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Committee approves $2,500 to help New York Agricultural Land Trust apply to protect Ochsner Farms
Summary
The Planning, Energy and Environmental Quality Committee approved a $2,500 contingent-fund payment to the New York Agricultural Land Trust to complete a Farmland Protection and Implementation Grant application on behalf of Ochsner Farms, which would seek permanent protection of 131 acres in Newfield and Ulysses.
The Tompkins County Planning, Energy and Environmental Quality Committee on Aug. 6 approved a $2,500 contingent-fund appropriation to pay the New York Agricultural Land Trust to complete a Farmland Protection and Implementation Grant (FPIG) application for Ochsner Farms.
"This resolution would allow us to appropriate $2,500 from contingent funds to the department of planning and sustainability in order to pay the New York agricultural land trust for their completion of a farmland protection and implementation grant application for the permanent protection of 131 acres of Ochsner farms in Newfield and Ulysses," Rachel Auslund said while introducing the measure. Auslund said the state program pays landowners for conservation easements that prohibit subdivision and development in perpetuity.
Committee members asked how the county payment would be used and whether the award had already been granted. "So the requested action is for us to pay the New York agricultural land trust for their completion of the application, but it sounds like we're paying them for the actual action of doing the protection in perpetuity. Like, would we be paying for an application even if we didn't get the award?" a member asked. Abigail, a planning department manager, clarified that the county is paying the land trust to submit the application on behalf of the farmer and that the award is not yet confirmed.
Irene Weiser moved the resolution and John Hunt seconded; the chair reported the vote as in favor and unanimous. The appropriation was taken from the county's contingent funds as a one-time payment to support the land trust's application work.
