THE RIVER WIDE - AFTERMATH

Wednesday and part of yesterday was a bad day for the flood-fighting effort. The city had brought in one pump, but it had problems and wasn’t working properly. When I got home Wednesday night, the water around my home was higher than when I had left Wednesday noon after checking my home, but the city workers had erected the clay dike and were busy maintaining it.

Parking was a problem, but I found a spot up the block from my home. A huge pump was brought in and set up out in the street at the northwest corner of my house to try to get the water pumped back over the dike.

Pump brought in by the city - the St. Marys is visible yet at the top of the dike-the sandbags piled in the middle are holding down a manhole cover where the river was backing up onto the street

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Let me digress for just a moment. In July 2003 when we flooded, the city had brought in dump truck loads of sandbags to use, and we got those put in place. But the water was still getting through and running down into my basement. I am the lowest point on the block, so naturally the water came down to my one, little old corner to build up. And since the yard was a total disaster anyways, we dug a trench from three houses up down to the corner of my house.

My neighbors, who own the rental property next door, and I went together and rented a four-inch pump to decorate the corner of my yard. I had never run a pump before, so that meant I needed to learn the ins and outs of how to run the thing - not that it takes a rocket scientist to figure it out.

We put down plywood to support the weight of the pump. During the day while I was at work, one of the owners of the rental house watched the pump. When I got home, I grabbed a couple of hours of rest, and then went out at about 7:00 p.m. to spend the night on the porch swing. It was July, so at least it was warm.

I took out a couple of pillows and a light blanket and slept in the porch swing for three nights straight. I would doze - kind of hard to sleep really comfortably in a porch swing with a loud pump running close to you. I would get up every two hours to fill the pump with gas. My worst fear was that I would be so tired, I wouldn’t wake up and then the pump would run out of gas.

To further complicate things, my youngest son and I had just refinished the narrow strip of yard running along side my house the summer before. We had laid landscaping fabric down and lined the length with landscape timbers. We then put down lots of pretty red mulch to brighten it up. Let me tell you, pretty red mulch does a number on a pump. But good old ingenuity set in, and I brought out one of my spaghetti strainers, and we secured it to the end of the hose.

The first time I shut the pump off to put gas in, I forgot how I had been instructed to turn it back on. Dang - where was that rocket scientist manual when I needed it.  I about panicked when I thought I couldn’t get the thing started. After talking to myself a minute or two and fiddling with every switch on the thing, I remembered how to turn it back on. And at 2:00 a.m. with not a soul around, I could laugh out loud at my stupidity. And, I could laugh with relief. I didn’t forget again how to turn it back on.

So back to this ginormous pump sitting in the street by my house rattling and humming right now. It is huge. Wednesday night as it tried mightily to begin throwing the water back out into the river, I could feel the vibrations. All I could think about was my basement wall which had a large crack in it and had sprung a leak Wednesday night. One of my neighbors who had been helping me told me to just plug it with my finger like the little Dutch boy. Uh huh, right.

So tonight as the pump growls for the third night in a row, I have been keeping the city workers supplied with coffee and snacks. It is the least I can do for those who have put in long, tiring hours to protect us and help us save our homes. It is cold out, and I thought about sitting out on the swing for a while, not that it would do me any good. But it is also hard to relax. The workers don’t complain, and they don’t even ask me why I don’t want a wall along the river. And for that, I am thankful.

How do I explain the love I have for my little area and for the St. Marys and Thieme Drive? How can I make anyone understand when they see these pictures and wonder why on earth I wouldn’t want a wall to protect me and my neighbors? I can only ask that you sit on my front porch on a warm summer’s day with a breeze blowing softly and the trees green with life and the twitters and chatter of the wildlife along the river bank and the sun shining down and the river peacefully flowing through the city - then tell me you don’t understand.

THE RIVER WIDE - ST. MARYS TOPS ITS BANKS AGAIN

After going through three floods in a year and a half, I have become familiar with the ebb and flow of the river just across Thieme Drive from home. Yesterday was the the fourth time in four and a half years - July 2003, June 2004, January 2005, and February 6, 2008 - that this small “cup” area of Thieme, Nelson, and West Berry has been the victim of flooding.

Not many of us are affected, and when we do flood, it is an aggravating inconvenience. My basement takes in water primarily from filtration as the St. Marys travels through the “fill dirt” which is the foundation of Thieme Drive and adjacent properties.

I have found that I pay much more attention to the weather forecasts, especially when rain, snow, sleet, and other variations of moisture are predicted. What is strange is that I have come to recognize the signs of whether or not the river will top its banks. If it rains heavily for several days or if we have a snow melt combined with rains, the river will get close to climbing out of its banks. If we have a couple of days where we have clear skies, the river has a chance to discharge and the levels drop.

Tuesday night, as I drove home along Thieme Drive, I saw that the river was extremely high - higher than usual when it has approached its banks - and thought to myself, “Oh, oh, this could be a problem.” Yesterday morning when I anxiously looked out my front window, I could see the river creeping across Thieme Drive, and I knew the river would be up to my yard in a few hours. I grabbed my camera to see if I could get some pictures in the dim morning light. The picture below is of several vehicles driving through the water before the City blocked off Thieme Drive.

Thieme Drive traffic - early morning February 6, 2008

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I went to work with that kind of sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing that when I came home, more than likely the river would have advanced to the top of my front lawn. I got through my morning class and then ran home to check the water level and to check my basement for water.

St. Marys River overflowing banks - February 6, 2008

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The City had blocked off Thieme Drive, but I have learned that I can cut down an alley to get to the side of my home. Once there, I am able to get into my house. It sets on a slope, and, in all the times I have flooded, I have always been able to get into my house.

I ran in and immediately went to the front door to go out onto my front porch to see what was happening. The City was hauling in load after load of clay to again construct a dike like the one that was put in place in January 2005. This time, though, it would be a different battle since the river had already topped its banks and covered Thieme Drive. Water was already over to our yards and up to the tops, so the City workers had to dump the clay on top of water along the river side.

City worker along Thieme Drive

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But just knowing that the City was going to work to protect our homes made me feel so much better. One of my friends came by to see how I was doing, and I talked to him for several minutes on my front porch. After he left, I went back to work. Coming home last night, I knew what would be facing me. I have been through this now enough times, but several of my neighbors have been through this even more.

I drove up and parked, and, as I suspected the river was up to the top of my lawn. The City workers were working diligently to build the clay dike, but the river was coming up through manhole covers. I spent about an hour just watching and thinking about what was to come when I would get off work and come home last night.

That is all for now. I spent a fairly restless night and did as much as I could to help sandbag. This morning I am really tired, but I have to go to work. I hope to take a half personal day this afternoon and come home. It is hard for me to concentrate when I know what is going on around my home and my neighbors’ homes. I will follow up with the efforts from yesterday evening in a post with pictures later today.

The water level yesterday afternoon - from my front porch

But doesn’t that new fence railing look nice against the drab background?

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GENCOM WITHDRAWS WEST CENTRAL TOWER PROPOSAL

GenCom presented two cell tower requests last night at the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing. The first was a request for a special use at a St. Joe Road location, which was deferred until February. Ours in West Central followed the first request. A number of us had come prepared to register our objections to the tower proposal, but we were surprised when GenCom initially requested a deferral of the issue until the February meeting.

Photo Credit: FreeFoto.com

Cell phone tower similar to one that was requested by GenCom’s application.

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The GenCom representative told the Board that because they had received a number of objections from West Central residents and others, they wished to try to work out an alternative proposal which would possibly garner neighborhood support. However, the Board was not willing to defer the proposal. The Board agreed that the request to defer would simply delay the same issue for a month. The Board instructed GenCom either to go forward with its current proposal and let the chips “fall where they may” or to withdraw the request and file a different one at a later date.

