By Jill Fennema –

At last week’s city council meeting, a variance was approved for the Chandler Co-op to build three new fertilizer tanks on their property in Edgerton.  The Chandler Co-op agronomy center is located on Klindt Street and they already have nitrogen storage tanks on their property.

The new tanks will hold 30,000 gallons each, and will be 36.5-feet tall. City ordinance only allows for structures to be 25-feet tall, so the co-op needed to apply for a variance to have the tanks installed.

The co-op already has structures taller than 25-feet, as does its neighbor, Chandler Feed. Only one person attended the meeting to comment on the variance, and that was neighboring property owner Darwin Schuld. Schuld was not opposed to the tanks, but asked about some tank trailers that are stored on the property line.

Jeff Einck, manager of Chandler Co-op, assured Schuld that the tank trailers that are stored there are empty and that he would be sure that those tanks were parked on co-op property. “We want to be neighborly,” Einck said.

The new tanks will be located inside a new dike that is designed to hold the fertilizer if one of the tanks would burst.

Einck explained that the need for the new tanks was due to high demand for liquid fertilizer. “We want to keep our Edgerton facilities up to date. The local community has been supportive and we appreciate that,” he said.

The council also certified the 2020 election results for Edgerton. Kirk Bleyenburg was elected as the new mayor with 636 votes. There were also 48 write-in votes cast, 26 of which were for Ron Williams. Jason Snyder, the current mayor, received 9 write-in votes, Del Hulstein received three, and several others received one vote.

Craig Vreeman, with 450 votes, and Kevin Caspersen, with 341 votes, were elected to the two council seats. Brandon Gunnink received 194 votes, Del Hulstein received 182 votes, and Ron Williams received 155.

There were 801 persons registered to vote in Edgerton on the morning of Election Day. Sixty more voters registered that day. The total number of votes cast that day was 729.