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Committee clears document edits, sets schedule to finalize farmland‑preservation plan
Summary
After adopting the AEA‑based map, the committee reviewed narrative edits: remove an outdated farm survey, confirm forestry economic figures, revise wastewater language to reflect the county's 2018 ag performance standard/ordinance, and schedule a full draft review for early December before DATCP submission.
After voting to align the farmland preservation map with the county’s Ag Enterprise Area, the committee reviewed suggested edits to the plan narrative and set next steps for completing the draft.
Members agreed to remove an outdated agricultural survey from the plan’s appendix and to keep a short forestry economic paragraph, but asked staff to confirm numeric values and format. Dan Grady read the forestry bullets aloud and committee members asked Jason Lohman to verify the figure that appears as "800,500" in the draft so it prints with standard numeric formatting.
On wastewater and manure management, Mary Jo Gingress said the county adopted an agricultural performance‑standards ordinance in 2018 that affects a paragraph about animal waste and groundwater protection; she directed staff to update the wording to reflect the ordinance's adoption and separate wastewater treatment text from animal‑waste references. Lohman confirmed the county reviews and permits private wastewater systems and that the ordinance change should be reflected in the draft.
Committee members also asked staff to confirm counts of open leaking underground storage tank activities via the Department of Natural Resources BRRTS database before finalizing the groundwater section. Staff said they will compile the mapping and narrative and circulate a full draft for committee review; Autumn will poll members to schedule a meeting in early December so the county can forward the draft to DATCP in time for the agency's review window.
