Residents not kidding about size of goat farm

By Amy Stark

Correspondent

It was standing room only at the Spring Grove Village Board meeting Tuesday night as many people came in response to a flier that had been placed on some residents’ mailboxes over the weekend.

The flyer urged residents to attend the board meeting to discuss the potential for goat dairy farming to be expanded in Spring Grove.

Eric Hougaard took the podium first and said he was speaking for his neighbors.  Hougaard said he and other residents are concerned about a potential commercial goat dairy farm operation at the farm located at 9013 Winn Road.

He pointed out that over the last few years the condition of the farm has deteriorated and currently rusted equipment, junk, and a large manure pile are visible on the property. Hougaard is concerned that the pile of manure could pollute groundwater.

“We know we moved to a farming community, but we have grave concerns about the property at 9013 Winn Road turning into a commercial goat dairy farm. This could be an economic disaster for our property values,” Hougaard said.

He also cited noise and smell from a goat dairy farm would negatively impact residents.

President Mark Eisenberg said that the Winns have raised goats for many years; however none of the Winns had approached him prior to the meeting about bringing in more goats than they currently have.

In addition to the Spring Grove Village Board members, McHenry County Board members Sandra Salgado and John Hammerand were also in attendance since the property is county land, not in the village itself. Since the property is zoned agricultural in the county, currently there are no restrictions on how many goats are allowed on the 6.8 acre parcel.

Salgado stated that noise pollution and smell pollution are difficult to monitor or enforce, however the potential for the water supply to become contaminated with manure is a serious issue.

Hammerand said that residents should go to a planning and development meeting at the county level to get the committee working on the problem from a health issue standpoint.

After about 20 minutes of discussion, Bob Martens, former Spring Grove President, took the podium and asked if anyone had spoken with the Winns directly.

Scott McPherson, who was identified as Erma Winn’s grandson, then took the floor. He acknowledged he is looking to operate a dairy farm and have 200 goats on the property; however everything is still in the planning stages.

Currently, McPherson said there are about 150-175 goats on the farm, along with four cows, two horses, llamas, sheep, an alpaca, and some chickens and ducks. He also said the manure that is piled up is used on the Waspi farm in the spring for fertilizer.

Attorney Scott Puma said that the laws typically are in favor of the farmers since the farms pre-date the houses, although the wells becoming tainted is a concern.

Additionally, farms need to have 500 goats before regulations regarding the animals go into effect. Eisenberg said that although a goat farm is within a permissible use on the property, the village will do what it can to monitor the situation so everyone could be “good neighbors.”

In other board news

Also during the meeting, the Richmond Burton Rockets football team was recognized for their play during the state finals in Champaign over Thanksgiving weekend.

Eisenberg read a proclamation declaring it “RBCHS Football Team Week” in Spring Grove from Dec. 4 through 10. He spoke of their tough play and how the team brought the community together. Members of the team and Coach Pat Elder accepted a plaque commemorating the event. The capacity crowd gave the boys a well-deserved round of applause for their accomplishment.

Finally, the tentative start date for the Winn Road bridge project is March 1.  That date hinges on whether or not the Blivin Street Bridge is completed by that time.  Eisenberg said both bridges would not be closed concurrently if all goes according to plan.

 


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