The closing of the Hastings Creamery without notice last month forced the Hastings School District to switch milk providers.

Because of the emergency situation, the school board at its meeting Wednesday, Sept. 27 will vote on a “Resolution Determining the Existence of a Contracting Emergency” that will officially allow purchase of milk through Prairie Farms through Dec. 31. The district then will solicit competitive bids for the remainder of the school year.

Prairie Farms is headquartered in Edwardsville, IL.

“The school board hereby determines…that an emergency circumstance exists with respect to providing milk and dairy products to start the 2023-24 school year whereby it is entitled to dispense with any and all public bidding and contracting requirements in state law,” the resolution states.

The Hastings Creamery shut down in August after 113 years in business after waste violations forced the Metropolitan Council to cut it off from the sanitary sewer system. Challenges from that proved too much for the business to recover from.

The school district received a letter from Chris Opitz, CEO of the Hastings Creamery, stating, “As a milk company that has been in operation since 1913, it is with regret that I am sending you this correspondence to inform you that Hastings Creamery, LLC ceased operations and will be closing the company as of 5 p.m. on August 18, 2023.”

Two weeks ago, the Hastings Creamery complex was decimated by a fire that remains under investigation.