Council cries foul on poultry farm

TIFFIN — A letter relaying concerns about the sustainability and affordability of city water — in light of a proposed large-scale poultry operation in the city — was approved to be sent to the Ohio Department of Agriculture at Monday's Tiffin city council meeting. Seneca Poultry, LLC, a large-scale egg-laying facility south of Tiffin, generated a majority of the discussion at the meeting, including Mayor Lee Wilkinson reading a prepared letter of his own and that of Aqua Ohio, the company that treats water for the city and its residents. "The city of Tiffin is committed to ensuring the safety and quality of public drinking water, which is essential to the health and welfare of its residents and businesses," Wilkinson's letter read. "The city of Tiffin receives public water from Aqua Ohio water treatment plant, which sources raw water from the Sandusky River and treats and distributes over 607 million gallons of water annually to homes and businesses in the area. He continued: "The proposed site for Seneca Poultry LLC (located at 1539 W. Country Road 90) ... lies within or immediately adjacent to the corridor management zone as defined by the source water protection plan developed for Aqua Tiffin water treatment plant." He explained that the source water protection plan corridor management zone is a "crucial component of the state's source water protection program." Wilkinson defined a protected area as "typically extending up to 10 miles upstream from water intake from the water treatment plant with a buffer of 1,000 feet on both sides of the main stream or 500 feet along tributaries." Within the zone, "potential contamination sources are closely monitored and managed." Wilkinson warned that allowing a high-intensity poultry facility at the proposed site could run counter to the intent of the plan and threaten the long-term sustainability and affordability of the city's water supply. "The reason I say affordability is because if Aqua has to upgrade their system to treat the water, it's going to cost us more because they are going to pass along those costs to us," he said. "So not only is it a possible health concern but it is also an economic concern because of the increased cost." Wilkinson emphasized the duty to act in the community's interest. He then read a letter from Aqua. "Aqua has serious concerns about the plan to build this facility on this site," he read. "The location is surrounded by the water source protection plans, corridor management zone and it was established to preserve the quality of the water that we treat for the residents of Tiffin. Aqua will object the proposal in the strongest way possible and they are investigating legal options." Wilkinson summarized his concerns following the reading of both letters. "My main goal here is to protect the health and the wellbeing of the Tiffin residents," Wilkinson said. "I like chickens. I like eggs. I like agriculture. I'm not against any of those things, but the location chosen for this particular plant in its proximity to the water treatment plant that gives us all of our safe drinking water for the city of Tiffin, that could be a problem. He added: "No one can guarantee that it's not going to be a problem. We won't know it until the time when Aqua says the water is no longer safe to drink, do not drink your water. We don't have a separate water system. We don't have a reservoir, that's our water source." Council discusses letter's status Following the reading, council member Scott Hoernemann motioned to place the mayor's letter "on the record and written communications" and to "possibly make a motion in the resolutions to pass" the letter. The request was divided into two separate motions. The first motion — to include the letter in written communications and file it with the clerk's office — was passed unanimously after discussion. Hoernemann noted that the letter had been written "literally as a proclamation" and said it was formatted to be adopted quickly. "If we are going to act in concert as a whole council and a city united saying we're worried, we're concerned, these are the reasons," he said, "we need to do it and we need to do it now." Council member Cheyane Thacker then motioned to clarify the letter's authorship, requesting that it be noted as written by the mayor rather than as a statement from the full council. She expressed concern about being "misrepresented with something that I haven't had time to review until tonight." After back-and-forth discussion, council ultimately voted 4–3 to amend the letter to reflect it was written by the mayor. Public voices concerns Several residents urged council to oppose the poultry facility. Concerns about the proposed operation have been voiced throughout public hearings, city and county meetings and media interviews. While many residents referenced personal observations or anticipated risks, their comments reflected broader concerns related to environmental safety, public health and community impact. Some of the concerns raised include: • Possible water contamination from nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into the Sandusky River Watershed and nearby drinking water sources • The facility's location within a protected source water corridor, which residents and Aqua Ohio say could pose a threat to Tiffin's drinking water • Manure management, with an estimated 1,900 tons of waste generated annually by 130,000 hens, raising fears about spills or insufficient handling during transport and storage • Potential well water depletion or contamination for nearby homes relying on private wells • Air quality impacts, including strong odors, airborne pollutants and increased insects or rodents near residential areas • Concerns about avian flu outbreaks potentially affecting poultry and wildlife, including a local bald eagle nest • Increased truck traffic on rural and possibly urban roads, raising safety and infrastructure concerns • Questions about permit compliance, including claims that preliminary work began before all permits were secured • Frustration with what some residents called a lack of early outreach to neighbors • Ethical and zoning concerns about large-scale industrial agriculture operating near homes Owner responds to concerns John Bolte, owner and operator of Seneca Poultry, LLC, responded to the public's concerns in an email. • Water well quality: Bolte said through conversations with the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio EPA that his team is confident there was and continues to be no risk of landfill contamination in the aquifer, and that the well they will drill will not impact the quality of any nearby wells. • Sandusky River water quality: He said his company's permit process with the ODA was around protecting the river. The site selected for barns and pasture is not at risk for a runoff. "All the surface water that does not fall on the site, will get drained through the rest of the farm through natural wetlands to further protect the water." Bolte said they have also installed a filter strip all the way around the farm and that the manure barn is being constructed with tall poured and sealed concrete walls and there is no risk for manure to come in contact with rainfall, ground or surface water. • Being in the Aqua draw corridor: Bolte said, "Yes, I do recognize that some of our farms do fall in the Aqua draw corridor, and this has been a main point of concern. We have fertilized and farmed all of these farms in that corridor for over 35 years. We understand the risks of nutrient runoff. We have managed nutrients on these farms for 35 years, including many different forms of manure in the past. We always have and will continue to do anything we possibly can to be the best stewards of our nutrient resources." • Smell: Bolte said the layer barns will not smell and that manure will not sit there for more than 24 hours. "As long as we follow our management plan that we submitted to ODA, we will not have any smell issues from our manure storage barn either." He said the plan is to rotate and spread their farms every other year. "When we spread a farm, I expect to have the manure piled in the field for 4-5 days before we are able to get to the field with the spreader and then work it in," he said. "There are strict requirements as to where those piles can be in the field and we will be cognizant of neighbors when we are making the piles to keep them far away. The only reason that it will be piled is just due to the logistics of moving machinery across the farms and the fact that we can not be on every farm all at once. Yes, I do recognize that the manure will smell once we spread it on the farms. I expect that smell to last for 24-48 hours and I apologize in advance for that. Again, I only expect that smell to be an issue once out of every 700 days." • Future plans: Bolte there are no future sites picked out or plans to build any more barns. After residents spoke, Hoernemann motioned — following advice from city law director Zach Fowler — to submit a portion of the mayor's letter to the ODA on behalf of council. Council agreed to amend the letter to include Seneca Poultry's full address and voted unanimously to move forward. In other business Council approved the following: Resolutions • 25-30: Renaming "Fort Ball Rotary Park" to "Rotary Club of Tiffin Centennial Park" 25-31: Authorizing the mayor to apply for the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) Infrastructure Loan Program and execute necessary contracts; declared an emergency Ordinances • 25-60: Amending Section 1 of Ordinance No. 2025-57; declared an emergency • 25-61: Amending the 2025 Budget Ordinance 24-94 to appropriate funds for the Police, Park and Pool budgets The next council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 4 at City Hall, 51 E. Market St., in council chambers.