Minutes Archive

Agricultural Preservation Board Meeting Minutes

Calhoun County Agricultural Preservation Board
June 11, 2007

Meeting Minutes

The regular meeting of the Calhoun County Agricultural Preservation Board (APB) was held on Monday, June 11, 2007, at 3:00 p.m., in the Planning Department Conference Room, County Building, Marshall, Michigan.

Chairman Ken Blight called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. Roll was called with the following members present: Larry Metzgar, Sue Ann Jessup, Dan Kesselring, Wayne Cornell, Ken Blight, and Greg Moore (entered at 3:15 p.m.).

Also present: Jennifer Bomba, County Planning Director

Meeting Minutes

Motion made by Dan Kesselring to approve the minutes of March 12, 2007 as presented. Support by Sue Ann Jessup. Motion carried.

Motion made by Wayne Cornell to approve the minutes of April 9, 2007 as corrected. Support by Sue Ann Jessup. Motion carried.

Communications
Jennifer noted the following items as communication.

Road project jeopardizes preserved farmland, Michigan Farm News, May 15, 2007

Dan Kesselring noted that a farmland conversion impact rating is required for all projects that include federal dollars. He expressed interest in knowing if such a study was conducted for this project.

Old Business
Calhoun County Ag Stats Brochure
Ken Blight noted that he is meeting with Kim Kerr, regional representative for Farm Bureau, on June 12th to discuss the details of the brochure. Ken has secured funding from Farm Bureau to cover the costs of printing. It was noted that the jobs number should be increased or removed form the brochure. It would be best to include it, but need to make sure that it is accurate. Jennifer noted that she has additional local photos available if needed.

New Business
2007 PDR Application Summary
Jennifer presented members with a summary of the PDR applications received. A total of 9 applications were received and all have been processed for the pre-qualification terms detailed in the selection criteria. Five of the applications are in need of conservation plans certified by NRCS and are therefore invalid. Three of the five are also in need of Township approval. Of the four valid applications, two are willing to provide match dollars, one at 30% and one at 13%.

It was agreed that Jennifer would send letters to all applicants indicating their status. Those that are not qualified will be referred to NRCS for information on developing a conservation plan and to the township for verification of the zoning items required in part two of the application in order to be eligible for the next application cycle. The qualified applicants will be asked for further information in order to determine the next steps.

Jennifer will also contact qualified appraisers to inquire of costs associated with an ag appraisal. Jennifer would also like to begin a conversation with the Kellogg Foundation, now that we have some potential applications to fund.

Staff Comments
Ag Preserve Boards of Michigan
Jennifer noted that she has received $700 from Potawatomi RC&D for assistance with membership dues for the Ag Preserve Boards of Michigan. She has also been watching the farm bill language that has been proposed with regard to farmland preservation. As initially presented Calhoun County, nor any of the PDR programs established in Michigan, would have been eligible to apply for federal funds. An amendment has been presented through Walberg's office that will change the definition of an eligible applicant. Jennifer will continue to watch the politics regarding the new farm bill.

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

Calhoun County
315 West Green Street
Marshall, MI 49068
Phone: (269) 781-0700
Fax: (269) 781-0140

Click here to contact the webmaster at Calhoun County
with your comments/feedback on this website.

Click here to report technical problems with this website,
i.e., broken links, pages not found, etc.

Several photos included in this
web site were provided courtesy of Scene Magazine.

DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript

Site Use Policy

Site Design/Development by