Commission gains approval

The question Monday wasn’t whether to create a study commission, but rather how the group should be structured.
Jay County Commissioners unanimously accepted a recommendation Jay County Plan Commission made Thursday, approving the creation of a seven-member study commission to investigate the current confined feeding ordinance with a goal to recommend changes within 90 days. The commission will work without a moratorium on issuing new building permits to confined feeding operations (CFOs) and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Commissioner Faron Parr came to the meeting with a preliminary list of candidates for the commission, covering areas including agriculture, environment, education, economic development, business and health. With those areas in mind, much of the discussion focused on how many representatives should make up the board, ranging from as few as five to as many as 11.
“I hate to make a mountain out of a molehill, if we can get all the input we need from five or seven people and do their due diligence,” said commissioner Milo Miller Jr.
Attorney Lon Racster advised commissioners that asking too many to be on the commission may make it hard to manage. With harvesting and holidays taking place in the next three months, it may be hard to hold a quorum with a larger group.
While worried about having too many members, commissioners wanted to make sure the commission would be representative of the various views on CFOs and CAFOs.
“I want to appoint people that are open-minded and don’t have their heels dug in the sand,” said commissioner Jim Zimmerman.
Those in attendance felt the same concerns.
“I hope in addition to the various areas you’re talking about, that you will consider the fact that there are differences of opinion on this and that you have people, a balance of people, as it relates to both differences of opinion,” said Jay County resident John Young.
Jay County Purdue Extension Office director Larry Temple and former Jay County Hospital chief executive officer Joe Johnston have already agreed to be part of the commission. Parr will also be part of the process but in a strictly advisory — non-voting — capacity.
All appointments will need to be formerly accepted and approved, which commissioners hope to complete at their next meeting.
In other business, commissioners:
•Approved increasing all Jay Emergency Medical Service ambulance runs by $150, which is estimated to bring in an additional $60,000 annually. Basic runs will now cost $650 and advanced runs $850.
•Heard from Peggy Cenova, Indiana Small Business Development Center, a group that provides resources to small businesses in Jay County. Cenova asked commissioners to recommend to Jay County Council annual funding of $3,000 from Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds for her organization to be active in the community on a more regular basis. Commissioners told Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley to schedule an EDIT Advisory Committee meeting to provide a recommendation to the council.
•Learned Jay County will receive an additional $8,485.29 from the 2014 Emergency Management Performance Grant, which already awarded $5,179.77 as a bonus to Jay County Emergency Management Agency.