NORTHWOOD, IOWA – NIT has received word that Worth county could be the home of the Prestage Foods hog plant.
A source connected to the Worth county courthouse in Northwood tells NIT that negotiations and talks are now underway between Prestage Foods and top officials in Worth county, including Worth county supervisor Merlin Bartz. NIT is told Mr. Bartz already met with Prestage Foods in the wake of Mason City’s renunciation of the development. Mr. Bartz did not immediately respond to questions from NIT about this developing matter.
A call to the Worth County Development Authority was not picked up Monday at 4:30.
The massive, proposed Prestage Foods plant requires millions of gallons of water and a large sewer system to operate. Over the years, Worth county has invested heavily in the area near the Diamond Jo Casino with infrastructure as the burgeoning area continues to develop. There have been rumors of an assortment of different developments that could come to that general area, which is right off of Interstate 35 and just 15 miles or so north of Clear Lake, a community which feared the environmental impact from the slaughterhouse first proposed for Mason City. The Diamond Jo casino – also rejected by the people of Mason City – has ironically been a windfall for Worth county and perhaps might give the county the cash needed to invest in the infrastructure the hog processing plant would require.
More to come on this developing situation.
