Lincoln County Commissioners discuss agricultural protection; receive update on Bailey Yard explosion

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - The Lincoln County Commissioners had a full agenda on Monday and had some hot-button items to discuss.

Three public hearings focused on an amendment regarding agricultural protection to residential acreage on North Cattle Growers Road. The action passed with an 8-0 vote by the Lincoln County Planning Commission before it got in front of the Lincoln County Commissioners.

Jerry Woodruff, the chairman of the Lincoln County Commissioners, said that they took the next step in approving this amendment.

“The feed yard up on Cattle Growers Road had the intention of building a structure that he could house agricultural workers in,” Woodruff said. “We had to go through several steps with the land use and then change the zoning from rural to residential we accomplished those two steps and the final step was to approve the structure that he is in the process of building.”

The Lincoln County Commissioners also met Region 51 Emergency Management Director Brandon Myers regarding the rail car fire and explosion in the Bailey Yard on Thursday, Sept. 14.

“We wanted Brandon Myers to give us an update on what occurred and what was known about the contents of that container that was on fire and was having some explosions coming from it as it was reported and the toxic smoke that was coming from it as well,” Woodruff said. “So we needed to have an update on the timing it seems like the biggest concern was that it took a significant amount of time to find out what the contents of that container were. We did find that out 30 minutes after it was reported.”

The FRA or Federal Railroad Administration is still investigating the cause of the incident.

Find the Lincoln County Commissioner meeting here

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