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Marathon County panel pauses vote on animal-waste ordinance after state legal questions about buffer cost-share
Summary
Marathon County conservation staff asked the Environmental Resources Committee to delay voting on a proposed animal-waste and cropland management ordinance after learning a state agency’s legal counsel may require cost share for proposed buffers; staff outlined nutrient-management training, incentives and a possible winter‑spreading license.
Marathon County conservation staff told the Environmental Resources Committee on Dec. 2 that they recommend delaying a final vote on draft animal-waste and cropland-management ordinance amendments until county attorneys and state agencies clarify whether proposed buffers will trigger mandatory cost share.
Christy Heidenreich, county conservationist, said staff learned “from DATCP just this morning” that the buffer language in the draft could obligate the county to offer cost-share to landowners required to install a 35‑foot buffer along streams. She told the committee that the requirement as written would effectively apply to everyone with a stream on their property and that state legal counsel is still reviewing whether there is a pathway to avoid universal cost‑share obligations.
“...we actually would have to offer cost share to folks that we are asking to put those buffers in,” Heidenreich…
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