July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Confined feeding hearing set Thursday (3/16/05)
Meeting will be held in courthouse auditorium
By By Mike Snyder-
A review of recommended changes to the way the county regulates large- and small-scale livestock operations — and a chance to comment on those recommendations — is coming up Thursday evening.
An ad hoc committee, formed with the blessing of Jay County Commissioners, has been meeting since August studying issues regarding farms that house livestock.
At a public hearing on Thursday at the Jay County Courthouse, the findings and recommendations of the committee will be reviewed, and limited public comment will be taken.
The meeting in the courthouse auditorium will begin at 7 p.m.
Dr. Steve Myron, Jay County health officer and co-chair of the committee, said last week that he is looking forward to hearing comments on the committee’s work.
“I really do hope the people who are concerned about this ... show up,” Myron said. “I think it’s a fantastic start to the local community taking back oversight of this ... We’re the community (confined feeding) affects ... positively and negatively.”
Jim Zimmerman, a member of the Jay County Council and chairman of the county planning commission, served as co-chair of the committee. Zimmerman also runs a family-owned egg laying operation that is regulated by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The recommendations will be handed over to the commissioners, with the portion of the recommendations regarding zoning likely then passed on to the planning commission.
Among the highlights of the changes and revisions of local rules and laws proposed by the committee are:
•Adoption of a manure management/control ordinance that would give local control over the spreading of manure from livestock operations. Among the key proposals is a prohibition on the spreading of manure closer than 250 feet to a home, church or business. Included was a recommendation that local fines be approved for incidents in which manure is spilled or allowed to contaminate a creek or stream.
•Creation of a more comprehensive local application and approval process for new or expanded confined feeding operations. The process, as proposed, would include notification of property owners within one mile of the proposed facility, with a local public hearing to be held if a member of the public or a local official finds a reasonable objection.
•Inclusion of small scale farms (animal feeding operations, such as those with 600 or fewer pigs) in regulations that require the operations to be 500 feet from a residence, 1,000 feet from a church, school or recreational facility, and 1,300 feet from a plot zoned residential.
Gary Theurer, a Jay County Commissioner and member of the committee, said Monday that he plans to attend Thursday’s hearing.
“I just want to go and listen,” said Theurer, a farmer who helps run a family-owned confined feeding operation. “Ag people and residents have to co-exist.”
Other members of the committee included:
•Dwane Ford, an Indiana Conservation Officer.
•Dave Houck, environmentalist/administrator of the Jay County Health Department.
•John Knipp, educator with the Jay County office of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
•Sharen Michael, a rural Bryant resident/farmer.
•Bill Milligan, director of Jay/Portland Building and Planning.
•Steve Howell, a rural Portland resident/concerned citizen.
Although there was very little heated discussion or outright disagreement during the committee’s work sessions, Zimmerman and Theurer provided a voice for area farmers and confined feeding operators.
Both asserted that the operators of most livestock farms are good neighbors and good stewards of the land.
Fellow committee members didn’t disagree, but said that changes are necessary to provide protection against those who aren’t good neighbors.
In the recommendations, which were approved by consensus, is the following statement: “We have heard repeatedly that CFO operators do not want additional regulations and that they are regulated to death. The committee agrees. The committee also believes ... it will put the county in the position of controlling to a better degree the siting and operation of these facilities on a local level ... All these recommendations are a win-win situation for everyone concerned.”
Myron said that one of the key proposed changes in his mind is the creation of a local notification and review process.
That process would create input from a variety of local officials — including the health department and surveyor’s department.
“You put up a big commercial hog or chicken operation, and we’re all going to be involved with that,” Myron said. “There’s nothing in there that’s going to keep a guy from putting up an operation on his farm, if that’s what he wants to do ... If I want to do this on my land, then I have to respect my neighbors’ concerns, address those concerns, and ... don’t break any laws.”
Myron acknowledged that what is perceived by some to be additional regulations on confined feeding operations could be a tough sell before the planning commission, which includes six farmers among its nine members. Four of those six (Eric Pursifull, Scott Hilfiker, Theurer and Zimmerman) are confined feeding operators.
