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Battle over Cairo hog farm continues

Sep 21, 2017 8:00 am

Anthony Fiducia is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Cairo Town Board has postponed a special meeting Wed., Sep. 20, about the Jason Watts’ hog farm controversy after a neighbor alleged the pigs have made her ill. A meeting about the future of the farm, the Sound Agricultural Practice letter issued by the state and the lawsuit filed by Town Board member Doug Ostrander and others against Watts and property owner Mark Meddaugh, was scheduled for this week. But one of the plaintiffs in the case, Tracy MacGiffert, contacted Dr. Robert Schneider, the town health officer, saying she had contracted a staph infection. She then asked Schneider if he could find out if the infection was caused by the pigs, Town Supervisor Daniel Benoit said. “Other things can lead to that infection — from what I know, it’s caused by a pretty common germ,” Benoit said. Watts said the animals have never made him ill, and he has never had an animal in his care become sick. MacGiffert and the other plaintiffs want to settle the civil case, but, Watts said, he has demanded they pay his attorney fees, "...and they don't want to do that." Watts said, “They’re not winning the civil battle so they’re going to use the town’s funds and try to pull the town.” Watts, a Republican, is a candidate for Cairo Town Board in November. Benoit said he expects Ostrander to recuse himself from the town board discussion when it occurs. The next regular meeting of the full Cairo Town Board is 7 p.m., Mon., Oct. 2, at Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.