Composting and a few pictures of receding water

Both the Jasper County Planning Commission and the Jasper County Board of Zoning Appeals met on Monday evening. The Planning Commission met first and began with a rezone request from A1 (general agriculture) to A4 (agriculture business) for a 40 acre plot a mile or two south of Fair Oaks on CR 1100 W.

The land is owned by Heartland Sustainable Farms and they want to open a composting business. They will get the bedding from the farm or farms that raise calves for the dairy farms. This bedding is hay with some manure mixed in that does not go to the digesters. It will be mixed with other organic materials such as corn waste, put on nine acres of land that will have either a clay or synthetic base, and left for 90 days to decompose. The temperature will rise to 100-140 degrees, killing seed and insects. The end product will be similar to potting soil. It will be bagged and sold, primarily for landscaping.

The proposed facility will have five buildings. There is currently an abandoned house on the lot that law enforcement uses to practice SWAT simulations. It will be demolished or burned by the fire department. The project still needs IDEM approval. The developers would like to begin construction in June. After what happened last month, I was surprised that there was no opposition. Perhaps that is because there are no nearby residences. The rezone was approved and will now go to the Commissioners for their approval.


The second item was a discussion of a proposed change to the UDO regarding setbacks for CAFOs. It was tabled for next month's meeting. The third item was approval of a six-lot subdivision in the northern part of the County that will be adjacent to the Wolf Creek subdivision. The land was originally approved for a subdivision of 30-35 lots but the current owners think it would work better with fewer but much larger lots. The Drainage Board has already given its approval for the project. One neighbor expressed concern about what might be built there. She was concerned that if a small, cheap house was put next to hers, it would lower her property value. The owners of the land were willing to consider a covenant with restrictions on the size of the house that could be built. This subdivision was approved.

At the end of the meeting, there was a discussion about how the County could make sure that developers actually follow through and met the requirements that they are supposed to meet when granted their variances, rezones, etc. There was discussion of something called "as built."  

The BZA meeting was much shorter than the Planning Commission meeting with only two items on the agenda, and the first, a sand-mining item, was withdrawn by the proposer. The second was a variance for the subdivision that was approved by the Planning Commission. Two of the lots will lack the required frontages that they are supposed to have. However, they are on existing cul-du-sacs of the Wolf Creek subdivision and those cul-du-sacs are County owned. The variance would allow these two lots to use that frontage for access. They were approved.

There was a brief discussion about the March meeting and a realization that the agenda will probably include requests for permissions to erect meteorological towers that check wind speed. They are a first stage in any wind farm. So the March meeting might be very interesting.

The river has been receding. Below is Potawatomi Park on Sunday or Monday. The bench that was almost covered is not mostly above water.

 On Tuesday the water has receded from most of the sidewalk.

 The bench acted as a strainer for the water running through it and is left with a lot of debris.

 On Tuesday the water was several feet below the bottom of the Washington Street Bridge.

 I heard from and about a number of people who did not have power, heat, and/or hot water. There were a few who had to move out of their homes. Hopefully their lives are returning to normal.

Left behind are a lot of potholes. This one is on Grace Street.

Finally, the about .3 inches of rain that we got last night does not seem to have had a significant effect on the river, as it keeps falling. It should drop below flood stage sometime today or tonight. Here is the graph: