HELP! Yet more proposals for hog factories in Poweshiek County!

Joyce Otto writes:

Poweshiek County citizens are in trouble!!

Our county supervisors are talking and behaving as if they are going to approve three master matrix applications that are truly a mess! There are discrepancies/errors/mistakes throughout all three of them. It is the job of our supervisors to 'approve' or 'deny' an application as it is, not to let the applicant "fix the mistakes" as they are discovered during the review. However, that is what's happening!

This must be stopped!!

Our supervisors must get a loud and clear message from the people of Poweshiek that they may not pass a Master Matrix unless it truly is acceptable--as presented!! These three fallible applications will allow 18,660 hogs to be raised in Poweshiek County (three confinements in Pleasant Township, one in Sugar Creek -- three towns will be affected: Lynville, Searsboro, and Ewart!!).

To give our supervisors a clear message in what is acceptable to the people of Poweshiek County, we must take a stand. Our goal is to have 100 people at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday, March 28th!! (Time to be announced)

To make this happen, we must have a planning meeting: Monday, March 25th, 2013 at 7:30 p.m., at Drake Community Library.

This is the purpose of Poweshiek CARES: Community Action to Restore Environmental Stewardship!!

Each of us is a part of this community, not just the neighbors of these new confinements. Each of us must step up and demand that our supervisors protect us: our air, our water, our property values, our tax base, and the list goes on and on!!!

Plan on coming Monday night with good ideas of how we can get this important message across to our supervisors. 100 citizens -- in complete silence? Carrying signs? Bringing letters? What do you see as most effective message to these men? Do they really think that 18,660 hogs will improve our county??

Maybe we could come up with a list of "yes" or "no" questions to ask them to answer?

• Are huge hog confinements going to promote our air quality?
• Are huge hog confinements going to promote people to vacation or move here?
• Are huge hog confinements going to enhance property values?
• Are huge hog confinements going to improve our water quality?
• Are huge hog confinements built to enhance public health?
• Are huge hog confinements built to enhance the quality of life for those in the neighborhood?
• Are huge hog confinements providing the best quality of food for our communities?

This list can go on forever.

How can our elected officials approve these fallible applications, which in turn allow such a fallible system of raising hogs to be constructed? Did we elect the wrong supervisors? Does Poweshiek County belong to these supervisors? Does Poweshiek County belong to the CAFO industry? Or does Poweshiek County belong to its citizens? If you think it should belong to the citizens, then we should not have to allow these factory farms come in and ruin it. Just a very few are getting any benefit from them -- and it is money. What good is money if your quality of life is ruined, or your health, or your air, or your water, or your property investment?

Three things for you to do:

1. Come Monday (25th) night!
2. Come Thursday(28th) morning!
3. Write your email/letter opposing 18,660 hogs in Poweshiek County!!!

(Emails can be short, to the point, and carry the same message to all recipients -- but must be delivered by March 28th!)

Supervisors:

• Larry Wilson poweshieksupervisorwilson@gmail.com
• Trevor White tnpwhite@netins.net
• LaMoyne Gaard lamoyne@iowatelecom.net

State Representative: David Maxwell dave.maxwell@legis.iowa.gov

State Senator: Tim Kapucian tim.kapucian@legis.iowa.gov

You may think that this does not affect you. You might be right in this case, but next time it may be happening to you -- 5,000 hogs as your closest neighbor!?!? Fight now, so it will not be a threat to you later. We must stick together and work together to make this happen!!!! No more huge hog confinements in Poweshiek County!!