CFO rule changes approved

Changes to Jay County’s confined feeding zoning rules have been approved, but the process to alter the measures isn’t finished.
In a 2-1 vote Monday, commissioners approved the changes, which include a handful of amendments made to the proposed changes originally sent to commissioners by Jay County Plan Commission. However, the changes are still being sent back to the plan commission for some tweaks.
Commissioners initially approved the same changes at their June 6 meeting, but they were later rejected by the plan commission in July.
The language amended by commissioners includes changes to requirements for mail notification, setback lengths, the amount of swine allowed for operations, the definition of manure storage structures and specifications for plan proposals.
Monday’s vote fell along the same lines as June’s, with commissioners Faron Parr and Doug Inman in favor and Jim Zimmerman opposed.
“Well, I’m not going to second (the motion),” said Zimmerman, who is also president of the plan commission. “For one thing, I think we should have notified the public that we were going to act on this today so people who might have been in opposition to this would have had a chance to also to express their opinion before we act on it.”
At its July meeting, plan commission offered a series of recommendations following its rejection of the commissioners’ proposed changes.
Recommendations called for regular mail and a half-mile radius for mail notification and increasing the number of swine from 8,800 back to the originally proposed 10,000 for rules’ first tier.
However, commissioners voted unanimously Monday to have plan commission convene to recommend those two changes to the passed rules.
The plan commission originally suggested a half-mile radius and certified mail for notification. The language approved Monday includes a one-mile radius and certified mail as well as a fist-tier limit of 8,800 swine.
Currently, the approved changes include setbacks of 750 feet from residences for confined feeding operations with 100 to 500 cattle or horses, 300 to 8,800 sheep, 300 to 8,800 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 1,320 feet.
The plan commission recommended, in both its proposed changes sent to commissioners earlier this year and at its July meeting, a setback of 1,100 feet for the second tier.
Meanwhile, commissioners approved county engineer Dan Watson to sign a contract in the amount of $25,180 with Choice One Engineering for work on a road asset management plan. The road inventory is required to apply for matching funds from Indiana Department of Transportation that could be used on roadwork next year.
The county didn’t complete a plan earlier this year to apply this summer for funds, which were awarded to the cities of Portland and Dunkirk and Town of Redkey.
In other business, commissioners:
•Approved a number of claims, which included funds for the auditor’s cloud system, the veterans service office, reimbursement funds for Emergency Management Director Ralph Frazee’s recent training trip to Georgia and lawyer fees for the retirement center.
•Approved $15,000 to be used out of the infrastructure fund for repair work at Jay County Jail. The money will include $6,500 to fix issues with a generator, $4,000 for repairs to the jail’s garage and $3,330 for siding work. Sheriff Dwayne Ford told commissioners an Indiana Department of Correction bus that was too tall recently caused damage to the garage when attempting to enter. He said the garage is still operational and expects the department of correction to cover the costs.
•Granted purchasing power to Jay County Health Department to use leftover grant money, up to $20,000, for a new vehicle to replace a 1999 Chevrolet Lumina.
•Also approved Ford to be the purchasing agent for his department’s new K-9, which the sheriff’s office received last week.
•Acting as drainage board, heard from county surveyor Brad Daniels that public hearings are scheduled for 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Oct. 24 on proposals that the Collins Watershed be joined with the Salamonie River Watershed and on raising the rates for the Loblolly Watershed.