As I sat in the second row behind the GenCom and Centennial representatives, I was unsure how they would respond. Would they really withdraw the application after the time and effort involved to go forward? Or did they want to take the chance and go forward and receive a denial? Although a number of us were ready to speak against the request, if the request were withdrawn, obviously it would put us in a better position.

I watched as the GenCom representative looked back to get guidance from the Centennial representative. With a slight nod of the Centennial rep’s head indicating withdrawal, the GenCom issue was over, at least for last night. GenCom withdrew its request, and we all breathed a sign of relief.

The issue is not dead. GenCom can still file its request, but any new request must be “significantly different” than the current one. Cities and towns are becoming much more proactive in this new age of telecommunications technology and the methods needed to sustain it. Even though the first request, the St. Joe tower application, was deferred until February, prior to making that decision, the Board posed numerous questions to the GenCom representative.

While many see the rush to newer and better forms of technology to speed up our lives as absolutely necessary, others see the need to be cautious and ensure that the technology does, indeed, fit into our lives in more ways than just convenience. I sensed from both the St. Joe and the West Central situations that the trend may be toward making these companies truly address the public’s future concerns about their actions rather than simply rubber-stamp their requests because the company raises the alarm that they must have these towers to keep pace with the growth in new cell phone usage.

The bottom line is that there has to be a balance between any technology and the concerns of society. So, for now, the issue is tabled for the 1427 Broadway site. But, should the issue arise again, we will be ready to go back. We have a West Central Plan, and we have the Harrison Square sub-plan, both focusing on the historic nature of our neighborhood. If GenCom truly wants to be a “good neighbor” it will come up with an alternative that will satisfy not only the Plans but also the concerns of us, as West Central residents.

TOWERING OVER ALL - THE CELL PHONE TOWER CONTROVERSY

Zoning officials today are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to siting cellular-phone towers or other antenna installations. Although legally, local authorities cannot refuse them or attempt to design zoning regulations based on health effects, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 does give local governments and entities the right to regulate the placement, construction, and modification of such towers.

SEC. 704. FACILITIES SITING; RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSION STANDARDS.
(a) NATIONAL WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SITING POLICY- Section 332(c) (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY-

(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY- Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities.

(B) LIMITATIONS-
(i) The regulation of the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities by any State or local government or instrumentality thereof–
(I) shall not unreasonably discriminate among providers of functionally equivalent services; and
(II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services.
(ii) A State or local government or instrumentality thereof shall act on any request for authorization to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities within a reasonable period of time after the
request is duly filed with such government or instrumentality, taking into account the nature and scope of such request.
(iii) Any decision by a State or local government or instrumentality thereof to deny a request to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities shall be in writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record.
(iv) No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Commission’s regulations concerning such emissions.
(v) Any person adversely affected by any final action or failure to act by a State or local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with this subparagraph may, within 30 days after such action or failure to act, commence an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. The court shall hear and decide such action on an expedited basis. Any person adversely affected by an act or failure to act by a State or local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with clause (iv) may petition the Commission for relief.

GenCom has a variance request in front of the Fort Wayne Board of Zoning Appeals to allow it to construct a 150-foot cell phone tower at 1427 Broadway, which is included in our West Central Neighborhood boundaries. The tower will then be leased to Centennial. The tower will sit close to the street and will be completely visible driving Broadway north to south. The tower will also be visible, due to its height, from the opposite direction.

GenCom has not made any effort to work with the West Central Neighborhood on this issue other than to have a Centennial spokesman attend our last meeting. He did not have all the facts or data with him as it related to the need to establish a tower, and it became evident as we continued to ask questions.

One piece of information that did come out of the meeting was the fact that the tower is not needed for residential reception. It primarily is needed to boost cell phone reception by motorists driving through a very minimal “dead zone.” The hypocrisy of this is that we admonish drivers not to talk on their cell phones while driving yet companies turn around and attempt to make reception available in every possible area so that motorists can talk on their phones on their homeward-bound drive.

The following clip is from YouTube and shows the creative ways in which some companies are actually trying to be a “good neighbor.” Apparently, some companies feel it is important to work with communities to reach a solution as to disguising the stark, ugliness of a straight metal structure jutting into the air.

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To give an idea of the height of the tower, compare it to the Statue of Liberty - a symbol with which we should all be familiar. The Statue of Liberty is 306.8 feet from the bottom of the base to the top of the torch. From the Statue’s feet on the base to the torch is 152.2 feet. So imagine a tower the size of the Statue plopped down in a highly visible area of heavy traffic.

 

 

Photo Credit: Statue of Liberty Facts

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We have every right to request the zoning board to deny this variance - to have the tower placed elsewhere. But, if the zoning board decides to approve the variance, then we should demand that it impose restrictions on the construction so that it conforms to the guidelines of the West Central Plan adopted by the City. Those guidelines state:

“Encourage new construction designs to be complementary to the historic nature of the neighborhood.”

The argument that it can’t be done is superficial. Fort Wayne Newspapers, Starbucks, and St. Joe Hospital have all done outstanding work on their designs to bring them into conformance with the West Central Plan. It is time residents and citizens made their thoughts and concerns known as to how our neighborhood will be perceived. It is our neighborhood, and we have the right and the obligation to ensure that new structures do, indeed, complement the historic nature of West Central.

WHAT: Public Hearing
WHERE: City-County Building, Room 126 (first floor)
WHEN: Janaury 31, 2008
TIME: 6:00 p.m.

THIEME DRIVE - SAFE FOR NOW

Quite some time ago, I wrote about Thieme Drive and the St. Marys River, both of which are within a few dozen feet of my front door. In July 2003, we experienced what was labeled a “100-year” flood event with the St. Marys cresting at its highest level ever at 21.20 ft. on July 9, 2003.

After the waters had receded, the City requested that the United States Army Corps of Engineers undertake a Section 205 Study. Section 205 of the 1948 Flood Control Act, as amended, provides authority to the Corps of Engineers to plan and construct small flood damage reduction projects that have not already been specifically authorized by Congress. The City made such a request and the Corps submitted the Section 205 Study results in February 2005. The Study was released just a month after the third highest crest of the St. Marys at 19.06 ft. on January 14, 2005.

The Study identified four areas that had flooded in July 2003 that were not protected subsequent to the Flood of 1982 and its aftermath of building berms, levees, and walls. One of those areas was the Thieme-Berry area, with the suggestion made by the Corps to place an 1100-foot wall along Thieme Drive. The Study noted that not many homes in the Thieme-Berry location were impacted. After the release of the Section 205 Study, the City decided to go ahead with meetings to obtain input from the public on the four sites analyzed by the Corps.

Thus, began my fight against “the wall.” I attended meetings that were held not only in my neighborhood but also in other neighborhoods included in the Study. I wrote to the City numerous times, and I attended my neighborhood association meetings to ask for help in fighting the wall. The West Central Neighborhood Association was and has been extremely helpful, and we sent two letters to the City to let them know that a wall was not wanted.

All I could envision during this time were the monstrosities along St. Joseph Boulevard in the Lakeside area and along Camp Allen Drive in the Nebraska Neighborhood. Camp Allen Drive intersects with Main Street just across the Main Street bridge. The homes on Camp Allen Drive face a wall along the west side of the river, and driving along Camp Allen is like driving in a tunnel. The same can be said for driving along St. Joe Boulevard from Tennessee Avenue to the Columbia Avenue bridge. The traffic lanes restrict motorists, edging the drivers against the Wall in the traffic lane closest to the wall heading toward the Columbia Avenue bridge.

Concrete wall along Camp Allen Drive

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In a charrette held this past summer, a number of West Central residents impacted by the flooding of the St. Marys gathered with representatives of the City to discuss options to help with the flooding. No one supported an 10-foot wall, much to my relief. Those of us who actually suffer the flood waters stated that the water comes through our basement walls as the water filters through the ground. When I flooded in July 2003, I only had about an inch or two of water in my basement - most coming from oozing through the northwest corner of my basement wall. My home also sits at the low point on my side of West Berry, so the flow of water is naturally to my home and its foundation.

After much discussion, what was settled on as a consensus was a 4-foot wall with intermittent columns where barricades could be lowered into place to block the flood waters. These plans were then carried to the City by the two city employees who had facilitated the charrette.

I still did not want a wall of any type. Erecting even a 4-foot wall would have meant destroying the river bank environment since any wall would have required setting foundations in place deep in the ground. Trees would have been removed, many of them decades old. I realize to some this is not important, but we have very few river drive views left in Fort Wayne. Many once-visible river banks are now hidden either behind concrete walls or earthen levees and berms.

After the charrette, the City took soil borings, and, much to my delight, found that Thieme Drive is mostly fill with no way to support the footings that would be necessary for any type of wall. The City has determined that it would not be cost effective to go forward with a wall given that only a few homes are impacted by the flooding.

While I was elated at this news, it does not mean the fight is over. The City could place the project in the hands of the Army Corps of Engineers. But if the Corps becomes involved, it will trigger a Section 106 review. The following are the mandates of Section 106:

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires consideration of historic properties in the thousands of federal actions that take place nationwide each year. The law and regulations require federal agencies to consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and/or Tribal Preservation Officer and give the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment before projects are implemented. The Section 106 process also provides for public input in the decision making.

This is relevant to Thieme Drive because Thieme Drive has been included in a multi-property document filed with the state and national historic registers, thus providing protection of a historical nature. Let me explain a little about the historic nature of Thieme Drive.

Thieme Drive History

Thieme Drive is named after Theodore F. Thieme, an early Fort Wayne entrepreneur who started the Wayne Knitting Mills and who donated the home where the Arena Dinner Theatre is located. He was also active in city improvement projects and was an early supporter of the beautification of our rivers. The overlook at the junction of Rockhill and Thieme Drive was built by Mr. Thieme on what was an old dump site. He donated his home to be used as an art studio, and it now houses the Arena Dinner Theater. One of my prized possessions which I found at the Hyde Brothers Book Store is a personally-autographed book of Mr. Thieme’s life titled “Theodore F. Thieme: A Man and His Times” by Ross F. Lockridge. I cannot help but think from reading the book that Mr. Thieme was a true “renaissance man.”

Around 1907, the citizens of Fort Wayne combined their effort with the local government to implement plans to beautify their city. The first plan was submitted by Charles Mulford Robinson of New York in 1909. This plan was followed by a park and boulevard plan by noted landscape architect George Kessler in 1911. The Plan highlighted and capitalized on the city’s most important and significant asset - its three rivers and the opportunity they presented.

After the Flood of 1913, the River Improvement Association was formed to review options for control and prevention of floods. The existing River Front Commission hired Kessler to supervise the work of revising the park system and beautifying the river banks. Kessler’s plan called for connecting the nine miles of rivers running though the city via parkways and boulevards.

The 1912 Kessler Park and Boulevard System for Fort Wayne included Present Parks and Parkways, Proposed Parks and Parkways, and Proposed Boulevards. A parkway includes the river, its bank, public green space along the bank, the vehicular drive along the landside of the green space. At the time of the Plan, the city had only two lengths of existing parkway:

• one running along the east bank of the St. Joseph River south from the Tennessee Boulevard to link to the Maumee River at its confluence, and
• one associated with Thieme Drive, along the east bank of the St. Marys River extending south from Main Street to Swinney Park.

