On election night, the Seward City Council was casting its own votes aligning with the city’s broader development goals.
The Seward City Council voted on Nov. 5 to approve a land lease agreement with Dari Processing, LLC, a fourth-generation family-run dairy company who is making plans to redefine the milk industry from Seward’s rail campus. Dari Processing is working to produce milk products with n extended shelf life that do not require refrigeration.
After two years of site research, the dairy company has narrowed Seward down to its top choice for site selection for an innovative dairy processing plant.
Dari is currently going through due diligence of soil testing and gathering estimates before breaking ground on what would be an approximately $165 million project that would also bring about 75 employment opportunities to the area.
Under the lease effective Nov. 1., the city will provide a portion of land in Seward County for Dari’s facility, allowing for necessary site preparation, including soil testing and grading. Dari has been granted exclusive rights to use the property for dairy processing activities, with options to renew the lease on a month-to-month basis as it finalizes construction and development plans.
“One of the items the City of Seward is doing to partner with Dari is extending Worthman Boulevard, the access road off Highway 15, to the potential future site,” said Jonathan Jank, president and CEO of the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership. “That is not a small investment, so we looked into grants to help mitigate that cost for the city, and one is Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).”
During the Nov. 5 city council meeting, a public hearing was conducted about the city applying for a $1 million CDBG from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
This grant aims to partially fund about 1,800 feet of new two-lane roadway, extending Worthman Boulevard from Pine Street to the western boundary of the Seward Rail Campus. The proposed road extension in the grant application will include sidewalks, storm sewers, and water and wastewater lines, providing critical infrastructure for a new business development within the city.
Although the main beneficiary of the street project will be Dari Processing, LLC, the street project is expected to create 29 full-time jobs and will take about 30 months to complete.
Following the hearing, a resolution was signed authorizing Mayor Joshua Eickmeier to sign all of the documents for the grant application.
