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8 <br /> <br />Commissioner Jacobs said Theo Letman, Transportation Director, previously talked 1 <br />about an on demand service down the line. He said the public needs to be better informed 2 <br />about Orange County’s transportation plan. 3 <br />Lorenzo Mejia said aging in place is a national challenge. 4 <br />Commissioner Marcoplos said he lives in rural SW Orange County, and northern 5 <br />Orange County always comes up in discussion, but it is better to say rural areas in general as 6 <br />that is more accurate and inclusive. 7 <br />Janice Tyler said her department has a grant funded mobility manager position from the 8 <br />MPO, which has a direct phone line to help residents coordinate the best type of transportation 9 <br />for their needs, which is a great resource. 10 <br />Commissioner Rich said she had seen evidence of the benefits of this mobility manager. 11 <br />She agreed with Commissioner Jacobs to make the transportation information more available. 12 <br />Janice Tyler said the mobility manager does travel training with the older adults to help 13 <br />familiarize them with the route. 14 <br /> 15 <br />• Affordable Housing Advisory Board 16 <br />Sherrill Hampton said Chair Cook and Vice Chair Jacobs were unable to attend, but 17 <br />there is a report in the Commissioners’ packet, and she is available to answer any questions. 18 <br />Chair Dorosin suggested adding this report to the May 3 meeting, if possible. 19 <br />Donna Baker said she would follow up. 20 <br /> 21 <br />• Agricultural Preservation Board (APB): APB Board member Howard McAdams, and 22 <br />Pete Sandbeck 23 <br />Howard McAdams said he is a member of the board, and the Chair had a death in the 24 <br />family and could not attend tonight. He thanked the Board for its ongoing support, and 25 <br />reviewed some of the APB’s accomplishments: (page 36) 26 <br /> 27 <br />• Hosted the second “annual” breakfast program/informational workshop for existing and 28 <br />prospective VAD/EVAD farm owners to encourage new participants and answer 29 <br />questions; 68 people attended this at the Cedar Grove Community Center. 30 <br />• In 2017, reviewed and recommended approval for 15 additional farms as Voluntary 31 <br />Agricultural District and Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District farms, adding 1,179 32 <br />acres to these programs. This amount increased the total enrollment into both 33 <br />programs to 12,554 acres on 93 farms throughout Orange County and increased 34 <br />acreage in all of the seven Agricultural Districts. 35 <br /> 36 <br /> Howard McAdams shared some of the concerns or emerging issues facing the APB: 37 <br />• The average age of our farmers continues to increase, causing concerns about 38 <br />retirement and farm succession planning. This is an ongoing issue despite the rising 39 <br />numbers of young people taking up farming. Our “senior” farmers control and farm a 40 <br />large percentage of the County’s prime open farmland, thus creating the potential for a 41 <br />significant decline in active farm acreage over the next decade. New farmers tend to 42 <br />grow market crops intensively, on very small farms. 43 <br />• Explore ways to educate farmers and prospective farmers about the many new 44 <br />agritourism opportunities that could be used to enhance and diversify farm income and 45 <br />bring visitors to farms 46 <br />• The APB plans to collaborate with the newly-formed Food Council on a range of 47 <br />initiatives to enhance local markets for farm products. 48 <br />• There is an ongoing need to educate landowners about all available farm programs, 49 <br />including VAD/EVAD and the Present Use Valuation program. 50