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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPB Minutes 031517 Attachment 1 Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board DRAFT Meeting Summary: March 15th, 2017 Environmental & Agricultural Center—Conference Room 306 Revere Rd., Hillsborough, NC 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Renee McPherson (Chair), Ken Dawson, Howard McAdams, Gordon Neville, Ashley Parker, Renee Parker, Noah Ranells, Jane Saiers, Kathy Shambley, Shelia Thomas-Ambat, Richal Vanhook Members Absent: Nels Anderson, Vaughn Compton, Kim Woods Guests: None Staff: Gail Hughes, Resource Conservation Coordinator-DEAPR-Orange Soil and Water Conservation District; Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator-DEAPR, and Mike Ortosky, Agriculture Economic Developer. 1. Call to order: Chair McPherson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Chair Comments/Introductions: None 3. Considerations of Additions to Agenda: Ranells asked to make an announcement at the end of the meeting 4. Meeting Summary/Minutes: November 16th, 2016 (Attachment 1): Shambley moved to accept the minutes/summary; seconded by McAdams; motion carried. 5. Items for Decision: a) New VAD/EVAD Applications (Attachment 2): Hughes presented the current applications listed below. All of these farms meet the requirements/criteria for VAD/EVAD enrollment.  Allen and Christine Green: 18.5 acres – Cane Creek/Buckhorn Ag District –VAD Farm consists 6 acres of woodland, 1.5 acre vegetables and the rest is in pasture. Ranells moved to approve the farm for VAD, seconded by Neville, motion carried.  Vann Bennett and Bernadette Pelissier : 90.47 acres – Cedar Grove Ag District – EVAD Farm consists of three parcels, in blueberries and vegetables, and 55 acres of forestry. Saiers moved to approve the farm for EVAD, seconded by Neville, motion carried.  Charles (Gene) and Ruth Williams: 72 acres – White Cross Ag District –VAD Farm consists of 2 parcels; 40 acres of pasture for beef cattle and 26 acres of woodland. Vanhook moved to approve the farm for VAD, seconded by Neville, motion carried.  Doug/Heidi Brown and Helmut/Karen Poerschke: 31.82 acres – Cedar Grove Ag District – VAD. Farm is two parcels, with 15 acres of millet, sudan grass and triticale, along with 2 14 acres of pasture. Thomas-Ambat moved to approve the farm for VAD, seconded by Vanhook, motion carried.  Wayne Parmley/Alicia Belcher: 42 acres – Cedar Grove Ag District –VAD Farm consists of 33 acres of woodland, 1 acre of vegetables and 5 acres in pasture. Dawson moved to approve the farm for VAD, seconded by Neville, motion carried.  Jeff Burst/Stephanie Bullins: 52 acres – Caldwell Ag District –VAD Farm consists 6 acres of woodland, 1.5 acre vegetables and the rest is in pasture. Vanhook moved to approve the farm for VAD, seconded by McAdams, motion carried.  Ann Bacon Hollowell: Revised Ownership (already in program): 42.22 acres – Schley- Eno/Ag District –VAD. This is part of the Bacon Farm. Farm includes cropland and sorghum, with 6 acres of woodland, 1.5 acre vegetables and pasture. Vanhook moved to approve the farm for VAD, seconded by McAdams, motion carried. Hughes reported that these total 216.02 in VAD, and 90.47 in EVAD for a grand total of 306.49. This brings our running total to 11,771 acres in the VAD and EVAD. 6. Items for Discussion: a) APB review of Orange County Outside Agency Grant Applications for the Farmer Foodshare Program (Attachment 3): Saiers noted for the record that her husband is on the board of Farmer Foodshare; she will recuse herself. Dawson provided an overview of the program. Stancil explained how the Outside Agency grant scoring sheets work. Members discussed the application in depth, then completed the scoring process. Members agreed that it appears to be an effective program. b) Membership: There are two vacancies: one at-large and one district. Members reviewed current applicants. Hughes has some potential applicants to bring back to the group in May. 7. Informational Items/Future Agenda Items: a) APB Presentation at BOCC work session on March 28: McPherson will attend. b) Report on the Ag Summit: Ortosky provided an overview of the Summit. Members commented on the good turnout and excellent range of programs. He welcomes suggestions and feedback. Ortosky also reported on the Ag grant program and noted that there is interest in adjusting the minimum acreage for the PUV program to allow for small intensive vegetable farm operations. c) Report on VAD Breakfast held on Dec. 1: Hughes gave a report on the successful breakfast, with 88 registrants. She has requested funding for another one in 2018. d) Update/report back on Food Council public meetings: Dawson reported on the Food Council’s first public forum held at Cedar Grove after the Ag Summit. They will be holding a second one soon in Chapel Hill. e) County interest in short term lease for place to store storm debris : Stancil reported that the County is looking for farmers interested in leasing a temporary storage space. 8. Adjournment: Neville moved to adjourn; seconded by Saiers; meeting adjourned at 9:12 pm.