The river drive along St. Joe Boulevard is encased on the river side by a cement wall over which no one can see from the street. Thieme Drive is the only river drive left of the original Kessler Plan. It is also one of the few drives left in Fort Wayne where motorists can actually drive right along the river - a rare sight indeed in today’s Fort Wayne landscape of berms, levees, and concrete walls hiding our rivers from view.

But Thieme Drive is neglected. Its river side is overgrown with unsightly brush and weeds and Trees of Heaven, which grow quickly and overtake almost any area they invade. The Drive is need of upkeep and care - it needs cleaned and weeded. The River Greenway runs alongside the river, but no formal path exists - I don’t know why because one could surely be established. This would require turning Thieme Drive into a one-way running from Washington Boulevard to Main Street, but that could be accomplished.

So, as I leave my home each morning and turn onto Thieme Drive and drive along the river, I breathe a sigh of relief - Thieme Drive is safe for now. I can only hope that somehow, someway the powers-that-be will soon look at Thieme Drive in a new light - a light that sees it for what it is - an historic river drive in need of care and attention to turn it into what could be a beautiful reminder of the man who gave it its name - Theordore F. Thieme.

SLIGHT OF HAND - DANIELS AND JOB COMMITMENTS

As a starter, here are the JOBS LOST numbers for 2007 under the Guv:

January - 911
February - 334
March - 569
April - 1836
May - 962
June - 111
July - 570
August - 1088
September - 908
October - 1115
November - 118
December - 483

9005 Hoosiers out of work.

Daniels is astute at using the podium from which to announce job “commitments” while in the background Hoosiers are losing jobs.  Many of the new jobs Daniels brags about are two to three years in the future.  A commitment is simply that - it mean a pledge or promise.  And pledges and promises can be broken as the Guv has learned with Getrag.  For those who don’t recognize the name, Getrag is a leading manufacturer of manual automatic transmissions.

Earlier this month, Inside Indiana News reported that autoparts supplier Getrag had suspended construction of a $530m dual sequential gearbox (DSG) transmission plant in Tipton County. Starting in 2009, the factory was set to produce 700k transmissions per year and employ some 1400 people.

Photo Credit: The Truth About Cars website

Indiana had provided several incentives to Getrag.  The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) ponied up $8.75m worth of performance-based tax credits and offered up to $500k for training grants. The state was on the hook for $3.4m for local road improvements.  According to Getrag Human Resource Director, Randy Cyman, the plant is on hold indefinitely while Chrysler and Getrag work out a supply agreement. 

But look for the Guv to step up his job announcements this next year. Something tells me we will be hearing more and more “commitment” announcements which have no impact on unemployed Hoosiers today.

NO MORE “BE PART OF THE SOLUTION”

Just a quick note to those who may have clicked the blog link to “Be Part of the Solution.” Rachel Blakeman is now the Public Information Officer for the Mayor’s administration. As the PIO, she will no longer maintain her blog. I have removed her link from my blogroll since it is now unaccessible.

Wow, but we have “one of us” in a public position. She understands how important it is for the public to be informed and how blogs fit into that issue.

Congratulations Rachel, and we’ll be seeing you in all the familiar places - TV, print, radio, etc.

WEST CENTRAL NEIGHBORHOOD’S GRAND BLUE LADY

I love old homes and early architecture. I am not much for the stark look of some of today’s more “modern” buildings - the square, gray, cold look with little or no artistic detail either inside or outside. That is one reason I love living in West Central, the City’s oldest residential historic district.

The District is roughly bounded by Main, Webster, Jefferson, Broadway, Jones, and St. Mary’s River, Fort Wayne. The area began to develop as a residential area during the canal era of the 1830s. The homes represent virtually all architectural styles popular between 1830 and 1950. The West Central neighborhood was listed on the National Register of historic Places as the West End Historic District in 1984. A portion of the neighborhood received local designation shortly thereafter and was expanded in 1985.

