SEE NEWS VIDEO  http://www.wkow.com/story/26764533/2014/10/11/black-earth-meats-turning-to-community-for-new-business-plan

MADISON (WKOW) -- Black Earth Meats is planning to start a community fundraising campaign to move forward with business after an on-going legal battle with the village of Black Earth.

Dane County Judge William Hanrahan overturned 10 nuisance citations brought against Black Earth Meats. Neighbors had complained to the village about the noises and smells coming from the company's slaughterhouse. Late last year, the village told Black Earth Meats they would have to move their slaughterhouse or close down. In August, the business closed its doors.

Despite the court ruling this week, the LLC's managing member Bartlett Durand tells 27 News while he feels vindicated, they won't be able to reopen.

"We've sold equipment, we lost our business, lost [42] employees, so I don't know if it's ever possible to go back as we were," Durand tells 27 News. "We're going to have to work pretty hard just to figure out how we're going to move forward at all."

Durand and his business partners plan to focus on their retail store Conscious Carnivore in Madison. Since the slaughterhouse in Black Earth closed, they've completely changed how they operate, outsourcing the slaughter to another location to keep meats stocked.

Black Earth Meats formerly contracted with 200 area farmers to bring local meats to its customers and about 100 restaurants. Without a slaughterhouse, those partnerships have been put on hold.

"It's affected way more than just us and it's been really really hard to deal with and that's not going away," Durand says. "It'll be a period of time before we can try to rebuild and get that all going again."

Durand says he plans to start a Kickstarter page next week to ask for the community's help to raise money to keep the business going. He says they've seen a huge outpouring of support in recent months and he wants the public to have a say in the company's future.

Black Earth Meats leaders plan to buy their equipment back from the bank, find a new investment group to buy Conscious Carnivore and expand it to multiple locations in Wisconsin that can someday rely on a humane slaughterhouse like the one in Black Earth.

Durand tells 27 News he believes the village of Black Earth acted illegally when filing the citations and demanding the slaughterhouse move out of town. He doesn't believe they'll be able to work out an arrangement to keep the business there in the future.

Black Earth Village President Pat Troge declined to comment on Friday's court ruling, referring questions to the village attorney. The attorney did not return calls for comment Saturday.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS, http://forum.meatcuttersclub.org/t58659595/club-member-needs-help/