Clay County panel advances three practice parcels as staff refines conservation-nomination process

The Clay County Soil and Water Board approved minutes from its prior meeting and spent the bulk of the session reviewing staff-prepared 'initial office review' packets for six county-owned parcels to be used as practice nominations for the county conservation program.

Dodie, a staff member overseeing the packet preparation, told the board the initial review includes parcel data, primary and secondary conservation goals, aerial and soils maps, a preliminary determination whether a property meets program goals, and a recommendation on whether the parcel should become eligible for further assessment. "What I did was bring PDFs of the staff reports that I gave you," Dodie said, describing this meeting as a first-pass exercise before a more detailed environmental and real-estate assessment would be prepared by staff or a contracted consultant.

Juan Campos, a member of the Clay County Soil and Water Board (seat…