Swift Run Meat Processing Update

[Jae Gerhart]

Hi WFPC farmers,

Please see the email from Wendy Banka below. If you are a meat farmer and want to support her processing project, please see below.

From Wendy:

After years of pursuing this meat and poultry processing facility idea, we are finally moving through the Pittsfield Township approval process. On November 16th we’ll get feedback from the Planning Commission on our Preliminary Site Plan Review documents. It’s a complicated project, and the Engineering and Planning divisions of the township have already responded with multiple questions and/or suggestions. All of that can be found in the Packet for the meeting, which can be found here https://www.pittsfield-mi.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7555  

In addition to all of this, we expect that the Planning Commission may raise additional issues at the meeting on the 16th. Although long and detailed, to my knowledge no one thinks that any of these are deal-breaker issues. Just more hoops to jump through to help make sure we get everything right. Then if we resolve these questions quickly enough, we may also be on the Dec 7 agenda for the Planning Commission, and could get a vote at that time.

I’m writing to let you know that there are several ways for you as individuals, or as the Washtenaw County Food Policy Council (WFPC), to support the project if you wish.

 1. Attend the meeting on November 16 at 6:30 pm. 

Morris Hall

Pittsfield Charter Township Administration Building

6201 W. Michigan Avenue

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

 2. Write a letter to the Pittsfield Twp Planning Commission. Written comments will be received at plan...@pittsfield-mi.gov until 3:00 p.m. the day of the hearing.

 3. Pass this information on to other farmers or supporters of a strong local food system.

I’d like you to know that there has been a palpable shift in support for this project. I’m not sure when it happened, or why, but this community is ready for this. I encounter enthusiasm everywhere I go, from the township, to lenders, to my insurance agent, attorney, and accountant. People used to squint at me when I talked about this and now they beam, and ask me when. I really hope I can pull it off, and not let them down!

Please let me know if there are any questions that I can answer about the project.