Ag facility proposed

Ag teacher and FFA advisor Hugh Jenkins approached the Moorcroft Town Council to ask for a variance to build a barn to house livestock at Monday night’s meeting. The town does not allow chickens, geese, cows, horses and so on to be housed in town limits so, according to the FFA advisor, most kids in the area have no access to animal husbandry.

“Sundance uses the fairgrounds, Hulett’s got a really nice barn and garden, but Moorcroft doesn’t have any of these things,” he said.

Jenkins asked the school board for $131,600 to build a barn south of the high school. The board approved the funding, though “they choked a little bit”.

He showed the group a map of the ag facility that he wants to build on the approximately 20 acres, saying, “I have town kids who don’t have a place to put livestock projects.” This is an important step in the local FFA program, he said.

Jenkins started last year with only 42 members and has 109 members now. He said that 56 percent of these students do not have access to agricultural facilities. “With an agricultural facility, I can really get these kids into cool projects and be around to help them with that.” The animals will not be housed the entire year, only during the warm months, assured Jenkins.

The site in question is, in fact, within town limits; however, the ordinance does leave room for the requested variance with a written request. The governing body asked that Jenkins bring this letter to the next meeting after he visits again with the school board. The council advocated this dissent from the rule in behalf of the youth of the Moorcroft area.