The Olsen brothers — Paul and David — buy their corn as Olsen Brothers Enterprises and Olsen's Mill in million-bushel increments. They also own or control ethanol production plants — with brother Luther, a Republican state senator from Ripon — further down the line.
It is also no secret the Olsen brothers and their attendant business interests are aggressive in going after what they want, or believe they deserve.
Lenny and Judy Klein have watched in shock as the Olsen brothers have ignored government requests and then demands while building a giant corn bin and dryer across the road — Highway 151, exit 26 — from the Belmont Travel Center. Five years ago, the Kleins built their center, featuring a Baymont Inn hotel, the Crazy Cow Saloon, a restaurant, truck stop, convenience store, and a large space for receptions and banquets.
"We've sunk millions into this," said Judy Klein, still stunned at the sunup to sundown construction going on across the road.
Trucks showed up
The Kleins did their homework, got their land annexed into the village of Belmont and paid for the utilities, the natural gas, the electric lines. Things were perking along, said Klein, until one day this spring when she saw a couple of fellows walking around the farmland across the road.
A few days later, the trucks and construction equipment arrived and a sun-up to sun-down building project began to create a large commercial grain elevator, to store corn bought from area farmers, and to dry corn before shipping it on down the line.
It is not, the Kleins say, an ideal backdrop for a wedding reception at their center.
The Olsen brothers do not farm there, but bought 15 acres of land from the same farmer who years earlier had sold property to the Kleins. The brothers repeatedly have claimed they sought, and received, the approval of the Kleins before the building started.
The Olsen brothers, however, did not have any permits to do this as a commercial operation, though they advertised the still-unfinished bins and dryer on their Web site for buying corn.
They also repeatedly ignored, according to court complaints, state Department of Natural Resource orders and county demands to stop work and get permits.
One of the DNR specialists noted in an affidavit successfully supporting a restraining order that Paul Olsen should be aware of the stormwater management laws, as he had violated one in 2007 while building a grain elevator in Boscobel.
The Kleins were furious.
The trucks rolled, concrete was poured, earth moved, and the Kleins protested. Lafayette County planning officials wondered why this was happening without permits, then a permit was applied for and denied, a stop-work order was issued, the construction continued, and then an appeal by the Olsens was denied. And construction continued.
At least until Monday, when restraining orders were sought in Lafayette County circuit court by state and county officials to halt the work.
One was issued by Judge William Johnston, and hearings on the two requests are set for Friday.
A big sign
Suddenly, the Olsens asked the county for information on permits needed to build a hog operation on the same site.
The construction continued, but the most notable addition was that of a large sign at the site that says: "All personnel who enter this site shall not patronize any establishment across the road."
The Kleins, owners of said establishment, were not amused. The Darlington Republican Journal ran a photo of the sign and has published several detailed stories on the issue.
"Now that (sign) affects our business, if they're saying people can't come here and eat or sleep or buy fuel," said Judy Klein, who with her husband have, in a court filing with the county's temporary restraining order, accused the Olsens of "malicious interference with business."
Robert Welch, a spokesman for the Olsen brothers and their diverse agricultural interests, would not comment on the sign, but said building continued on the site — until the stop worker order last week — because the brothers have decided the grain operation will no longer be a commercial enterprise.
"We were denied a permit to build a commercial grain elevator (for Olsen's Mill, based in Oshkosh)," said Welch, a former state senator. "So we have decided instead to build a farm elevator to service the Olsen brothers farm."
"They have about 5,000 acres they own or lease and that is a lot of grain that needs to be stored and processed and they are going to do that ... it is our belief no permit is needed.
"It's a complicated issue, but when this is finally built, it will not be commercial. We are not flouting the law, there are literally hundreds of grain bins all over Lafayette County built by farmers."
Very few, however, in the 1.5 million bushel capacity.
Since they have altered the use, the stop work order doesn't apply, he said. This means the Olsen brothers have acknowledged defeat on that issue.
"We didn't win, and now we are back to square one," said Welch.
The issue of a hog farm, to be located by the Olsens across the road from the Kleins' restaurant, "is still in the plans, but that is not being constructed now," said Welch, "I can't say if there has been a final decision on whether that, phase two, will happen."
'It's not easy'
Hubner said last week that as far as the county is concerned, the Olsens were violating the stop work order unless what they were constructing was for storing their own grain.
Monday, however, work stopped when the state Justice Department requested and received a temporary restraining order, based on the lack of Department of Natural Resource permits for stormwater and construction site erosion plans.
Paul Olsen noted he and his brother applied for the permits May 27 — three weeks after starting construction — and complained that now the soonest construction could resume would be Aug. 8, the date of a court hearing.
"It's not easy doing business in Wisconsin," he complained.
Both the county and the village of Belmont would likely have to weigh in on the hog farm issue before an operation like that is permitted.
To further complicate matters, the Olsens on Thursday petitioned the village of Belmont for annexation to the village, a move that could take a year and would make the county's legal moves moot, officials said.
Village clerk Alice Gilman said officials are scheduled to tour the work-interrupted site Monday.
Hubner said the Olsens may simply be using the threat of building a hog farm across from the restaurant as a "bargaining chip."
The Kleins are not surprised at the threat, or the sign.
"We tried to stop them from building their big commercial corn setup, and that in turn has made them even madder," said Judy Klein.
'Wait and see'
Not knowing what will happen next has the Kleins worried.
"It's kind of wait and see. They were buying all this corn for future delivery, and they have no license to accept it here, so it would have to be taken elsewhere," she mused.
The issue has split the rural community, she said.
"For a small town this has gotten pretty nasty, some are for it, and some are against it," she said.
The Kleins were also offended that the grain bin operators thought — in the Kleins' estimation — the restaurant owners were not familiar with such a setup.
"I lived on a farm my entire life, I know what corn bins do. You've got the beeswings (thin filmy pieces of bran released in moving corn) and you've got the mice and rats," Judy Klein said.
Already, she estimates, her property has suffered significant depreciation.
Paul Olsen, from the Olsen Mill office in Oshkosh, said he and his brother were trying to adjust their building plans according to what was allowed, and what started as a farm elevator project then turned into a commercial project, then back to a farm project.
"No big hairy deal," he said.
Asked about the sign ordering anyone working on his property not to do business with the Kleins, Olsen said Monday "the sign stays."
"It's a good sign. I think their business has been affected by it."
Asked if that was the desired response, he said "you betcha."
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