CFO decision coming June 6

Jay County Commissioners will take action on proposed changes in zoning rules for confined feeding operations at 9:30 a.m. June 6.
But what action they will take at that time is unclear.
While all three commissioners — Faron Parr, Jim Zimmerman and Doug Inman — have been studying the planning unit’s recommendations for several weeks, there has been little public discussion of the proposals at the commissioners’ meetings.
There have been indications, however, that the commissioners may send the matter back to Jay County Plan Commission for further review and possible tweaking rather than simply adopting the recommendations into the zoning ordinance.
Commissioners attorney Bill Hinkle stressed Monday that the June 6 meeting will not be a public hearing. Any public comment allowed at the meeting will be up to the commissioners.
The changes recommended by the plan commission would require setbacks of 750 feet from residences for confined feeding operations with 100 to 500 cattle or horses, 300 to 8,800 sheep, 300 to 10,000 swine, 500 to 24,000 ducks, 500 to 48,000 starter turkeys, 500 to 30,000 turkeys, and 5,000 to one million chickens. Operations with more animals than those limits would require a setback of 1,100 feet.
Current regulations call for a setback of 750 feet for all operations with more than 200 cattle or horses, 400 swine or sheep, 5,700 fowl or ducks dry and 5,000 ducks wet.
The county has been wrestling with possible changes in confined feeding regulations since the summer of 2014 after J Star Farms started construction of a large-scale poultry operation without the proper permits. The commissioners formed a study group, which looked at a variety of issues and made recommendations in October.
The plan commission took several months to review the study group’s findings before sending recommendations to the commissioners.
Meanwhile, commissioners said Monday they saw no reason that Jay County/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn should not go ahead and issue a permit for a proposed turkey confined feeding operation on county road 125 West between 300 North and 400 North.
Some neighbors of the proposed operation had written letters to the commissioners and Hemmelgarn in opposition to siting a CAFO at that location.
“It meets the specifications,” said Hemmelgarn.
“That’s what we go by,” responded Zimmerman, himself an operator of a large chicken operation. “What you have to go by is what’s in the ordinance.”
Hemmelgarn told commissioners he had met with some of those in opposition and with Andrew Yoder, who is seeking the permit along with his wife Denise, at the location to try to allay some of the concerns.
Parr wondered aloud about whether the zoning ordinance could require that a CAFO operator reside at the site.
“That’s the one thing I hear the most,” he said. “But I don’t think legally we can (require it).”
“We don’t live physically on the property where our chicken house is,” acknowledged Zimmerman.