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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPB minutes 051618 Attachment 1 Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board Meeting Summary: May 16th, 2018 Environmental & Agricultural Center—Food Lab 306 Revere Rd., Hillsborough, NC 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Anderson, Compton, Dawson, McAdams, McKnight, McPherson, A. Parker, R. Parker, Ranells, Redding, Saiers, Shambley, Vanhooki Members Absent: Finley Guests: None 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: None. 3. Considerations of Additions to Agenda: 4. Meeting Summary/Minutes: March 21, 2018 (Attachment 1): Compton 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.  Pam Patterson/Debra Thornton: 55.6 acres for EVAD, White Cross Ag District. The farm is in managed woodland. Redding moved to approve, seconded by McAdams; motion carried.  Phillip Walker: 72.1 acres for VAD, Caldwell Ag District. The farm is in wheat, grass, hay, sorghum and managed woodlands. Ashley Parker moved to approve, seconded by Mcknight; motion carried.  Vernon Davis (includes Davis Properties of Chapel Hill, LLC): 158.56 acres for VAD, White Cross Ag District. The farm is in hay and pasture for beef cattle, as well as managed woodland. McAdams moved to approve, seconded by Redding; motion carried.  Patrick and Michael Criscito: 250.71 acres for EVAD and 14 acres VAD (264.71 acres total), Caldwell Ag District. The farm is in cattle, pasture and hay. Ashley Parker moved to approve, seconded by Redding; motion carried. Hughes reported that this will bring us up to 13,450.71 acres in VAD and EVAD. She will present all farms approved in the January, March and May meetings to the BOCC on June 5th. 2 6. Informational Items/Future Agenda Items: a) Report from Ag Economic Development Coordinator: Mike Ortosky provided an overview of current activities and developments. There is a lot of focus now on how to develop and promote regional food markets in Wake, Orange and Durham counties. This points to a need for a regional approach to avoid duplication of efforts. He received a fellowship from the Windrock Foundation/Wallace Foundation along with seven others. The BOCC are expected to approve increasing the funding for the Ag Grant program from $60,000 to $100,000. They had more applications than they could fund this past grant cycle. They received a grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation of $128,000 to help expand the local freezer capacity; the county added $32,000 to that total. McKnight spoke of her concerns for the dying off of all the dairy farms in the county. Do we accept that or do we try to make an effort to do something about it? Can we establish a different kind of coop to focus on cheese? This would require maybe 60 cows, perhaps from three farms, to produce a simple cheese, maybe lowfat. Design the facility to scale up over time. Questions include: are there actually three dairy farmers who want to keep farming? Can this scale break even at a small output? Would local institutions and markets buy enough cheese to make it all work? The challenge is to show the farmers that there is a market. Ortosky is eager to get some land under control, perhaps doing a public-private partnership to develop a flex space processing facility that could include a cheese facility. Discussion followed. Hughes was aware of at least one person who is seeking land for dairy farming and grazing. She noted that there are relatively few state rules if you keep your herd under 100. Ortosky noted that the lease for the Breeze Farm may be finalized in the next couple of months; this is between the county and NCSU. b) Hughes reported on the statewide VAD workshop she attended recently. She has the maps and charts documenting the program statewide that she can send out. Other topics included nuisance suits and their new web site dedicated to VADs and staff; this should be up soon. She reminded members that the APB has the opportunity to hold a public hearing in the event that DOT condemns VAD/EVAD land for a highway project. c) Membership Update: The County Clerk has adjusted membership terms to eliminate the crisis of having 11 members with terms that expired on June 30. McAdams has been honored by being designated as a “perpetual member.” Sheila Thomas-Ambat has resigned creating a vacancy. d) Food Council Update: Dawson reported on current activities of the Food Council. They are actively working on a proposal to present to the BOCC about using funds from the PUV program recaptured tax revenue fund to use to support local agriculture initiatives. This could amount to $180,000 per year. Ortosky noted that the goal will be to get the details on this to the BOCC this fall. Hughes suggested that some could be used to add enhancements to the proposed new EAC building. There may be some relevant strategies in our existing farmland protection plan. Staff will email that to members. 7. Information Sharing: None 8. Adjournment: Shambley moved to adjourn, seconded by Ranells. Meeting adjourned at 8:58 pm.