For the past year, members of Owen County’s Growth Management Committee have worked to find ways the county can continue to grow effectively. Last Thursday night, the group concluded a series of community meetings held to present recommendations and to garner feedback from the community.
The group began its work more than a year ago when members were appointed by the fiscal court to study the growth of Owen County in the past, present and future. A similar committee was identified through the Owen 20/20 process, but organizers of that project decided not to duplicate efforts.
The committee consists of 12 members, chosen to represent a number of different community groups. Members are Carolyn Keith, Carol Ann Prather, Johnny Jump, Bernie Engelman, David Chappell, Mark Cleveland, Gilbert England, Jennifer Duncan Smith, Todd Marston, Debbie Croley, Todd Spurgeon and Ed Ashcraft.
In addition to the one or two times he said they met each month during the process, Ashcraft said the committee held five community meetings over the past three months in different parts of the county. These meetings allowed them to discuss their findings as well as get comments and suggestions from the public. Through these meetings and their survey of the county, the committee has come up with a list of recommendations. 
“We will now take that and meet to discuss what we learned before we make our final recommendations,” Ashcraft said.
In the last community meeting on Thursday, six recommendations were read. Ashcraft said they are preliminary recommendations and could all change based on the feedback the committee received.
“We got really helpful input at every meeting,” he said.
The committee is not responsible for implementing these recommendations. Its job is to see what needs to be done to effectively manage the growth in Owen County. The six recommendations that were discussed at last week’s meeting ranged from a “Right to Farm” ordinance to a nuisance ordinance. The fiscal court is ultimately responsible for the steps that need to be taken concerning the way in which this county is continuing to grow.
Ashcraft said the committee does not take any money from the county for mileage or expenses. 
“We felt better like that,” he said. “We weren’t spending the county’s money.”
Spurgeon stressed that the committee is independent with no political agenda. He calls the committee an advisory one and said there is no leader at the committee’s meetings.
“We wanted to go through this with an open mind,” Spurgeon said.
The committee looked at the growth management plan of other counties, including those in Grant, Carroll and Trimble counties. They also attended a planning and zoning meeting in Henry County. Spurgeon said they did so to find out why these counties decided to make those changes.
The committee toured Owen County for three to four hours at a time to see the regulations and ordinances the community has in place today.
“We have to decide whether to be proactive or reactive,” Spurgeon said. “Maybe we’re doing OK.”
Though he said the committee received good feedback, he said there were not many people at some of the community meetings held in the past few months.
Being on the committee allowed Spurgeon to see parts of the county he hadn’t before. He said he doesn’t get off of some roads and has seen some blight areas with issues that could be easily addressed. As far as the feedback from the public he said that the recommendations need more specifics.
“It seems like that’s what people are looking for,” Spurgeon said.
For example, many in the community had questions about how the county would be affected. In one recommendation, a situation was said to “negatively affect the services of our health care facilities, law enforcement and school system, as well as quality of life.” The question was posed as to how those things would be negatively affected.
The members of the committee took all questions and encouraged those who didn’t speak up to communicate with them after the meeting was over.
“We want to hear from you,” Ashcraft said. “You’re welcome to disagree, so please communicate.”
The recommendations made at last week’s meeting were:
•More aggressive enforcement of the current nuisance ordinance. The committee recommends the fiscal court designate a specific person in the county who deals with reporting violations of the ordinance. The reports will go to the county attorney for prosecution. They also look to strengthen the ordinance.
•A “Right to Farm” ordinance that guarantees a farmer’s rights when new residents are not accustomed to those things that go along with farming, including unpleasant smells, etc. Trimble County has a similar ordinance.
•Development of regulations to prevent use of land that would negatively affect Owen County.  This includes developments that would overtax the available utilities, would not have adequate road access, would not be suitable for construction of sewage disposal or does not have public sewage disposal available.
•County and city inspection and licensing of non-owner operated dwellings. This recommendation is meant to protect the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of those dwellings.
•Development of a vision for the future of Owen County regarding growth. The recommendation encourages the fiscal court to have a goal for development of roads, utilities and necessary services.
• No planning and zoning ordinance should be made because of its complexity and cost. The recommendation does discuss land-use planning tools.
These recommendations are not final. Final recommendations will be drafted and presented after the first of the year.

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