Dividing duties

The study commission to review the county’s confined feeding operation ordinance is dividing in order to conquer.
The commission Thursday evening created two subcommittees to investigate specific issues in the county’s current CFO ordinance. Initially with ideas for four subgroups, the commission combined them into two — zoning/enforcement and economic/environmental impact.
Brainstorming specific topics that need to be addressed during the commission’s 90-day review, members discussed ideas of implementing a site selection committee for future CFO building permits applications, enforcing and regulating manure application and finding the actual economic impact of CFOs on the Jay County community.
The current ordinance covers three pages, addressing issues concerning zoning and definitions, but members would like to see the county have more of a hand in how the CFO functions once it’s built.
“Who’s in control — the state or Jay County?” said member Joe Johnston about the idea that Jay County should have its own regulations other than those imposed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Chairman Larry Temple commented that with each member of the commission chosen for having particular expertise in areas affected by confined feeding operations, subcommittees could be beneficial if they take extra time to meet and analyze research in the weeks between meetings.
If a subcommittee is unable to find answers to issues brought forward by residents, the commission can the bring in outside experts, such as officials from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and IDEM, to lend their knowledge, said Temple.
Jefferson Township resident Judy McIntire asked the commission during the meeting’s public comment portion to always keep in mind those who live next to these operations when making decisions.
McIntire and her husband recently received a letter informing them of a building permit application with IDEM for a new confined feeding operation near her home and feels her area is being overrun with CFOs. She believes they are affecting the value of her home and aggravating her asthma.
“It’s so close to your house that it’s going to devastate everything you’ve worked for all your life,” said McIntire, who added she already has 10 operations within about a mile of her house. “Put yourselves in my situation when you’re thinking about this.”
The zoning and enforcement subcommittee, made up of members Steve Reier, Rex Journay, Jane Ann Runyon and Johnston, will look at issues pertaining to the possible formation of a site selection committee for the building permit application process, the addition of a new zoning category for agricultural industry and the creation of a new county position to conduct CFO inspections.
The economic and environmental impact subcommittee is tasked with creating or finding ways to regulate manure application, as well as researching how air, land and water qualities are affected by the construction of new CFOs. Serving on the subcommittee, Connie Ronald, Scott Hilfiker, Temple and advisory member Brad DeRome will also investigate how these operations affect the county financially.
The subcommittees will meet before the next scheduled study commission meeting Nov. 18 to “keep pushing” for answers.
These meetings will not be open to the public, as they don’t fall under the state’s Open Door Law. The subcommittees weren’t appointed directly by a governing body and therefore aren’t obligated to hold open meetings.
In that time, commission members will also visit a local confined feeding operation to see how it operates and discuss current regulations with its workers and owners.
Temple asked those in attendance and the public in general to continue giving input throughout the process as it helps steer what the subcommittees and commission investigate.