August 8, 2024

By: Katherine Trowbridge & Roman Corona Martinez

Crews work on digging out and leveling ground on the former landfill in preparation of the new store building project behind Connell’s Lep-Re-Kon Harvest Foods.

As equipment digs the ground behind the local, Connell Lep-Re-Kon Harvest Foods, anticipation grows for what will be a brand-new grocery store amongst community and staff alike.

Andrew Montemayor, General Manager of Lep-Re-Kon Harvest Foods, spoke with the Franklin County Graphic regarding the project. At first, he shared, their goal was to do a big remodel but looking at the numbers, that just wasn’t feasible so they looked at other options. Ultimately, they worked with the City of Connell to purchase land located directly behind their current location. In the end, they will be “building new from the ground up,” he said.

The land, like with the community center, is part of the former landfill. The Montemayors want to get it right, from the ground up, so to speak, so that issues that plagued the other lot don’t hinder their new building. At this time, crews are digging down and cleaning up the landfill area and creating a solid foundation to build upon.

The Prosser Lep-Re-Kon Harvest Foods (pictured above), also owned by the Montemayor family, is the most similar in size and style to what Connell’s new store will be, although Connell’s store will be unique to our Community.

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The Franklin County Graphic (FCG) newspaper opened in 1954 under founding editor Dave Adams to fulfill the need for community news. Today, it continues as a locally owned and operated, weekly source of community news and information across Franklin County.