The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling by Mower County District Court Judge Donald E. Rysavy in connection with a controversial Lyle Township hog confinement feedlot issue.

The appeals court made its ruling May 20.

Chief appeals court judge Edward Toussaint Jr. said in making his ruling, the appeal was being dismissed because it was taken from a “nonappealable order” by the lower court.

And for that reason, Toussaint ordered, “It is not necessary to address the additional grounds raised in the motion to dismiss filed by the Santos Group.”

This marks still another defeat for Dale K. Anderson, Timothy Carroll and 16 other appellants fighting a hog confinement feedlot in Section 20, Lyle Township.

The 4,832-sow operation owned by the Santos Group LLC is up and running.

Lowell Franzen, the former Mower County feedlot officer, who resigned his position, obtained the original county permits for the feedlot, then sold the land to Santos Group LLC. The permits obtained from Mower County and then the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency were automatically transferred from Franzen to Santos Group LLC when Franzen sold the land to the new owners, which included sons of Ken Holden, Northfield, owner of Holden Farms Inc., one of the nation’s largest feedlot operators.

Franzen was allowed to resign his position in a financial settlement with Mower County.

Franzen, individually and as an authorized agent of Mower County, Mower County and the Santos Group LLC were all named as respondents in the case which went before the appeals court March 25.

The appellants were appealing a Feb. 14 order in Mower County district court denying the appellants’ motion for partial summary judgment.

At Tuesday morning’s county board meeting, county coordinator Craig Oscarson shared the appeals court ruling with commissioners.

There was no discussion of the ruling.

Mike Adams Farms Inc., Northfield, is seeking permits for four finishing barn sites for Holden Farms Inc. hogs in the vicinity of London, but across the Mower County line into Freeborn County.

An attempt to locate a Holden Farms finishing site in Red Rock Township failed earlier this month.

Representatives for Holden Farms said the Red Rock Township site would have raised hogs from the Lyle Township sow operation and other Holden facilities to market weights.

Freeborn County officials confirmed Mike Adams Farms also indicated the 1,600 hogs per site would come from Holden Farms facilities.

The Lyle Township sow operation could produce over 100,000 hogs for finishing per year.

Paul D. Reuvers of the law firm of Iverson-Reuvers, successfully represented Mower County in the appeals court case.