Cerro Gordo supervisors approve first reading of nuisance ordinance update

MASON CITY — The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors today approved the first of three readings of an ordinance updating the county’s nuisance ordinance that has not been updated in 36 years.

The county’s Department of Public Health brought forward an updated ordinance in September to mainly address how complaints are handled and to clean up language in the ordinance, but some farmers have raised concerns about the updates, saying it would have a big impact on the ag community.

County Public Health Director Kara Vogelson says not only did they want to make sure the ordinance complied with state code, they also wanted to make sure they could help assist the smaller communities of the county who don’t have staff to address issues.  “We also wanted to make sure that we were able to help some of the communities that have requested our help with their nuisances like Meservey and Thornton and other smaller towns within Cerro Gordo County. That would actually allow us to help them, because they all have ordinances now but don’t have staff to enforce them, so we’d be using their ordinance and this ordinance to work together.”

Some argue that the nuisance ordinance only targets farmers, but supervisor Casey Callanan says it also addresses rural residential areas such as just outside of Clear Lake.  “I understand you’re thinking of your backyard, but there’s also people’s backyards on South Shore that we have to protect as well. So that’s why it’s different than just for the cities, we have thought about that. We have thought about how can we just spot zone this and that, and this is the best language that we have to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish by not trying to infringe upon farmer’s rights, because we’re all pro ag here.”

The supervisors passed the first reading of the ordinance unanimously, with two more readings to be held before final passage in the near future.