One of the most disheartening events occurs when the older homes are abandoned by their owners - many of them absentee landlords who do not live in the neighborhood. Or, if not abandoned, the homes are relegated to neglect and disrepair while transiting tenants in and out on a monthly basis. When a home finally succumbs to its age and neglect, it is ripe for demolition, leaving in its wake an empty lot sprouting overgrown weeds and bare soil.

Sometimes we are fortunate, though, and a home’s ultimate demise is cut short by the intervention of a group or a person who steps forward to buy the house. Such a house is the “Grand Blue Lady” which sits at the corner of Van Buren and Washington. Although the house was not yet on the demolition list, it would have just been a matter of time. The house faces busy West Washington, looking out on a constant flow of traffic heading west.

No doubt about it, the house is in disrepair and needs thousands of dollars of work to bring her back to glory. She has three floors and is divided into two sides - each side with distinctive features.

Front of Blue Lady

Back yard of the house

Foyer in one side of home

Staircase from first floor to second floor on one side of house

Looking north from the third floor porch

The inside has much of the old woodwork: foyers, stairways, and pocket doors appear to be hard, solid oak. Today’s world of cookie cutter homes sprawling outward from the City’s core do not have the same massive wood trimmings and doors that were used in yesteryear’s homes.

The house was purchased by ARCH to save it from the fate from which so many other homes in the downtown area have suffered. This past summer members of ARCH as well as some of us from West Central helped clean the house for a city inspection. I took my camera and ended up taking over 90 pictures - those above are only a few of the ones I took.

Although I know of no one who has come forward at this time to buy the house from ARCH, it would be a true shame if the Grand Blue Lady were saved from demolition only to be unable to attract a new owner to renovate and lovingly restore her to her former self. I am hoping that someone will come along soon and save this Grand Blue Lady of West Central.

RANDOLPH COUNTY RISES TO THE CHALLENGE - IMPOSES CAFO MORATORIUM

Randolph County commissioners have made a decision to impose a moratorium on CAFOs. Recall that originally the county planning commission had voted to allow 75% of Randolph County agricultural land to be open to the construction of CAFOs.

The ordinance then went to the county commissioners for discussion and vote. None of the three commissioners supported the ordinance as it was presented, so their vote to reject was unanimous; however, each voted against the ordinance for a different reason.

Commissioner Ron Chalfant, a farmer who is also a member of the planning commission - excuse me, but that seems like a built-in conflict of interest - opposed a setback change that had increased the setback requirements from 750 feet to 1320 feet. The setback is to allow for adequate “breathing” space between homes and CAFOs.

Let me digress a bit here. How is that a member of the planning commission can vote to make 75% of Randolph County fair game for CAFOs and then be allowed to vote on that ordinance as a commissioner? If I were a Randolph County resident, I would be demanding an explanation and asking that Chalfant be prevented from voting on either one commission or the other on the CAFO issue. He may not currently own a CAFO, but he may very well be looking to the future with his votes.

Commissioners Kathy Beumer and David Lenkensdofer also objected, but on grounds of what they saw as omissions. They are concerned with protection of air quality and water quality as well as zoning protection impacting land resources.

According to IDEM spokewoman, Amy Hartsock, Randolph County already has 43 confinement operations: 30 CAFOs and 13 CFOs. The distinction between the two is size. CAFOs are the largest of the group and usually contain thousands and thousands of animals. But convincing officials to impose a moratorium can be a tough sell; after all, agriculture plays a major role in Indiana economics.

Add the pressure of Daniels and Skillman, who both have made no secret of their efforts to double hog production in the next few years, and taking any negative action against CAFO construction becomes a hot political issue subject to pressure from the Governor and his minions.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) pretty much gives a pass to CAFO applications as long as the applications are correct and include the requested checklist of items. To counter the rubber-stamp process of IDEM, the only viable option county officials may have is to impose a moratorium until thorough studies of the effects of CAFOs on land, air, and water resources can be undertaken.

