By Karen Blackledge
LIMESTONE TWP. — A member of the Amish community believes a few changes will cut down on complaints about horse manure on roads.
Commissioners Chairman Trevor Finn said the commissioners met with spokespeople for the Mennonite and Amish communities recently. They agreed to spread the word that horse and buggies should ease onto berms to allow vehicles to pass which should also result in manure being left alongside the road.
“This might make a change, and I think it will,” Jake Hershberger told the Montour County commissioners at a meeting Tuesday night.
Saying he has a 26-year-old horse, he couldn’t recall it leaving any droppings on roads.
But the Amish community still wants to solve the problem.
“They would like to know if there are places where there are large piles of manure and they will avoid those areas in the future and come and clean it up,” Finn said. “They are willing to work as a community and to live in peace. They don’t want to fight. They want to communicate through us if there are concerns out there and they’ll work on those concerns.”
Resident Walter Laidacker said manure can hinder people walking or bicycling along secondary roads.
Commissioners Vice Chairman Jack Gerst told Laidacker to call when he spots a problem.
“Don’t call me about a couple of road apples. Call me about giant piles,” Gerst said.
Dale Muckelmann, who has ridden horses for 60 years, said mud on roads is worse than horse droppings. She showed pictures of mud along County Line Road where vehicles could slide onto Route 54. Township Supervisor Harry Milheim said County Line Road is a state road.
Another woman, who trains horses, asked “where does this stop. We’re not living in town. I’d hate to see this get out of hand.”
She said the Amish cut wood for her and her husband and brought them food when he was sick with cancer.
Finn said they discussed the possibility of putting aprons on buggies to collect horse droppings but the Amish and Mennonite members were afraid aprons would hit the backs of the legs of their high-spirited horses and cause them to run away with the buggies.
John Rose, who lives at Routes 44 and 54, said readily available diapers can be put on horses. He said he cleans up horse manure five times a week in his driveway.
“If they used diapers, nobody would have a problem,” he said.
