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Commission presses for stronger agricultural section and CTAS/extension support in comprehensive plan
Summary
Commission members said the draft plan is light on agriculture and proposed adding a dedicated agriculture element, updated statistics and a custom map. Staff said CTAS and UT Extension (Matthew Dietz) will be invited to assist with data and GIS mapping.
Members of the planning commission said the draft comprehensive plan under review (pages 34'62) lacks a substantive agriculture section and encouraged staff to develop a dedicated agricultural element with supporting data and maps.
"I kinda asked Chris I feel like all of this is kinda light on agriculture," one commissioner said, urging a standalone agricultural section to reflect Bedford County's farm economy. Chris said he will invite UT Extension (including Matthew Dietz) and use a CTAS planning assistance GIS resource to create detailed maps and to break out revenue and production categories such as poultry, beef and timber.
Commissioners also debated naming a small set of farms in the agritourism paragraph versus using a more general approach; staff agreed to clarify charts and ensure the public can understand the data sources and values shown (one table cited agritourism sales figures such as $3,248,000 for a listed entity in the table). Staff said the plan's goals are intended to strengthen future grant eligibility rather than to commit immediate funding.
