Public hearing set on smoking ban (06/05/07)

A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 18, for discussion of whether the Jay County Commissioners should ban smoking in public places.

The meeting, which will be held in the auditorium of the Jay County Courthouse, was scheduled in response to a recommendation by the Jay County Board of Health that a ban be established.

Members of the board of health and the commissioners will be present at the July hearing.

Commissioners said Monday afternoon it's unclear whether a ban at the county level would affect the incorporated cities and towns in the county. That legal question will be researched prior to the July meeting.

In other business Monday afternoon, commissioners heard complaints from Carl Funk, a resident of county road 350 South, southwest of Portland, about a serious fly problem which he blamed on a nearby confined animal feeding operation.

"It's gonna last all summer, I'm afraid," Funk told the commissioners. "You boys are gonna have to do something."

The commissioners contacted environmentalist/administrator Dave Houck with the county health department, who said that the hog producer had applied manure to the ground recently but had chisel-plowed it into his fields as required.[[In-content Ad]]