Murillo’s long-time meat-processing plant is staying open, contrary to recent speculation that it is set to close, the operator said on Wednesday.
“We’re booked right through to (next) January,” Paul Vellinga said from the Oliver Road plant.
Vellinga, who operates the business with his wife, Eleanora, confirmed the operation remains for sale.
But he said there are no plans to shut it down. Any suggestion to the contrary is “bogus,” he said.
Speculation about the future of the Murillo plant heated up earlier this year when a Thunder Bay-based proponent sought a zoning amendment that would allow a new abattoir to be constructed on Mud Lake Road.
On Tuesday, Oliver Paipoonge council turned down the zoning request by a 3-2 margin. The decision can be appealed.
Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis, who voted in favour of the zoning amendment, said she was aware that some area residents are opposed to the abattoir project over concerns about odour and water use.
But Kloosterhuis said the proponent’s updated presentation convinced her the proposal deserved to advance to the next stage in the planning process.
“I can understand why some people would not want to live across from this type of facility, but I thought it seemed environmentally sound, the way it was presented,” Kloosterhuis said on Wednesday.
In an earlier interview, Dave Gaudino, a spokesman for the proponent, said the operator was not envisioning “a massive operation.”
“According to submitted documents, the facility was to “include an anaerobic digester to process on-site waste and generate power, and a greenhouse to utilize the power generated from the digester.”
“We’re going to do this in the proper way,” Gaudino said.
Gaudino had estimated the size of the investment in the proposed abattoir at $5-7 million.
Vellinga said he can’t understand why council would set the stage for a new abattoir when his operation could be taken over for a cheaper cost of about $2.5 million.
