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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPB minutes 111418 Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board Meeting Summary: November 14th, 2018 Environmental & Agricultural Center—Food Lab 306 Revere Rd., Hillsborough, NC 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Anderson, Compton, Dawson, Finley, McAdams, McKnight, McPherson, A. Parker, Saiers Members Absent: R. Parker, Ranells, Redding, Shambley, Vanhook Guests: John Parker, Orange County Food 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 6:34 p.m. 2. Chair Comments/Introductions: None. 3. Considerations of Additions to Agenda: Shift the Food Council presentation ahead of VAD/EVAD to allow Gail Hughes to get here from another meeting 4. Meeting Summary/Minutes: September 19th, 2018 (Attachment 1): McAdams moved to accept the minutes/summary; seconded by Saiers; 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. x Lafleur and VanVeld: 39.84 acres for VAD, Cedar Grove Ag District. The farm is in vegetables, hay crops and bee hives. A. Parker moved to approve, seconded by Compton; motion carried. x Scarlett: Additional 23.27 acres for VAD, Cedar Grove District. The farm is in pasture, cattle, hay and managed woodlands. Saiers moved to approve, seconded by A. Parker; motion carried. Hughes reported that with approval of these farms, this will bring us up to 14,302.69 acres in VAD and EVAD. She will present all farms approved in September and this meeting to the BOCC in December. They have worked hard to get more new signs up and will continue in the winter. b) Review/Approval of draft letter of support for PUV Tax Trust Fund proposal: Dawson and Ortosky reviewed this concept again as a follow up to the discussion at the September meeting. There is a draft letter circulating but awaits review/edits by staff. If the county is generating revenue from losing farmland (ie, when farms are removed from the PUV program for development), it makes sense to be able to dedicate that revenue toward promoting agricultural land preservation and farming activity. Discussion followed. Members agreed with the concept that those funds need to go 2 back into agriculture rather than back into the general fund. The Food Council will continue to develop this proposal with a goal of presenting a viable plan to the County Commissioners this winter. Staff will share the draft letter of support. The Food Council would like to get two volunteers from the APB to help with this effort. McPherson volunteered. Members nominated Ranells in his absence. Dawson made suggestions about wording to add to the letter of support. Members voted to provide the letter of support. c) Approval of proposed meeting calendar for 2019: Staff discussed the proposed calendar for 2019. Members reviewed the dates and approved. Meeting times will continue to be 6:30 for Nov. and January, and 7:30 for the rest. 6. Discussion Items: a) Annual Work Plan for 2018: Staff explained the current draft language. McKnight asked that we add some emphasis on page 4 to address the current crisis of the dairy industry in the county. It was once such a large part of the county’s ag heritage. Right now, you have the infrastructure and knowledge base that can’t be replaced. Once all that is gone, it is hard to replace. Discussion followed. There is the question of are people interested in starting dairy operations anymore? How much dairy is produced here versus consumed? Is it too late to revive dairy here? McKinght will draft up some language. Dawson suggested a sentence to recognize the fairly rapid development of small local market farms in the county, to make the BOCC aware of this trend. As a result, the number of farms is actually growing. Under accomplishments need to note that the APB has a dedicated seat on the Food Council. Send any comments to staff. 7. Informational Items/Future Agenda Items: b) Report from Ag Economic Development Coordinator: Ortosky provided an overview of the upcoming Ag Summit program, being planned by Extension. It will focus this year on markets and expanding them for all types of farmers. Ag Board member input is most welcome anytime during the planning stages, and members are invited to serve on the planning committee. c) Food Council update: One of the big goals is to get a new position approved for a full time staff member to deal with all things food related, to work out of the County Manager’s office. That position will include providing staffing for the Food Council. McKnight commented on the ongoing challenge of how to get local food into the huge local institutions. These are a huge market—universities, schools and detention facilities. One of the key pieces will be promoting the importance of GAP certification for farmers who are not certain that they will benefit. d) APB Breakfast on Nov. 29: Hughes provided an update. Registrations are now coming in fast. It will be held at the Schley Grange Hall. We’ll use a new caterer doing a similar menu. She has gotten more of the small VAD signs to hand out to program participants. e) Service Appreciation Certificates: Staff handed out the appreciation gifts from the BOCC. f) Membership Update: Kim Woods is applying to serve again after taking a year off. 8. Information Sharing: None 9. Adjournment: A. Parker moved to adjourn, seconded by Finley. Meeting adjourned at 7:49 pm.