The board unanimously approved a resolution that said that it has "strong opposition" to the construction of the facility because it would have "a profound negative effect on the use of Thorpe Park ... that now provides a home for hundreds of game and non-game wildlife species, including sensitive species such as Trumpeter Swans, Greenback Herons and others."

The controversy over the facility began in March when a rural Crystal Lake family told the board it intended to build a 4,800-hog facility. Lukas Wooge wants to buy a tract of land, sell a small portion of it to a hog confinement company and farm the rest.

The 24-year-old Wooge said the manure from the facility would substantially lower the cost of fertilizer on his farmland and the sale of the land the building would be placed on would help with the down payment on the rest of the farmland.

Today's resolution passed after a short discussion. Lukas Wooge and his family, including his father Lynn, were present at the meeting and voiced their opposition to the resolution.

Lynn Wooge said the controversy has driven a number of what he termed quality companies away from the project. "The confinement [operators] are left and will do business are not as good of quality as we would like," he said. "The top-line companies have left town."

Source: Globe Gazette