Johnston County approves $88,600 for Little River Farm conservation easement

The Johnston County Board of Commissioners voted March 17 to provide $88,600 and a letter of commitment to Triangle Land Conservancy to support an agricultural conservation easement on the Little River Farm.

The payment and the letter are intended to complete the local funding portion of an easement purchase and to secure extra points on an active state grant application to the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, Triangle Land Conservancy land protection manager Melissa Cloonan said. “The funding request today is for $88,600 which would make up the remaining easement purchase and transaction cost for this property,” Cloonan said.

The property is just under 40 acres; the northern portion is in row crops while the southern portion is managed timber with a forestry management plan, Cloonan said. She told the board the parcel sits in a conservation corridor adjacent to the Hatcher’s Bridge Tree Farm easement and that the state grants will award additional points to projects that can show secured county funding.

Commission discussion focused on the source of local funds. County staff identified the county’s open‑space funds — which come in part from payments tied to changes in land use and from fee‑in‑lieu receipts — as the intended source rather than the general fund. A county official described how taxes paid after a property changes use have been used previously to buy conservation land.

A motion to approve the funding request and provide a letter of commitment passed without roll‑call vote; commissioners voted by voice. The board did not attach conditions to the funding in the motion.

Triangle Land Conservancy will learn whether the state award is approved in the fall, Cloonan told the board.

The county’s action follows several recent conservation closings the nonprofit reported and continues a multi‑year pattern of county support for land protection projects in Johnston County.