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Public Meetings To Be Held On FSA Closures
By: WOUB Staff Writer
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The Ohio Farm Service Agency plans to hold public meetings this month in counties affected by the state's proposed farm office closures.
Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that they plan to close five Farm Service Agency offices in Ohio.
Two of those offices are in Meigs and Perry counties.
Ohio FSA executive director Steven Maurer says the proposal came as a result of budget cuts.
"It's an unfortunate thing. Communities don't like this. But, it's something that we have to do if we're going to be able to provide quality service just because of the cuts that we've experienced," says Maurer.
However, Maurer says that concerned citizens have 30 days to make their case against the closings.
"We don't have a crystal ball that enables us always to see everything that needs to be seen when we're considering these things. We give the public an opportunity to say why we should or why we shouldn't or how it should be done," says Maurer.
The Meigs County public meeting is scheduled for January 24 between 1:00 – 3:00 pm at the Community Center Gymnasium in Syracuse.
The Perry County public meeting is scheduled for January 26 between 10:00 am – 12:00 noon at the American Legion Post 58 in Somerset.
Maurer was a guest last night on WOUB TV's Newswatch.