July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

CFO changes voted down (09/25/06)

Jay County Commissioners

By By MARY ANN LEWIS-

A proposal by the Jay County Planning Commission for amending regulations concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and confined feeding operations (CFO) was turned down today by Jay County Commissioners.

But not because they opposed the recommendations; they want more information.

The cause for the delay this time?

The commissioners said they want to wait for results of a proposed study from Ball State University's Office of Building Better Communities for the "Agriculture in Concert with Regional Economics" project.

Commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer, and Faron Parr were expected to adopted the regulations recommended by the commission - including setback and notification regulations.

"I would recommend commissioners vote 'nay' on the recommendations," planning commission president, Jim Zimmerman told commssioners this morning, "pending results from the study."

Members of the planning commission entered into a contract on Sept. 15 for the study to be done.

The Ball State study was offered to help ease residents' concerns and guide county officials in dealing with animal operations in the county.

About a dozen Jay County residents attended the meeting this morning to learn of the commissioners' decision, and also encouraged commissioners to wait for results of the study, which is expected to be completed by Jan. 1.

"I hate draggin' this thing out," Miller said about delaying the decision.

"But we don't need more regulations," Theurer explained. "We have regulations. We just need to ask Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to help enforce them."

Vicky Lochtefeld, co-owner of a CAFO in southeastern Jay County, who has been vocal about protecting farmers' rights in the past, said there has been much misinformation about such operations, and urged commissioners to "be fair to everyone. Please be fair to the farmer."

"There's always two sides to a story, said farmer, Dave Lowe, "and the second story doesn't always get told. The facts don't always get to the people who make decisions."

Commissioners agreed to wait for results of the Ball State study.

"We've waited this long," Parr said about delaying the decision. "We can wait a little longer."[[In-content Ad]]
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