Chicken CAFO planned

Jay County’s livestock population continues to grow.
A complex of seven layer buildings, an egg-processing building and a self-contained concrete manure storage building is planned for an area near Ind. 26 and county road 700 East, not far from Bellefountain.
Jay County Commissioners learned Tuesday that J. Star Farms LLC, St. Henry, Ohio, filed a confined animal feeding operation application May 23 with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The new facility will house an estimated 2.7 million hens. When completed, that will bring the total chicken population of the county up to nearly 10 million.
Paperwork submitted by J. Star Farms LLC says the laying complex will be located 1,785 feet north of Ind. 26 and 2,268 feet east of county road 700 East. A long lane will connect the facility to Ind. 26.
In other business Monday, Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton told commissioners he has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to increase the wattage of the sheriff’s department radio system from 100 watts to 250 watts.
Newton said 100 watts had been sufficient in the past. But with the switch to narrow-banding broadcast, the department has encountered a number of dead spots. A recent security drill, for instance, revealed a few places within Jay County High School where radio communication was less than 100 percent.
The transition to 250 watts is expected to cost $12,845 and will be paid for from county infrastructure funds since it’s a capital project.
Commissioners will discuss the issue with the county council in June, but an additional appropriation for the project won’t come up for a vote until the council’s July meeting.
“The quicker we get it done the better,” said Newton.
Newton said all guttering around Jay County Security Center has been replaced in an effort to keep water from causing structural issues.
The commissioner of the Indiana Department of Corrections recently toured the jail and was complimentary, he said.[[In-content Ad]]