Council for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot has given the go ahead for a meat packaging facility to set up shop at Ste. Agathe.
The request came from Muuxi Adam of Iman Freshest Meat, who asked for permission to allow an abattoir and meat packaging facility in the industrial park at Ste. Agathe. The proposed sites are at 570 and 618 Batoche Way.
The applicant told Ritchot Council that this will be a provincially inspected site, providing halal custom certified poultry meat. The plant will be approximately 3,000 square feet in size and will possibly expand to 5,000 square feet in the near future.
The location will process 3,000 whole birds per week for bulk sale. According to the applicant, the business will require between five and eight local employees and the site will have the capability of processing between 500 and 600 chickens per hour. All disposal of organic waste, including blood, feathers and solid waste will be picked up using a commercially hired rendering company. It was also noted that no other animals, other than poultry, will be processed there.
A public hearing on the matter was held last week. Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen refers to it as a contentious meeting, noting about three dozen residents packed into Council chambers to hear the proceedings. He notes about half of those present spoke in opposition. There were also about 57 letters of concern or opposition that were presented to Council.
In the end, Ritchot Council voted in favour of the request.
"Simply because we found that the presentation the applicant made answered the questions that we were concerned about," explains Ewen, noting there were more benefits than there was negative impact.
Ewen says a lot of the concerns from residents to Council, were centered around smell, pest control, environmental hazards, water consumption and how waste might impact the lagoon.
"What was great to hear was the applicant came out and he answered those questions," reports Ewen. "All the waste will be in containment and will be shipped off, nothing is going into a lagoon."
Further to that, he says water consumption for this site will be less than a normal processing plant because the process uses an air chill instead of a water chill. Ewen adds the province has such strict environmental policies in place and so a lot of the concerns raised at the public hearing will be monitored by the provincial health and safety regulatory body.
According to Ewen, the municipality's Economic Development Officer did some research prior to the public hearing to see if the concerns of residents were valid.
"Speaking with other towns that have seen a processing plant like this, the validity wasn't there," notes Ewen. "Some of these things were just misconceptions or assumptions. There was no hard evidence."
Ewen adds some of the concerns being raised by the public had to do with large slaughterhouses, not small chicken processing plants.
Ewen notes the applicant does not have a great deal of prior experience with this. However, he is working with other experienced consultants and firms to make sure that they follow the regulations
"They are working diligently to ensure that this is a benefit to the community on many levels," he adds. "We're looking forward to a new business coming to Ritchot."
Meanwhile, even though the two sides did not necessarily agree, Ewen says it was great to see local residents attend the public hearing to share their concerns. He says whether residents are speaking in favour or against a project, it is always a good thing to see them come out.
In the end, Council voted 3-2 in favour of the proposal.