Officers retained for 2021

Not much changed for Jay County Plan Commission this year.

The commission re-elected its officers from last year for 2021 at its organizational meeting Thursday.

Re-elections included Scott Hilfiker as president, Steve Ford as vice president and Matt Minnich as secretary. The commission also designated Pati McLaughlin as recording secretary and Bill Hinkle as legal council.

McLaughlin noted Tom Laux resigned from his position this week on Jay County Plan Commission. (He had also served as the county plan commission’s ex-officio representative on Portland Plan Commission.) Jay County Commissioners will need to reappoint a new citizen member to his position later, and the county plan commission will need to name a new ex-officio representative to the city’s plan commission.

McLaughlin also mentioned there is outdated language in the current zoning ordinance that needs to be changed, although she didn’t name specific examples. She said the plan commission will likely begin working on it in the summer.

Jay County Commissioner and plan commission member Chad Aker brought up the Indiana House Bill 1381.

“If this House Bill 1381 passes, then that may affect some of our ordinances –– the wind farm and the solar farm ordinances we’ve got,” Aker said.

The bill would establish standards for setbacks and other requirements for wind and solar operations. It would limit local government units from implementing regulations that are more restrictive than those standards.

Aker said the bill has met with opposition from various commissioners around the state. As written, though, Jay County’s ordinances will likely not need to change much because they are less restrictive than the state’s proposal, he explained.