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3 <br /> <br />board, so our old policy of having district members for life will be phased out. <br />Compton is the first new district member to have a term expiration date after his <br />name. New district members can serve two terms of three years each. <br /> <br />c. Final Draft of revisions to Orange County VFPP to remove “present use” <br />requirement: Hughes submitted our revised draft to Dewitt Hardee at the <br />Department of Agriculture. His staff asked us to add language to our draft <br />revision (Section 48-7, item 4) to include the words “and NC Soil and Water <br />Conservation” after “Natural Resources Conservation Service.” Hughes <br />explained that since the NRCS is federal, and Soil and Water is state, there are <br />some instances where the two programs have slight differences. Members agreed <br />and asked staff to add this and send the draft to the County Attorney for adoption. <br /> <br />d. Membership: McAdams noted that at the December meeting of the advisory <br />boards the BOCC members said they will try to work from our list of prospective <br />applicants but may go ahead to fill long-standing vacancies. We should actively <br />seek new members. At-large members do not need to be landowners or <br />VAD/EVAD participants. Members offered names for prospective board <br />members. Other ideas included: managers of some of the local farmer’s markets; <br />the PFAP manager, the farmer foodshare folks, or even restaurant owners. <br /> <br />8. Informational Items / Future Agenda Items <br /> <br />a. Ag Summit on February 16th: Mike Ortosky urged members to attend the <br />upcoming Ag Summit, to be held on Feb. 16th at the Whitted Center. <br />b. Animal Services Ordinance Revisions: Bob Marotto reported that the Animal <br />Services Board is now working with the towns on the final stages of revising their <br />proposed new ordinance. Mr. Marotto promised share the final version. <br />c. Final copy of the Ag Board’s Annual Work Plan and Report: The BOCC will be <br />inviting the various board chairs to meet with them to be recognized for their <br />work and share information. Ag Board leaders will be invited to participate. <br />d. Local governments continue to discuss issues related to AG Support Enterprises: <br />This attachment was included for informational purposes. Both Chapel Hill and <br />Carrboro are debating Ag Support Enterprises within the rural buffer. <br /> <br />9. Time for information sharing: Stancil noted the good activity now underway on the <br />10% campaign. DEAPR is planning to open Blackwood Farm as a new park this spring, <br />initially on weekends. The county’s space study committee is bringing in a space planner <br />to look at our space utilization. One idea is to build a new building adjacent to this one, <br />then tear down this building. Ortosky noted that there may be new ways to look at the <br />rural buffer. While the stated intent of the buffer is to limit sprawl/protect land, we are <br />not achieving that goal. Other communities are working with developers to cluster higher <br />densities of housing while permanently preserving larger open tracts of rural land. <br /> <br />10. Adjournment: Woods moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Parker; motion <br />carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. <br /> <br />Next Meeting – March 18th, 2015