HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPB minutes 081915ORANGE COUNTY
AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION BOARD
MEETING SUMMARY—APPROVED
August 19th, 2015
Environment & Agricultural Center – Conference Room
306 Revere Road, Hillsborough, NC
7:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Vaughn Compton, Howard McAdams, Renee McPherson (Chair),
Gordon Neville, Ashley Parker, Renee Parker, Noah Ranells, Amanda Scherle, Kathy Shambley,
Sheila Thomas-Ambat, Richal Vanhook, Kim Woods (Vice-Chair)
MEMBERS ABSENT/EXCUSED: None
GUESTS: Jane Saiers
STAFF: Mike Ortosky, Agriculture Economic Development Coordinator, Economic
Development; Gail Hughes, Soil Conservationist, DEAPR - Orange Soil & Water
Conservation District, and Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator, DEAPR
1. Call to Order: Chair McPherson called the meeting to order at 7:33 PM.
2. Chair Comments/Introductions: Chair McPherson welcomed the new members and
asked all members and staff to introduce themselves and say a few words about why they
were there.
3. Consideration of Additions to Agenda: None
4. Meeting Summary / Minutes – May 20th, 2015 (Attachment 1): Ashley Parker moved
to accept the minutes/summary; seconded by Neville; motion carried.
5. Items for Decision:
New VAD and EVAD applications: (Attachment 2): Hughes presented an overview of
the application before the members for an EVAD for RambleRill Farm. This is our first
formal application for a farm that is not in our present use program. The owners applied a
few years ago but at that time all farms had to be in present use in order to qualify. The
board voted to eliminate this requirement and that revision was approved by the County
Commissioners in early June. So she contacted Jane to let her know that her farm would
now be eligible. Hughes provided a brief explanation of the VAD/EVAD program and
questions from members. She showed the farms now enrolled on a new county map.
Members commented on the increase in farms enrolled over the past three years. Like all
other farms, this application has been reviewed by staff and meets all the criteria and
requirements for APB consideration for the EVAD programs. She revised the
ATTACHMENT 1
2
VAD/EVAD application form to add language telling applicants they are eligible to serve
on the APB once their farm is approved; there is a place for them to indicate interest.
Jane Saiers and Darin Knapp: 10.1 acres for EVAD: (New Hope/Hillsborough
District): Farm located at 913 Arthur Minnis Road. They grow grapes, Shiitake
mushrooms, blueberries, strawberries, asparagus and annual vegetables. Ashley Parker
moved to approve RambleRill Farm for EVAD; seconded by Compton; motion carried.
6. Items for Discussion:
a. Membership: Chair McPherson noted that we still have two district vacancies:
New Hope/Hillsborough and Schley/Eno. Staff introduced a prospective new
member, Jane Saiers, owner of RambleRill Farm, who submitted the online
application. Ms. Saiers expressed her interest in serving on the APB. Ranells
moved to recommend Ms. Saiers as the member for the New Hope/Hillsborough
District; seconded by Neville. Motion carried.
b. Idea for holding a breakfast meeting/informational event for prospective
VAD/EVAD applicants: Hughes explained the concept of having the APB host a
breakfast meeting geared toward property owners who might be considering
enrolling their farms in the VAD/EVAD, along with farmers already enrolled.
This could be both informational and recognize the current participants. Sponsors
could help underwrite the cost of a breakfast. Discussion followed about the scope
of the audience, scheduling and location. Winter seems like the best time, but
must work with Ag Summit schedule, or perhaps combine with that. Mid-January
seems like a good time. Possible locations include Mapleview and the Grange.
Members agreed it was a good idea. Woods moved that we proceed to look into
this possibility; seconded by Ranells; motion carried. Hughes will report back.
c. Update on Ag Economic Development Grant Program: Ortosky reported that they
had six applicants and approved four at their July meeting; two were deferred
pending additional information. Since that time they received two more
applications for a total of eight received to date. All but one have been approved
at some level. The next meeting will be November, then February, then possibly
shift to an annual basis after that to make it more competitive. There are two
categories: small grants up to $1,000, and large grants up to $10,000. They have
criteria to guide how the grants must be used. This fund has accumulated
approximately $168,000 due to the lack of disbursements, but that number will
decline over time as we award grants. New grants include hoop houses, a well,
poultry processing equipment and agricultural production items. They have
promoted it quite a bit but plan to increase promotion and visibility for the next
round. The goal is to make this program attractive to any farmer for any type of
project. Applicants have to provide proof that the money was spent as stipulated.
d. Review of APB purpose and duties: Staff reviewed briefly the section of the APB
ordinance that spells out the board’s purpose and duties. Ranells commented on
the size and diversity of the group as it now stands with the additional new
members, and reminded members that this is the only board that officially
advises/assists the BOCC with all matters relating to agriculture.
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e. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Plan: This is a small
portion of the 2009 plan, just the executive summary and the implementation
schedule. Staff hoped members could look this over as time permits and allow
newer members to see it for the first time. Have we succeeded/accomplished
some of the goals? Is it time to review this and begin the process of
updating/revisiting it? Portions of this are now getting dated, with old statistics
dating back to 2002. It may require forming a committee to tackle. Ortosky noted
that he worked on several of these, notably for Wake County, and that now these
are focusing more on production and marketing, with the new interest in
aggregators and food hubs. The state Dept. of Agriculture does promote the
creation of these plans as part of each county’s program eligibility, so they are
required. Plans for other counties are available online on the Ag Dept’s web site.
For example, Caswell just did a new one recently. Having a current plan will
improve the County’s chance to get federal and state farmland preservation funds.
Members agreed that ag has changed a great deal since this was released, and
would like to review this and work toward an updated version, perhaps starting
this winter. It may be possible to get modest funding assistance for the update.
7. Informational Items / Future Agenda Items
a. Board of County Commissioners approve “present-use” change in APB
ordinance: The BOCC did approve the APB’s proposed ordinance language
change to eliminate the requirement that all farms must be in the “present use”
program in order to be eligible to participate in the VAD/EVAD program. The
new modified language is now in place on the County website as an addition, so
property owners will know that this is now the new rule. The new language will
get rolled into a new revised version of the APB ordinance this fall.
8. Time for Information Sharing:
Ag Extension position has been advertised and will be filled soon: Several members
commented that the new position was advertised and that interviews will be coming up
soon. This is a position of critical importance to agriculture here and will have an
influence/impact on our farmers for years or decades to come. Members would like to see
the Ag Board involved in some way in the interview process. This position will be a
livestock and crops agent, along with sustainable agriculture. Compton noted that he and
McAdams were allowed to sit in on the interviews when the present Extension Director
was hired, but were not able to have any input. Vanhook moved to have the Chair send a
letter to the appropriate person seeking APB participation in the interview process;
seconded by Ashley Parker; motion carried. The Chair asked staff to draft a letter.
9. Adjournment: Ranells moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by McAdams; motion
carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:59 pm