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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 20, 2004 <br />Action AgerSa , <br />Item No. __~ <br />SUBJECT: Application for Grant from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection <br />Program for Agricultural Conservation Easements <br />DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource <br />Conservation <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT <br />Request for Proposals <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />David Stancil, 245-2590 <br />Rich Shaw, 245-2591 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To authorize staff to submit a grant application to the US Department of <br />Agriculture's Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program for the purchase of farmland <br />preservation conservation easements in Orange County. <br />BACKGROUND: The acquisition of agricultural conservation easements to help preserve <br />prime farmland is a longstanding goal of the Board of Commissioners, and is a priority of the <br />Lands Legacy Program. Acquisition of the County's first agricultural conservation easement <br />occurred in 2001, followed by others in 2002 and 2003. To date, Orange County has <br />protected 369 acres of prime farmland and stream corridors through this program. <br />In 2002 Orange County was awarded $784,000 of the $2.1 million available in North Carolina <br />from the federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP). Those funds are being <br />used to match County funds to purchase conservation easements on three farms. This <br />coming year, the federal Farm Bill will provide nearly $2.3 million for similar projects in North <br />Carolina. Because Orange County has already allocated funds for farmland protection and <br />has identified several good candidates, the County stands a fairly good chance of receiving <br />matching grant funds. The deadline for submitting proposals is May 3, 2004 <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: The County intends to apply for up to $1,000,000 in federal funds. <br />The application grant program would require an equal share of Couunty funds be used to <br />match federal grant funds should the grant be awarded. The federal funds may not be used <br />for transaction costs; those will be paid far by Orange County and are estimated to cost <br />another $40-50,000 for the four farms, The County's matching funds ($1,000,000) would <br />