Concerns with a recycling transfer station planned for the North Judson area have led to a response from the company, as well as local economic development officials. Metro Recycling is currently moving ahead with a permitting process with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The company plans to add a recycling transfer station on Oakwood Street in the North Judson Industrial Park. Continue reading
The planned addition of a recycling transfer station in the North Judson Industrial Park has some residents organizing a protest. Metro Recycling currently operates three facilities in Northwest Indiana and one in Illinois. Continue reading
The Starke County Commissioners will consider amendments to the confined animal feeding ordinance fee schedule when they meet this evening. The Starke County Plan Commission recently approved a flat $500 flat permit, along with a $75 filing fee to offset the cost of processing the application. They also doubled the re-inspection fee to $100 for all permits. It will be charged when the county is called out to conduct an inspection, but the work is deemed to be incomplete. Continue reading
Starke County may soon be able to move ahead with the demolition of a dilapidated San Pierre building. The former San Pierre Bank has become a safety concern for the community, to the point where the county has had to install barriers around the building. Continue reading
Permit fees for concentrated animal feeding operations were revisited Wednesday by the Starke County Plan Commission. Continue reading
An updated permit fee schedule for unincorporated areas of Starke County was approved Wednesday by the County Plan Commission. No comments on the proposed changes were offered from the public. However, Plan Commission Director Terry Stephenson had an issue with the permit fee for accessory buildings, which covers everything from pre-built sheds to garages to pole barns. Continue reading
The Starke County Plan Commission will decided to gather more information before approving updates to its confined animal feeding ordinance. A public hearing was held on the proposed updates during Wednesday’s meeting. Continue reading
The Starke County Commissioners adopted amendments to the county’s unsafe building ordinance last night amid enthusiastic support from members of the public. Koontz Lake residents in particular attended the meeting and expressed frustration with the prevalence of visible junk vehicles, trash and other debris they say are driving down property values and affecting quality of life. Concerns were also raised about trash that’s not properly disposed of attracting rodents and potentially spreading diseases. Continue reading
The Hamlet area will not be home to an 8,000 head hog farm. JML Family Farm, LLC has withdrawn their permit application filed with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on March 2nd seeking to establish two 4,400 head wean-to-finish hog barns near the intersection of County roads 400 North and 600 East. Continue reading
The Hamlet Town Board took action last night to draft a letter to the Starke County Plan Commission and the Starke County Board of Commissioners expressing its support of a county zoning ordinance, adopted last fall, providing the City of Knox and the Towns of North Judson and Hamlet with a two-mile buffer zone concerning such agricultural projects as the proposed 8,000-head hog raising project south of Hamlet. Continue reading
The Starke County Commissioners want the planning commission to take another crack at a proposed nuisance and unsafe building ordinance. It aims to regulate what is and is not allowed in unincorporated areas of Starke County in the interest of health, safety and welfare. Continue reading
The Starke County Commissioners will open bids this morning for work on three bridges and award at least one contract so work can begin immediately. A previously announced timeline for the emergency repair of the bridge over the Yellow River on County Road 700 East calls for construction to start tomorrow and conclude on Aug. 15. The road has been closed since a tree floating down the river struck the bridge supports this spring. The commissioners will also open bids for the replacement of the bridges on 900 south just west of 100 West over Bogus Run and on 800 East over Eagle Creek, just north of 50 South. No timeline was given for those repairs. Continue reading
The Starke County Plan Commission can now enforce demolition orders for dilapidated properties after the county council appropriated $20,000 for that purpose. Plan Commission President Dennis Estok told them the county already has a process in place.
“We have a public hearing with these people, and then we give an order whether to rehab that house or to demolish it. If it’s too far gone, we want it demolished. They have X amount of days to do it. Now I can tell you right now I’ve been sitting on planning for five years. I bet you we’ve had a handful out of probably 200 cases that have actually done something on their own. So basically if they don’t do it, by law we can go in there and take care of the problem,” Estok said. Until now, funds have not been available for the plan commission to carry out demolition orders, some of which date back to 2006. Continue reading
The Starke County Plan Commission is cracking down on enforcement of unsafe and blighted buildings. President Dennis Estok told the county commissioners they’ve restructured their enforcement letters and means of taking owners to court but still have a backlog of structures that need to be torn down.
“You’ve got to have some seed money, because if they don’t do it you can go in there and take care of these unsafe structures,” Estok said. “Then basically what you do is you fine them, and you bill them. If they don’t pay the bill, then you put a special assessment on their taxes. You wind up getting the property, and then you re-sell the property to try to recoup some of your cost.” Continue reading
The revised injunction against C&C Salvage in Knox has been filed in the Starke Circuit Court.
The order was filed against C&C Salvage after the Planning Commission says they learned C&C Salvage did not have the proper permits from the commission to expand its operations, but James Campbell, the owner of C&C Salvage, had expanded the salvage and junk yard to the south, nearly doubling its size. Further, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management conducted an inspection in May and found several violations of both state and federal laws.
The Starke County Plan Commission is scheduled to meet tonight in the Starke County Annex building to discuss a proposed Dog Kennel ordinance after it failed to gain approval at the June meeting of the Starke County Commissioners.
Over 60 owners objected against many aspects of the proposed ordinance at that Commissioners meeting that was presented by Administrator/Building Inspector, Bruce Williams.
Starke County Commission President, Dan Bridegroom, said that the County might be back to square one this week after a dog kennel ordinance failed to gain approval for the third time.
Over 60 dog owners crowded into the County Annex building Monday night to disagree with many aspects of the proposed ordinance that was being presented by Administrator/Building Inspector, Bruce Williams.
After an hour of discussion and comments from the audience, the Commissioners, on a motion by Kathy Norem and seconded by Jennifer Davis, voted to deny the ordinance as presented, and sent it back to the Plan Commission.
