Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPB minutes 032118 Attachment 1 Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board Meeting Summary: March 21, 2018 Environmental & Agricultural Center—Conference Room 306 Revere Rd., Hillsborough, NC 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Anderson, Compton, Dawson, Finley, McAdams, McKnight, McPherson, Vanhook, Redding, Saiers, Shambley Members Absent: Thomas-Ambat, A. Parker, R. Parker, Ranells, Guests: Katie Loovis, Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Staff: Gail Hughes, Resource Conservation Coordinator-DEAPR-Orange Soil and Water; Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator; Mike Ortosky, Ag Economic Development Coordinator 1. Call to order: Chair McPherson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Chair Comments/Introductions: McPherson introduced Katie Loovis. 3. Considerations of Additions to Agenda: Stancil asked to add an item regarding a farm to fork event; there will be a report from the Food Council representative and an update on VAD sign installation. 4. Meeting Summary/Minutes: November 15, 2017 (Attachment 1): McAdams moved to accept the minutes/summary; seconded by Shambley; motion carried. 5. Presentations: a. Katie Loovis, Orange County Parks and Recreation Council: Ms. Loovis provided an informative presentation about the Council’s idea to explore a program to utilize appropriate portions of existing undeveloped county park lands for small scale farming opportunities for low-income residents. She provided a one page handout that outlined this concept. Discussion followed. There was a general consensus that it was a good idea. Saiers moved to affirm the APB’s support this, seconded by Compton; motion passed. Saiers offered to be the APB point person for this. b. Mike Ortosky handed out copies of their new booklet entitled “Summary of Agricultural Resources” along with the “Visit NC Farms” mobile app. He updated members about current projects to promote the idea of local schools using more local food/produce, and the GAP Certification process. There is some county funding for classes to teach growers about the process and assist them with the cost of the certification process, including the audit; also some funds for audit issues, like an extra hand washing station. Members asked if organic tobacco growers will be eligible since they now must be certified. Now there is a huge push to grow industrial hemp to replace tobacco, but the markets are risky. c. Stancil discussed a proposal by Rendevous Sports to host a major farm to table event. Members should tell an interested host farms to contact the visitors bureau. 2 6. 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.  Mary Sue Woods Johnson: 90.44 acres for VAD, Caldwell Ag District. The farm is in managed forestry, grains, and hay. Saiers moved to approve, seconded by Compton; motion carried.  Vaughn Compton: 44.3 acres for VAD, Cedar Grove Ag District. The farm is in wheat grains and tobacco. McAdams moved to approve for VAD, seconded by Redding; motion carried.  Anderson/Pope Farm: 48.01 acres for VAD, Cedar Grove Ag District. The farm is in tobacco, grains and managed woodland. Saiers moved to approve for VAD, seconded by R. Parker; motion carried.  Frank and Susan Hollowell: 170.91 acres for VAD, Caldwell Ag District. The farm is in cattle, pasture and hay. Vanhook moved to approve for VAD; seconded by Redding; motion carried. Hughes reported that this will bring us up to 12,842 acres in VAD and EVAD. She also gave an update on her ongoing efforts to install additional VAD/EVAD signs. She is trying a new plastic material that will lower the cost from $60 to $30 per sign. She also explained the process removing a parcel from the program, which might happen when a property is sold. 7. Informational Items/Future Agenda Items: a) Report on the Ag Summit held in February: Extension staff coordinated this event this year, with attendance of about 120 people; the rainy weather hampered some of the outdoor activities. This was the 20th year for this event. McAdams reported that this is a great time to meet with many of the County Commissioners to tell them about current farm issues. b) Report back on the APB Breakfast held in November, 2017: Hughes reported that the breakfast was again a success, with 64 people attending. Total expenses were $494. Members agreed that this was a good event and worth holding again in 2018. Kelsey’s catering was good. The date is still good. There was good feedback from the attendees. We got local food, like eggs from Latta’s Egg Ranch, and the Lackeys donated 20 pounds of sausage. The shorter program helped. c) Membership Update: The County Clerk reviewed the terms of everyone’s membership end date. There are 9 members who will have terms that expire this June 30. The Clerk plans to adjust term expiration dates. Thanks to everyone for agreeing to serve again. d) Food Council Update: Dawson reported on current activities of the Food Council, including local food systems; work with OC Health Dept. to explore incentives to use healthier local foods; working to continue the SNAP program; a food security roundtable; the Orange County food access database; and increasing local procurement as part of the 10% campaign. They are seeking feedback on the idea of making a presentation to the BOCC about using funds from the PUV program recaptured tax revenue fund to use to support local agriculture initiatives. Mike Ortosky is working on this. In Cabarrus County that fund totaled almost 1.5 million over a period of a few years, so this is a real amount of money. 8. Information Sharing: None 9. Adjournment: Compton moved to adjourn, seconded by McAdams. Meeting adjourned at 9:03 pm.