LAGRANGE — The LaGrange County Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday night during a special session lasting only 10 minutes that the county isn’t going to require Amish residents to take steps to reduce horse manure left on local roads.
Two weeks ago, LaGrange resident Chad Fry asked commissioners to consider creating an ordinance requiring horse manure be captured instead of falling onto roads.
Fry started a campaign online last spring to clean up LaGrange County roads. At the commissioners’ meeting earlier this month, he brought with him a large bag designed to attach to the back of a horse and catch manure before it falls to the ground.
Unlike previous meetings, Wednesday night’s crowd was decidedly more non-Amish and far more supportive of the idea of an ordinance. Several people expressed their disappointment after learning at the start of the meeting that commissioners would not allow any new public comment.
“This is a kangaroo court,” one man said under his breath.
Commissioner Terry Martin, an avid horseman, was the first to speak. He said his research convinced him most current methods designed to catch manure appear to be problematic and ineffective.
Newly elected commissioner Kevin Myers, who admitted knowing little about horses, said he was on the fence about the issue. But he added he had real problems with enforcing a horse manure ordinance.
“You want your police out there, pulling over buggies because they don’t have a bag on?” he asked.
Myers then encouraged the Amish members of the audience to work together to find a solution to the problem.
“You have craftsmen among you. You’re resourceful, innovative, and I feel you should work on these to see if you can come up with a solution,” he said.
Board of Commissioners President Larry Miller spoke last, stating that without a workable solution, he believes the issue is dead.
“I would say we can’t do anything because there’s nothing out there that’s proven to work,” he said.
The commissioners then voted 3-0 to end the discussion. That didn’t sit well with most of the audience.
“It’s a joke. They enforce noise ordinances and all kinds of other ordinances on people who aren’t Amish,” said Steve Monroe of LaGrange, who was in the audience.
“Something can be done. There should be a solution. Farmers can’t pull out of a field with a tractor and sling mud all over the road. Dairy farmers have restrictions where they’re allowed to have runoff in fields, but you can have manure in front of a store? And then not telling anybody until they’re here they can’t comment? That’s a sandbag move.”
Others who gathered outside the LaGrange County Annex Building after the meeting weren’t as generous. “This was, well, horse(expletive),” said one woman.
Fry said after the meeting he left early to avoid any problems. “I was disappointed,” he explained.