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Board approves transaction-cost funding for multiple conservation easement projects under open-space bond and agricultural grant
Summary
The board authorized budget amendments to establish conservation easement projects and approve transaction-cost funding for several farms (Cedar Hill, Wilson, Brown Legacy, Saddle Brook and three Morgan Branch parcels) and moved forward with a Slocum Farm easement purchase; staff said purchase-price estimates will follow once appraisals are done.
Ariel Zeipp, farmland preservation manager, asked the board to approve a series of transaction-cost requests tied to the county's Open Space Bond and an agricultural growth-zone grant from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
Zeipp said the projects presented are largely transaction-cost requests that enable the county to complete appraisals and related due diligence; she said the agricultural growth-zone grant will fund 25% of easement values and the Open Space Bond funds will provide the county match for easement purchases when appraisal figures are finalized.
Zeipp reviewed several parcels: Cedar Hill Farm (about 63 acres in Alexander, bordering Sandy Mush Game Lands and the French Broad River); Wilson Farm (about 20 acres in Fairview with 100% prime soils); Brown Legacy Farm (about 24 acres in Newfound community, two noncontiguous parcels producing hay); Saddle Brook Farm (about 23 acres near Newfound Road); and three parcels collectively described as the Morgan Branch Farm easement (109, 77 and 144 acres, active working farms and part of the North Carolina Century Farm program). She said most of the presented parcels meet multiple open-space bond criteria and several have stream easements or recent stream-restoration work that protects water quality.
Zeipp said Slocum Farm had previously received transaction-cost approval and is now presented for an easement purchase request. She provided transaction-cost estimates for several parcels (examples cited in the presentation included $46,800 for Brown Legacy and $50,500 for Saddle Brook; a $78,400 request was cited for one Morgan Branch parcel) and told the commissioners staff will return with full easement-purchase amounts after appraisals.
A motion to approve the budget amendment for the conservation easement projects passed by voice vote. Commissioners commended staff and landowners for work that began before Hurricane Helene and resumed after recovery, and noted the clustered nature of several parcels near Newfound Road increases contiguous protected acreage in that part of the county.