“I believe (the recommendations are) what the majority of people in the county want, more control back,” Myron said. “We’ve given them the recommendations. What they do with it is their business. The political sense in the county today is one that says we respect farming and our agricultural roots, but you have to work with the community on this. This is not 20 sows in a little pig lot.”[[In-content Ad]]
An ad hoc committee, formed with the blessing of Jay County Commissioners, has been meeting since August studying issues regarding farms that house livestock.
At a public hearing on Thursday at the Jay County Courthouse, the findings and recommendations of the committee will be reviewed, and limited public comment will be taken.
The meeting in the courthouse auditorium will begin at 7 p.m.
Dr. Steve Myron, Jay County health officer and co-chair of the committee, said last week that he is looking forward to hearing comments on the committee’s work.
“I really do hope the people who are concerned about this ... show up,” Myron said. “I think it’s a fantastic start to the local community taking back oversight of this ... We’re the community (confined feeding) affects ... positively and negatively.”
Jim Zimmerman, a member of the Jay County Council and chairman of the county planning commission, served as co-chair of the committee. Zimmerman also runs a family-owned egg laying operation that is regulated by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The recommendations will be handed over to the commissioners, with the portion of the recommendations regarding zoning likely then passed on to the planning commission.
Among the highlights of the changes and revisions of local rules and laws proposed by the committee are:
•Adoption of a manure management/control ordinance that would give local control over the spreading of manure from livestock operations. Among the key proposals is a prohibition on the spreading of manure closer than 250 feet to a home, church or business. Included was a recommendation that local fines be approved for incidents in which manure is spilled or allowed to contaminate a creek or stream.
•Creation of a more comprehensive local application and approval process for new or expanded confined feeding operations. The process, as proposed, would include notification of property owners within one mile of the proposed facility, with a local public hearing to be held if a member of the public or a local official finds a reasonable objection.
•Inclusion of small scale farms (animal feeding operations, such as those with 600 or fewer pigs) in regulations that require the operations to be 500 feet from a residence, 1,000 feet from a church, school or recreational facility, and 1,300 feet from a plot zoned residential.
Gary Theurer, a Jay County Commissioner and member of the committee, said Monday that he plans to attend Thursday’s hearing.
“I just want to go and listen,” said Theurer, a farmer who helps run a family-owned confined feeding operation. “Ag people and residents have to co-exist.”
Other members of the committee included:
•Dwane Ford, an Indiana Conservation Officer.
•Dave Houck, environmentalist/administrator of the Jay County Health Department.
•John Knipp, educator with the Jay County office of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
•Sharen Michael, a rural Bryant resident/farmer.
•Bill Milligan, director of Jay/Portland Building and Planning.
•Steve Howell, a rural Portland resident/concerned citizen.
Although there was very little heated discussion or outright disagreement during the committee’s work sessions, Zimmerman and Theurer provided a voice for area farmers and confined feeding operators.
Both asserted that the operators of most livestock farms are good neighbors and good stewards of the land.
Fellow committee members didn’t disagree, but said that changes are necessary to provide protection against those who aren’t good neighbors.
In the recommendations, which were approved by consensus, is the following statement: “We have heard repeatedly that CFO operators do not want additional regulations and that they are regulated to death. The committee agrees. The committee also believes ... it will put the county in the position of controlling to a better degree the siting and operation of these facilities on a local level ... All these recommendations are a win-win situation for everyone concerned.”
Myron said that one of the key proposed changes in his mind is the creation of a local notification and review process.
That process would create input from a variety of local officials — including the health department and surveyor’s department.
“You put up a big commercial hog or chicken operation, and we’re all going to be involved with that,” Myron said. “There’s nothing in there that’s going to keep a guy from putting up an operation on his farm, if that’s what he wants to do ... If I want to do this on my land, then I have to respect my neighbors’ concerns, address those concerns, and ... don’t break any laws.”
Myron acknowledged that what is perceived by some to be additional regulations on confined feeding operations could be a tough sell before the planning commission, which includes six farmers among its nine members. Four of those six (Eric Pursifull, Scott Hilfiker, Theurer and Zimmerman) are confined feeding operators.
“I believe (the recommendations are) what the majority of people in the county want, more control back,” Myron said. “We’ve given them the recommendations. What they do with it is their business. The political sense in the county today is one that says we respect farming and our agricultural roots, but you have to work with the community on this. This is not 20 sows in a little pig lot.”[[In-content Ad]]
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