By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Dave Housholder and his fellow Portage Township Trustees are tired of patching township roads only to have them broken and rutted a few months later.
“I’m getting a lot of heck from the citizens,” Housholder told the Wood County Commissioners Thursday morning.
The problem, according to Housholder, is that the MSB Dairy, a concentrated animal feeding operation with 2,100 cows, is beating up the surrounding roads with frequent use. Any other type of industry causing such heavy traffic could be held responsible for the road wear and tear, he said. But because of agricultural exemptions, the dairy has no such obligations.
Portage Township resident Mike Billmaier joined Housholder to explain the problem to the commissioners. In his previous work as a contractor, Billmaier said he was held responsible for road damages.
“It was our job to maintain the roads and cleanup our own messes,” he said. If he didn’t comply, “I would have been fined or put out of business.”
The two men explained that the roads surrounding the dairy – Bloomdale, Portage, Emerson, Cloverdale and Greensburg – have suffered great degradation. Bloomdale Road, in front of the dairy, was repaired eight weeks ago and now is so torn up, Billmaier won’t drive down it.
Broken up roadway in Portage Township
“I was literally appalled by the amount of damage,” Billmaier said. “It dumbfounds me that this much damage is allowed to go on.”
Housholder asked the commissioners to help the township deal with the ongoing problem. First, he asked that they take a drive down past the dairy – which is in the process of expanding to nearly 3,000 cows. “When you come out to the sticks” to campaign for votes, take a drive down those roads, he suggested.
“A lot of life has been taken out of them this year,” he said. “The lifespan of these roads is being shortened.”
Second, Housholder asked the commissioners to use their weight to push for changes through state legislators or the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.
“Please try to crank up the volume,” he said.
Both Housholder and Billmaier said the large dairies should not fall under agricultural exemptions, which were originally intended to help smaller farmers. Traditional dairies had anywhere from 25 to 60 cows – not the thousands allowed in CAFOs.
“If they want to hide that under the agriculture umbrella,” that just isn’t fair, Housholder said.
“That’s not an agricultural use, it’s an industrial use,” Billmaier said of the mega farms.
Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar noted that industries would be held liable for the road repairs.
“I can come after a trucking company. I can’t come after this,” Housholder said. And with other types of businesses, the township can require them to locate in areas zoned for industry that are better equipped to handle heavy traffic.
MSB Dairy on Bloomdale Road, southeast of Bowling Green
Numbers from the Portage Township road supervisor showed that the township regularly spends 35 percent more on road repairs in the vicinity of the CAFO.
“We lack the resources to keep up,” Housholder said. “We basically have exhausted all we have for roads.”
With winter coming, and Bloomdale Road ripped up, Housholder said he isn’t sure how the pavement can be plowed. “I think I’m going to have a lot of upset phone calls this winter.”
Billmaier suggested that the township stop sinking money into that road, and let the dairy repair its truck axles instead. “We’re just aiding and abetting the situation,” he said.
Housholder said the trustees are unwilling to ask voters to pay more for the repairs. “I will not go back to the voters for an additional levy. They’ve paid for it once, and I’m not going to ask them again,” he said. “This is going to be a growing problem, unless we tell them they have to pay for what they do.”
Billmaier said he isn’t even in favor of state or grant funding. “I have a problem with the taxpayer paying for it,” he said.
Realizing there is no quick solution, Commissioner Joel Kuhlman suggested that the township start keeping detailed records of how much is spent on the roads surrounding the dairy, and how that is impacting repairs to other roads.
Commissioner Craig LaHote asked about the possibility of closing the road in front of the dairy to through traffic. And Kuhlman brought up the possibility of reverting back to stone rather than a paved surface for that road.
Housholder objected to lowering the standards for the township residents. “I, as a trustee, didn’t run for this job to turn back 50 years,” and let roads go to gravel, he said.
