Orange County NC Website
oRANGECOUNTY <br />BOARD of coMMISSIONERS <br />ACT14N AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December ~ ~ , 2007 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item Na. '~ -~"` <br />SUBJECT. Authorization to Submit Grant Request to N.C. Agricultural Development and <br />Farmland Preservation Trust Fund <br />DEPARTMENT: ERCD, EDC, NRCS, PUBLIC HEARING: ~YCN~ No <br />Cooperative Extension <br />ATTACI~MENT~S~: <br />Trust Fund Overview <br />INA oRMATION CoNTACTw <br />David Stanch, ~45~~598 <br />Naeh Renells, X45-330 <br />PURPOSE: To consider authorizing staff to make grant applications to the North Carolina <br />Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. <br />BACKGROUND: The new North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation <br />Trust Fund has been awarded $S million for agricultural conservation easements end <br />agricultural enterprises. The Trust Fund is accepting eppl`rcations through December ~4 for <br />these funds. Approximately two-thirds of the funds are tentatively assigned to agricultural <br />conservation easements, and one-third to agricultural enterprises. <br />This is the first year the Trust Fund has had matching grants to award for easements since <br />Z00~ ,end the grant program for enterprise projects was revised. <br />This program offers en opportunity to decrease County matching funds, in that this program <br />requires only a 30% match from the County. Compounding this benefit, the State funds ere <br />allowed to count toward the match for federal USDA Ferm and Ranchland Protection funds. This <br />could Cower the County's final cast on a future easement for X008 to ~ 5°/~ of the total cost has <br />compared to ~0°/° with the USDA}. <br />ERCD and NRCS staff have met to discuss this and have identified two potential projects that <br />could be submitted. Staff from EDC, Cooperative Extension and ERCD have also been working <br />on a passible enterprise funds grant project for the proposed Velue~Added Shared Use Food <br />Processing Center proposed for the orange Enterprises building on Valley Forge Road, andlor <br />the Ferm Enterprise Incubator at the wC Breeze Family Farm Agricultural Extension & <br />Research Center. As a new grant program, the State is actively soliciting applications ~-but with <br />a short windowfor submittals. The easement and enterprise applications would not compete <br />against each other, as they are in different categories. <br />