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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPB minutes 121510December 15, 2010 Meeting Summary 1 AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION BOARD - MEETING SUMMARY December 15, 2010 MEMBERS PRESENT: Roland Walters, Elizabeth Walters, Howard McAdams and Spence Dickinson. MEMBERS ABSENT/EXCUSED: Louise Tate, James and Patricia Wynn, Patrick McGarry, Joe Thompson and Allan Green GUESTS: Bernadette Pelissier, Board of County Commissioners; STAFF: Rich Shaw and Tina Moon, Natural and Cultural Division Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation Noah Ranells, Economic Development ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER Chair Roland Walters called the meeting to order at 7:43 p.m. ITEM #2: CHAIR COMMENTS (none) ITEM #3: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA Staff requested some time at the end of the meeting to share a memorandum from the County Attorney regarding the Board of County Commissioners’ Code of Ethics—added as Discussion Item #6.4. ITEM #4: APPROVAL OF MINUTES November 17, 2010 Approval of the November minutes was postponed until January due to the lack of a quorum. ITEM #5: ITEMS FOR DECISION a. 2011 Meeting Calendar Staff explained that every year each advisory board formally approves its meeting calendar for the upcoming year. Once approved, the calendars can be shared with the public. The APB postponed the formal decision until January but discussed the dates on the calendar. McAdams asked if the APB needed to meet every month. During the BOCC’s review of advisory boards, the APB and staff discussed the idea of holding fewer meetings. APB members present discussed the idea again, and agreed that they would prefer to schedule meetings for every other month (starting in January 2011) and call special meetings as necessary to fulfill specific timelines such as reviewing Voluntary Agricultural District applications. ITEM #6: ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION a. Interest and Opportunities to Lease Farms – Part 2 At the last meeting (November) the APB listened to presentations from David Heeks and Rich Shaw, and comments from Andrew Branan and Noah Ranells about ways to lease land to farmers. This topic is an extension of past APB discussions on ways to keep farmland in production. The Part 2 session was designed to hear more on the topic from the landowner’s prospective. What would have to happen for a large landowner to lease some/all of his land to an up and coming farmer? One of the interesting points in Mr. Heeks’ presentation in November was the idea of a farmer looking to establish a 99-year lease arrangement. McAdams argued that a 1-5 year lease is probably the maximum time that a farmer would want to commit—due in part to the amount of unknowns in farming. Heeks also mentioned a pilot program in Durham where the Soil and Water Conservation District would “broker” a large tract of land by leasing it in sections to smaller farmers. The landowner would receive a single payment while Soil and Water would arrange for the smaller payments. The APB members present felt that Orange County should refrain from getting too involved in lease transactions; those types of business arrangements are better left to private enterprise. One area where the county could help would be to advertise land that is available for lease and list farmers who are looking for land. Traditionally that type of information was word of mouth, but today the Internet December 15, 2010 Meeting Summary 2 can serve as an information hub for advertisements particularly, if kept current. The county could also pursue Andrew Branan’s idea from the November meeting to develop a regional map showing agricultural infrastructure, which could be used for planning and locating new faculties. b. Updates & Information Sharing 1. Ag Summit 2011—March 21, 2010 Moon provided a brief summary of the Agricultural Summit Planning Committee’s efforts to date. Staff will update the APB as the planning process continues. 2. Unified Development Ordinance Work on the Unified Development Ordinance continues, with public outreach meetings leading the formal public hearing. Staff encouraged APB members to follow the Planning Departments website for more timely updates and to participate as their schedule permits. 3. Other (wildlife conservation present use value taxation) Moon referred APB members to the information included in their packets. The wildlife conservation present use tax program is a parallel to the existing 3-category present use value system. Staff has been following the legislation about the wildlife program for some time, hoping that it would offer an opportunity for retiring farmers to keep large tracts of land in the PUV system. However, the program requires property owners to meet a number of stringent criteria; it does not look as though many Orange County farmers would be eligible for the program—maybe one or two. The APB members present agreed that its important to know about the program, but that it does not appear to offer much benefit for local farmers. 4. Board of County Commissioners Code of Ethics The County Attorney asked for staff to share information on the Board of County Commissioner’s recently adopted Code of Ethics. APB members read through the material focusing on the two sections, identified by the County Attorney, as most relevant to the volunteer boards. ITEM# 7: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS a. American Farmland, “New Conservation Ideas from California” b. Handouts at the meeting ITEM #8: ADJOURNMENT Elizabeth Walters made a motion to adjourn the meeting; McAdams seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Next meeting scheduled for January 19, 2011, in the small Conference Room in the Environment and Agriculture Center.