Since the beginning of the Red Flour Beetle infestation that occurred in the Kauffman Addition and surrounding areas, many community members have asked for stricter rules regarding the storage of commodities at the rail park adjacent to the Kauffman Addition.
During Monday’s regular meeting with the Levelland City Council, the groups intent was to hold their first reading of Ordinance No. 1077 regarding the Storage of Agricultural Commodities. However, after a discussion during the public comment section with several individuals within the agricultural community, it was decided to table to ordinance as some kinks needed to be addressed before moving forward.
The city had drafted the ordinance which amends the Code of Ordinance by creating Article 7.12, “Storage of Agricultural Commodities.” It was explained by City Manager James Fisher that the ordinance will provide city staff with the necessary tools to effectively manage, regulate, mitigate and resolve issues that may arise in the storage of agricultural commodities in the future.
The city released the draft ordinance for public comment on October 26 on their City of Levelland Facebook Page and website. As the draft made its way to the agricultural business community, the concerns about the ordinance and its potential impact began to grow.
The agribusiness community consists of local farmers all the way to the mulimillion-dollar company that operates within the community of Levelland. The concerns that have been expressed range from fumigation or treatment that may make the commodity unusable or unwanted by the end user, the required reinforced concrete slab is cost prohibitive, with the desire to seek alternative options, the covered storage, permanent or tarp appears to also be cost concerning, and all cost incurring measures will be passed down the line to the farmer and, or consumer. Additionally, there are concerns with the ordinance being overreaching and overreactive.
Fisher added that the one consistent comment the city has received is that the infestation was bad and something needs to be done to prevent such events in the future or at least have a plan in place to mitigate such an event in the future.
“The draft ordinance is a great first step and I believe with some additional time and assistance from the agribusiness community, we can develop an ordinance that establishes our intentions on a solid foundation that ensures accountability and the best management practices without hurting our community or the agribusiness community,” said Fisher. “It’s not going to be easy, but I think if we sit down with the right people in a room, we can get something together that works for all of us and be able to move forward.”
He also added that in his short time as a city manager in Levelland, he has noticed that communication is the number one challenge.
“We all have to open the doors for everyone when something happens...how do collectively solve this and continue to be good neighbors from the City of Levelland, citizens to businesses,” explained Fisher. “We are an agriculture community going back 100 years. We are dependent on the heart of agriculture and have to work together as our community grows and as they grow.”
Fisher would then recommend to review the draft ordinance at the November 6 council meeting, encourage constructive comments, instruct staff to sit with the agribusiness leaders and community leaders and prepare an ordinance for its first reading no later than the December 4 meeting.
Fisher did assure the council that he has multiple meetings with individuals who are willing to offer their perspective on the situation and will be meeting with more people in the coming days.
An update from Fisher regarding the current state of the infestation was given.
He explained that traps are still out in various areas and are being continuously monitored with the latest counts received showing minimal numbers of the beetles.
Fisher added that the weather has aided in the minimal counts of the beetle but it has been varied due to the random warmer days that West Texas has had.
It was also mentioned that Penny Newman did receive five rail cars with almond hulls, but are going directly into semi trucks and being hauled off immediately.
“That is where we are at with this and we are not seeing any significant increase,” said Fisher. “We do intend to keep the traps in place and continue to monitor the situation.”