPS would not be exempt to abiding by nuisance regulations — even through grandfather status.

Ron Helderbrand asked for clarification about documentation Fink encouraged the public to provide — specifically photos taken of open doors during the rendering process.

“A smell is hard to take a picture of,” he said.

Fink said that any and all evidence is valuable, as long as it includes a name, address and date. To that end, another Freeman resident, Kristi Stahl, said temperature is also critical.

“They say it’s hard for the employees (when it’s hot),” she said. “I took a picture the other day and it was 67 degrees out and all the doors were open.”

Amy Cummings, a Freeman resident who moved here 11 years ago, said she remembers this as a “peaceful town — but this is rough patch. I don’t think Freeman is representing what Freeman was when I moved here. I hope we can do something about it.”

Cummings called for more communication from the city, noting she didn’t vote in the last mayor election because she didn’t know about it.

“If we’re going to work together, I want more,” she said. “I’m here to listen — to hear what’s going on.”

“Where do we see the transparency in this?” added Becky Weiss. “We had no idea that anyone was even working with Mike (Fink) until very recently. We felt like we were completely on our own, no backing, like we’re just swimming in the ocean.”

And Mehlhaff noted the same thing, saying she would have loved to weigh in during public meetings about sports cooperation between Freeman Public, Freeman Academy and Marion earlier this year.

“I would have absolutely been there had I known it was coming up,” she said.