This is not a “war” between agriculture and everyone else. This is a health and quality of life issue that needs to be dissected and studied. These huge industrial factory farms spew out millions of pounds of waste a year. That waste, with all its toxins and bacteria, has to go somewhere. That “somewhere” is on land, either by the spraying method or by the injection method. By whatever method it is placed on or in the land, the potential for harm is great to underground water supplies through soil absorption and filtering or to above ground water resources through runoff.

The other aspect of CAFOs is the air quality that exists both in the operation itself and the surrounding area. A study by University of North Carolina researchers found that people living near large hog farms suffer significantly higher levels of upper respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments than people living near large cattle farms or in non-livestock areas. An Iowa study found that neighbors of hog facilities had respiratory problems similar to those of workers in hog confinement operations (e.g., bronchitis, asthma, upper-air inflammation, and a flu-like illness).

One-quarter of all swine confinement workers experience chronic health effects, such as bronchitis. This illness is found more than twice as often in workers in confinement buildings as those who work in traditional hog production.

While CAFOs continue to spring up in almost all Indiana counties, at least Randolph County officials are seeing the light by imposing a moratorium on CAFOs. Their role, as commissioners, is to protect the residents of their county as fully as possible - not to allow the policies of Daniels and Skillman to trump the health and quality of life of their constituents.

Photo Credit: Factory Farming Campaign of the Humane Society of the United States

Pigs are treated as meat-production units on industrialized factory farms and confined in barren, filthy pens until they reach slaughter weight.

Photo Credit: Factory Farming Campaign of the Humane Society of the United States

Inside barren, restrictive gestation crates, pregnant pigs are unable to turn around—or even move more than a step or two. For nearly four months, they languish in these cruel enclosures.

EX-IDEM OFFICIAL ADMONISHES: CAFOs ARE ‘YOUR RESPONSIBILITY’

Former IDEM official, Bowden Quinn, has an admonition for Hoosier residents - CAFOs and their regulation are our responsibility as citizens of this state and as good stewards of our environment. And, he is right.

Quinn once worked for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and he had to deal with angry and upset citizens protesting the construction of CAFOs in and near their homes and their communities. Citizens argued that CAFOs were a threat to health, safety, and property values because of increased traffic and odors.

IDEM’s standard response to their concerns was always, “That is not our responsibility.” And, again, IDEM is right. IDEM is charged with protecting the waters of our state - not property values, not health hazards, not air pollution issues, and not increased traffic concerns.

IDEM looks at a checklist when it reviews CAFO applications. If the checklist is complete and the appropriate documentation is included along with the established fee, the application will generally be approved. The average turn-around time is 71 days - a little over two months. Not a lot of time to really dig into how the proposed CAFO may impact the surrounding environment, and IDEM is under no obligation to research and visit the proposed sites.

IDEM takes in the application for a “completeness” review, and the proposed CAFO owner sends out the requisite public notice to be added to the “Legal Notice” section of the newspaper - you know, the section where the print is teeny, tiny and doesn’t attract much attention. If the application is complete and nothing is received pursuant to the public notice, the application moves forward and is approved.

State officials, including those at the Indiana Land Resources Council and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, have said land use should be controlled at the local level. The officials have stated they do not want to pre-empt local land-use regulations.

Last year Indiana’s legislature failed to act on any of the three bills introduced to regulate CAFOs. We, as citizens of Allen County, need to begin to pay attention to CAFOs in our “backyard.” No one else is going to do it for us, and you can rest assured IDEM and current CAFOs and CAFO wanna-bees are not going to call the health and environmental hazards to anyone’s attention.

The “Plan-It Allen” comprehensive county plan is simply advisory in nature. If we want change and we want protected, then we need to get ourselves informed and let our county officials as well as our state legislators know that we want regulations put in place for our future protection. It is too late to regulate the three CAFOs already located in Allen County.

If anyone is interested in joining me in setting up a public meeting on this issue or would attend such a meeting, then please let me know. We must take action to let our county officials know we want regulations that deal with CAFOs.