2010-167 DEAPR - Joseph A. and Geraldine Thompson’s Prawn Farm VAD

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Hughes presented a PowerPoint presentation summarizing some of the programs administered by the Soil and Water District Conservation Office. APB members asked questions throughout the presentation, as appropriate. C. Updates &Information Sharing Due to the late hour, Moon provided following updates. Efforts toward implementing the first year action strategies for the Agricultural Development and Farmland Protection Plan are underway. The Agricultural Survey was mailed out and staff anticipates having most of the results tabulated in time for the next meeting. One of the"low hanging fruit"items on the implementation schedule was to help spread.the word about existing programs that support local farmers. Learning more about the work of the Soil and Water Conservation District and other agricultural agencies (Farm Services, Cooperative Extension) is the first step toward an outreach and education program. Moon announced that the BOCC approved the APB's recommended amendments to the Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance, which included provisions to establish Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts. Moon quickly went over the applications for VADs and the conservation agreement form for VADs to make sure that all APB members, even those who are not enrolled in the program, are familiar with the forms and the application process. Due to the late hours, members agreed to postpone the remaining updates until the next meeting. Green provided an update on his work with the Animal Services Advisory Board. Green reviewed the County's Animal Control Ordinance and found some sections which could negatively impact local farmers. One area, in particular, had to do with animals getting out of their enclosures. Green compared the County's Ordinance with animal control ordinances from other jurisdictions and found most do not automatically consider a"loose"animal as a nuisance and subject to fees, as Orange County's does. Green requested that the Animal Services Advisory Board revise that section of the Ordinance; the Animal Services Advisory Board, however, declined to make the change. Green asked for time on the June APB agenda to discuss the matter and to determine if the APB would like to consider preparing a statement. ITEM# 7: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Handouts were provided at the meeting ITEM #8: ADJOURNMENT Thompson made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Kleese seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Next meeting scheduled for June 16, 2010, in the John Link Conference Room. May 19, 2010 Draft Meeting Summary 2