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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 11, 2007 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~- -'~"' <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: (Y/N) No <br />Cooperative Extension <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Trust Fund Overview <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />David Stancil, 245-2598 <br />Noah Ranells, 245-2330 <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 $8 million for agricultural conservation easements and <br />agricultural enterprises. The Trust Fund is accepting applications through December 14 for <br />these funds. Approximatelytwo-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 />2001, and the grant program for enterprise projects was revised. <br />This program offers an 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 are <br />allowed to count toward the match for federal USDA Farm and Ranchland Protection funds. This <br />could lower the County's final cost on a future easement for 2008 to 15% of the total cost (as <br />compared to 50% 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 possible enterprise funds grant project for the proposed Value-Added Shared Use Food <br />Processing Center proposed for the Orange Enterprises building on Valley Forge Road, and/or <br />the Farm 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 window for submittals. The easement and enterprise applications would not compete <br />against each other, as they are in different categories. <br />