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15 <br /> • VAD - 162.28 acres — Caldwell Agricultural District— 1 parcel of land <br /> • Beef cattle, pasture, hay crops, corn, soybeans, small grains, and managed woodland <br /> • Made application for the Century Farm Program (100+ years in same family ownership) <br /> Orange County Voluntary and Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Program <br /> • The Agricultural Preservation Board has approved all of the farms as presented. <br /> • Requesting approval from Commissioners to accept six (6) farms into the VAD program. <br /> • 756 acres* in the Voluntary Agricultural District program <br /> * = rounded acres <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Greene, seconded by Commissioner Price for the <br /> Board to approve this VAD for the McKee Farm. <br /> VOTE: 6-0 (with Commissioner McKee's recusal) <br /> THE NEXT THREE ITEMS WERE ALL DONE AS ONE WITH ONE MOTION AT THE END — D, <br /> E, F <br /> d. Resolution of Approval — Conservation Easement on Cedar Grove Windy Hill Farm <br /> and Approval of Budget Amendment #10-A <br /> The Board considered voting on a resolution to approve the purchase of and acceptance <br /> by Orange County of an agricultural conservation easement for Cedar Grove Windy Hill Farm, <br /> and approve Budget Amendment#10-A and authorize the Chair to sign. <br /> BACKGROUND: The acquisition of conservation easements to protect highly important natural <br /> and cultural resource lands in Orange County is a longstanding goal of the Board of <br /> Commissioners, and is a priority of the Lands Legacy program. Since 2001, the County has <br /> partnered with landowners and other entities to protect 2,647 acres of significant natural areas <br /> and prime farmland with permanent conservation easements, leveraging over$3 million in <br /> outside funding and grants toward these easements. <br /> Over the past several years, DEAPR has worked with Geoffrey (deceased) and Jane Gledhill <br /> and the Eno River Association on a project to conserve the approximately 39-acre Cedar Grove <br /> Windy Hill Farm located on Carr Store Road in Cedar Grove Township. The farm property is <br /> located in the Upper Eno Protected Watershed, a priority watershed for acquiring agricultural <br /> easements in a dual effort to protect prime farmland and drinking water quality. The farm has <br /> over 500 feet of riparian buffer of a tributary of the East Fork Eno River and Lake Orange, which <br /> supplies drinking water to the Town of Hillsborough. <br /> Ms. Gledhill intends to grant a permanent conservation easement that will restrict future <br /> development to protect prime farmland and streams, as well as scenic views of the farmland <br /> from Carr Store Road. All non-agricultural development rights will be extinguished through the <br /> conservation easement. Future farm activities will be in accordance with a Conservation Plan <br /> prepared for this farm by the Orange Soil & Water Conservation District. <br /> The planned agricultural conservation easement would be held jointly by Orange County and <br /> the Eno River Association. The easement would complement the technical assistance from the <br /> Orange Soil and Water Conservation District and protect a farm located just 1/3 mile from Cedar <br /> Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District (listed on the National Register of Historic Places). <br />