Miller issues apology

Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. apologized this morning for a comment made at last week's Jay County Commissioners meeting.

Miller, president of the commissioners, apologized to Berne Ready Mix for a comment made in reaction to a letter sent by the Jay County Health Department to local septic system installers which informed them of a new stone that could be purchased from Berne Ready Mix, Pennville, for septic installations.

The issue was brought to the commissioners' attention last week when Eric Reynolds from Meshberger Brothers Stone Corp. approached the board to express his concern that the county health department was promoting a direct competitor.

The letter stated that the health department preferred the Berne Ready Mix stone to a limestone gravel provided by Meshberger.

The commissioners agreed last week that the letter was poorly written and that it did appear to promote one company over another, leading to Miller's comment.

"It was directed toward the letter mostly," Miller said this morning, clarifying that his comment was offhand and that he was displeased with the way the letter read and did not intend to call into question Berne Ready Mix's business practices.

"If I offended Berne Ready Mix, I apologize for that."

Gene Subler, general manager for Berne Ready Mix, said this morning in a telephone interview that the letter itself and the reaction was "just a surprise to everybody."

"We were totally unaware," he said. "This totally blindsided us. We had no idea anything like that was coming.

"I had a lot of people call me and tell me that the comments were pretty ridiculous," Subler said.

Subler said the company was approached by Jay County Health Department environmentalist Dave Houck and asked if they could rewash their stone so it could be used by local septic installers.

Subler said this morning the company did not ask for or know of the letter that was sent.

"He put that in his own words," Subler said of Houck's letter. "We had no idea he was going to write what type of letter or how he was going to inform people."

The commissioners told Houck to draft another letter to septic installers informing them that either type of stone, the rewashed or the limestone, was acceptable for new installations and to send the commissioners a copy.

As of this morning the commissioners had not received a copy of that new letter.[[In-content Ad]]