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Saline County Study Meeting
Monday, February 22, 1999
Spainhower Building, Marshall Habilitation Center
Minutes

Saline County Study Members Present: Mark Belwood, Kathy Borgman, Ruthie Cramer, Wayne McReynolds. Saline County Study Members Absent: Vince Buck, Becky Plattner, Richard Clemens, LeAnn Haling, Marc Harris, Roy Hunter
Saline County Commissioners Present:, Mike Dillon, Richard Pemberton.
Saline County Commissioners Absent: John Stouffer
Saline County Extension Staff Present: Cynthia Crawford, Darin Starr. Saline County Extension Staff Absent: Gerry Snapp
University Partners Present: Chris Barnett, Vincent Burke, Kathy Miller University Partners Absent: John Lory, Mubarak Hamed, Tom Johnson, Chris Fulcher
Media present: Chris Post
Guests Present: John Hoehne, Charles Fulhage

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Belwood at 7:05 p.m.

Photography Project Committee: Chairman Mike Dillon reported the committee met February 9 at the Marshall Chamber. It was decided the goal would be to gather a collection of photographs about Saline County today. No contest would be involved, rather the committee would solicit approximately 6 photographs per person that are categorized by the donor as representing things important and valued, challenges, opportunities, crises, things we take for granted, or any other topic. These photos would be used for publicity, marketing, and discussion. Photographs would be collected by July 1 and premiered in September. The committee requested the County Commission allocate $500 from the study project budget for this project. Purchase of a scanner would be one item from this budget.

Minutes of the January meeting were approved as mailed.

Odor Committee: Darin Starr presented John Hoehne and Charles Fulhage, state engineer specialists who work with waste management. They presented information on Odor Emissions and Animal Production. To begin with, there is no way to eliminate all odors associated with animal production. There are ways, however, to lessen such odors. The primary way is to place the facility in a proper location paying attention to prevailing winds, air drainage (i.e., on a still day odors will travel to the lowest spot just as water does), and paying attention to the location of other dwellings and public use areas.

Odor potentially comes from the animal production facility, the storage and treatment facility, land application area, and dead animals. Missouri producers have been successful in composting dead hogs. In a bed of sawdust one foot thick an entire carcass will decompose in six months. Dust is the major carrier of odors in the production facility. Moving all animals in at the same time and shipping them out at the same time allows for a complete cleaning of the facility and thus cuts down on odors. Experimentation with deflection walls and vegetable oils may also cut down dust and odors. Windbreaks can also cut down on odors and provide good visual coverage. If a production facility is out of sight it will be more out of mind. Biofilters are being used in some facilities to cut odors.

Anaerobic lagoons have been the most economical choice of manure storage and treatment facilities in our area. In the future this may switch to large tanks that hold a year’s supply of waste. Biocovers and geomembrane could be used on the tanks, but are not feasible for lagoons. Other forms of storage and treatment are cost prohibitive at this time.

When applying nutrients to the land several methods of application are used. Surface application is dependent on weather, time of day, and year. The producer needs to practice good public relations when using this method. Injection and incorporation into the ground cause less odors, but may make it difficult to maintain the residue coverage required by conservation plans. There is hope that diet manipulation will reduce odors.

Incentives will be needed for producers to put these methods into practice, perhaps some incentives may be penalties.

Currently there are some odor management initiatives in operation: an animal waste research consortium at the university and two initiatives by the pork producers, an odor solutions group and an on-farm odor environment assessment program. Any odor policy promoted should not impose costs for no benefits, be simple, low-cost to implement and enforce, offer monetary incentives to protect the environment, and be science-based and not emotion-based.

Break

Scenarios Committee: A special meeting was held January 28 to discuss the use tax issue. A Scenarios Committee meeting was also held February 18. Kathy Miller reported for Anna Cox on the use tax. She presented overheads and a handout that presented information about the use tax. A use tax is a tax designed to tax out-of-state-retail purchases. A use tax of 4.225 percent is already being collected for the state of Missouri. If a local use tax is passed, an additional 1% tax will be charged to Saline County residents and businesses on out-of-state retail items. Mark Belwood will provide information about the study group and CPAC to be added to the handouts so citizens will know this information was the result of work of the study committee. The information will be put on the web page.

Anna Cox will meet with county treasurer Kathy Austin to gain a better idea of how much money might be generated for Saline County and how much additional sales tax an average citizen might pay in a year.

Commissioner Mike Dillon thanked the committee and the university partners for their work in providing this base of knowledge in print form. The commissioners will now take this information and advocate for the passage of this tax, printing any brochures with private money. No county money can be used for promoting this tax. It was decided the study committee would not produce any brochure, even though it would be knowledge-based, it may give the appearance of using county money to solicit votes for the tax.

The Commissioners would welcome any individuals volunteering to help speak to groups about this tax or in securing invitations to speak to local county groups about the tax.

Options Committee: The group met with Jerry Organ, lawyer versed in land use and county statutes, February 11. If we wish he will meet with the study group at our next meeting. All were in agreement and Chairman Belwood will contact him to confirm his presence at our March 22 meeting.

Communication Committee: At their February 10 meeting, to practice using the power point presentation, they found they had many bugs to work out. Perhaps it would be good to have a back-up presentation of slides and/or overheads. They would like to have examples of the GIS layers added to the presentation.

CARES would like to spotlight our site on ESRI’s Internet Mapping Site, the software company that produces the mapping software we use on our web site. All agreed this was okay. A free seminar about ESRI will be held March 18, in Columbia, if anyone wants to attend. The 4th annual GIS conference will be March 15-17 in Columbia.

Chairman Belwood requested that the county parks feasibility study and the manure assimilation papers be put on the web page.

Next month Kathy Miller will distribute the completed health care report and an updated draft on the effect of CAFOs on surrounding land value. Vince Burke requested time on the April agenda to discuss the County Parks feasibility study.

The next meeting, March 22, 7:00 p.m., will be at the Saline County Extension’s new location, the Courthouse Annex (former jail facility) at the corner of Odell and Arrow Street.

Meeting adjourned 10:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Borgman, Recorder

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This web site is maintained jointly by the Saline County Study Steering Committee and CARES
For problems or questions regarding this web contact the Saline County Steering Committee or  Chris Fulcher (CARES).
Last updated: October 13, 2000