Westin Requests City Vacate A Portion Of Bacon Road

Westin Package Meats has requested that the City of Fairbury vacate a portion of Bacon Road, between H and I Streets, also known as between Block 16 and Block 21 of McDowell's 1st Addition, Fairbury, NE in the L-1, Light Industrial Zoning District as provided for in § 93.053 of the City of Fairbury, Nebraska Municipal Code. The Fairbury City Council met the evening of Tuesday, December 7, and voted to approve the request.Ron Schacht, General Manager for Westin, explained the reasons for the request at the meeting, “At this time, we have 150 team members there at Westin and they're entering and exiting our main entrance on Bacon Road. We are very concerned about the safety of our team members, concerned that someone's going to get hit at some point in time.”Another reason Schacht cited is food security.“This will allow us to control access to the grounds. A big concern in food manufacturing today is, you know, food security of the food chain, guaranteeing the safety of the food chain,” said Schacht. “Reduce opportunities and exposure for something to happen.”Schacht also noted a plan for increased operational efficiency and expansion, “Our future plan is, we would like to connect our warehouses, which are across the street, to our main operation. Right now, we load that all on trucks, move it across the street, unload it. It's a lot of waste. And for us to continue to grow, we need to be more efficient.”According to a memo presented at the meeting from Laura Bedlan, Development Services Director, addressed to Mayor Spencer Brown and the city council, “Westin is a longstanding employer in the City of Fairbury that has worked toward this expansion for many years. They own all property on both sides of the road proposed to be vacated and have purchased most of the property in the surrounding area. Bacon Road dead-ends to the east and all properties east of H street on the north side of Bacon Road are owned by Westin. I street access to the Depot museum located on the south side of Bacon Road will not be impacted by the vacate. Westin is currently working with the city to upgrade and reroute the utilities in the area. However, it should be noted that there will be existing utility infrastructure located within the proposed vacate and fenced area for a period of time prior to relocate. Westin's request for vacate proposes a plan for all hour's city staff access to this area to address any maintenance needs prior to the utility relocate. If permanent access to the Depot, temporary access to the utilities prior to relocate and eventual utility relocate can be assured then vacate can be accomplished without significant adverse impact to the area.”A hearing was held that night to give members of the public a chance to give input. No one objected to the plan.

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