Livestock Ordinance Information Session Draws Crowd

Over 20 people came to City Hall on Friday afternoon at 3PM, to ask questions about the new livestock ordinance submitted by the Board of Health and recently enacted by the Common Council. They included sheep and cattle farmers, backyard hen enthusiasts, and others who support agriculture in the City.

Health Director Dr. Joseph Havlicek opened the proceedings by reading from a statement that was prepared for him. Public Health Educator Louis Carta read questions which had been submitted by audience members on index cards. Most of the questions were about how the enforcement of the new ordinance would impact existing farms.

Chief Sanitarian Sal Nesci explained that the Health Department would only enforce the livestock ordinance when there was a complaint, "We don't proactively go out to look for these issues."

He reassured anxious farmers that existing farms are exempt from the new ordinance, which begins by citing the Federal Right to Farm Act, and stating that "existing and future registered farms ... are exempt from this section." Sydney Mintz of the Middlesex Farm Bureau stated that the farmers appreciated the effort to exempt farms from the regulation but she said there were problems with the language in the ordinance. She pointed out that while Connecticut has a Right to Farm Act, there is no Federal equivalent. Nesci also admitted that while there were many different tax and business designations for farms, "You could have a recognized farm and not be registered at all."

When asked about the definition of a farm, Nesci said that anybody who kept livestock would be considered a farm, as long as it was done in a manner "consistent with best management practices," and as long as there was no danger to public health.

Nesci and Havlicek both pledged to work with farmers to improve the language of the ordinance, and they invited residents to attend the monthly meetings of the Board of Health, on the second Tuesday of each month.