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10 <br /> <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Rich, seconded by Commissioner Price, to <br />approve the statement. <br /> <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> <br />Chair Dorosin said the issue of charter schools is very relevant to the BOCC, and the <br />state budget includes the provision for municipalities to provide municipal tax funds for <br />education including for charter schools. He said there is also a bill in the works that will allow <br />municipalities to set up their own charter schools, and it is likely to pass. <br /> <br />4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations <br /> <br />a. Voluntary and Enhanced Agricultural District Designation – Multiple Farms <br />The Board considered approving applications from eight (8) landowners/farms to certify <br />qualifying farmland within the Caldwell, Cedar Grove, and White Cross Voluntary Agricultural <br />Districts; and enroll the lands in the Orange County Farmland Preservation; Voluntary and <br />Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District programs. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Orange County’s Voluntary Farmland Preservation Program was started in 1992. To date, there <br />are 93 farms in both the Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) and the Enhanced Voluntary <br />Agricultural District (EVAD) program totaling 12,450** acres. If the BOCC approves the <br />additional eight (8) farms with 893 acres proposed below, there will be 101 farms in both the <br />Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) and the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District <br />(EVAD) program totaling 13,343** acres, equal to 5.2% of the 256,595 total acres in Orange <br />County. <br /> <br />The County’s Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO) outlines a procedure for the <br />Agricultural Preservation Board to review and approve applications for qualifying farmland, and <br />to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners concerning the establishment and <br />modification of agricultural districts. Section VII of the VFPO contains the requirements for <br />inclusion in a voluntary agricultural district. To be certified as qualifying farmland, a farm must: <br />a) Be located in the unincorporated area of Orange County; <br />b) Be engaged in Agriculture as that word is defined in NC GS 106-581.1 <br />c) Be certified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United <br />States Department of Agriculture as being a farm on which at least two-thirds of the land <br />is composed of soils that are best suited for providing food, seed, fiber, forage, timber, <br />forestry products, horticultural crops and oil seed crops; <br />d) Be managed in accordance with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and NC <br />Soil and Water Conservation Service defined erosion-control practices that are <br />addressed to said highly-erodible land; and have a current conservation farm plan <br />and/or forestry management plan associated with the current usages and owner; and <br />e) Be the subject of a non-binding conservation agreement, as defined in N.C.G.S. §121- <br />35, between the County and the owner that prohibits non-farm use or development of <br />such land for a period of at least ten years, except for the creation of not more than <br />three lots that meet applicable County zoning and subdivision regulations. <br /> <br />The Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board reviewed the findings of the staff <br />assessments for the attached applications for the Orange County Voluntary Agricultural District <br />program at its March and May 2018 meetings. All farm applications were reviewed and verified