Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Putnam Township has organized a workshop to benefit the agricultural community next month.

The informational virtual event will take place on Wednesday, April 12th at 7pm. The working title of the workshop is “Questions Facing Putnam Township’s Agricultural Community”. It will deal with questions concerning when and how the ag community should interact with local government for assistance in achieving their goals.

The informational evening will shed light on the Right to Farm Act, building codes that apply to ag buildings, when local ordinances apply to ag operations, agritourism, and how can the township better serve the ag community.

All are welcome to attend and members of the agricultural community are strongly encouraged to take part.

The township expects to quorums for the Board of Trustees, the Planning Commission, and the Zoning Board of Appeals in attendance, so the workshop is being officially noticed as a Special Joint Meeting of the three township entities.

In addition, a Right-to-Farm and Zoning Ordinance expert from the Township’s law firm will be in attendance as well as a Right-to-Farm expert from the Michigan State University Extension program. The panel of experts will also include Livingston County’s Building Official, Jim Rowell and a representative of the Township’s Planning Company, Carlisle Wortman.

Following a brief presentation by Township Supervisor Dennis Brennan, the panel will invite questions from the audience. The township says it believes that may be the most informative part of the evening as they expect many questions for the experts on the panel, and some lively discussions of the issues facing farmers and other residents of the Township.

The forum will be streamed live, in view only mode, on Zoom at the provided link.

Questions can be submitted in advance by emailing supervisor@putnamtwp.us and those in attendance will be able to submit questions live.

An informational flyer is attached.