The construction permit for a poultry farm with 65,500 chickens within a mile or so of Roaring River State Park, near Cassville, has been stayed after an Administrative Hearing Commission of the state of Missouri.
The commission, which issued its decision last week, granted the stay after hearing testimony from Mark Stephenson, a Joplin resident who owns a farm near the construction site.
The commission stayed the construction permit after Stephenson produced evidence that the developer of the confined-animal feeding operation (CAFO), Michelle Ozbun, had obtained only partial permission from two property owners who had to waive a setback or buffer requirement for operation of the CAFO.
Stephenson, a Realtor with Brookman Realty in Joplin, produced evidence that only Walter Henke Jr. had signed the waiver. His wife, Phyllis Henke, who also holds title to the property, had not signed a waiver.
Stephenson looked up the warranty deed for the Henke’s property and found that it was in both the Henkes’ names so that Phyllis Henke would have had to sign any written agreement for Ozbun to operate within the buffer zone.
The stay was issued after Stephenson produced a notarized signature that showed Phyllis Henke opposed the buffer zone waiver. When the Missouri Department of Natural Resources was alerted about the problem, Ozbun produced for the DNR a document that showed Phyllis Henke had agreed to the waiver. But the signature on that document was not notarized.
Three of four buildings under construction at the site have been completed.
