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County staff: State awarded roughly $1.9M for Buncombe farmland preservation; county to match with bond funds
Summary
Staff told the board Buncombe County received an Agricultural Growth Zone award of about $1.9 million that requires a one-to-one local match; the county will seek $2 million in bond funds to establish roughly $4 million for farmland preservation in targeted focus areas.
Staff announced that Buncombe County’s farmland preservation efforts will receive a substantial infusion if county commissioners approve a proposed match. "We just got the award letter last week around 1.9, almost 2 million to be used for Buncombe county farmland preservation program," a staff presenter said, describing a state Agricultural Growth Zone grant that requires a one-to-one local match.
The presenter said the program will require county commissioners to allocate $2 million in bond-match funds so the county can leverage approximately $4 million for conservation easement work in focus areas. Staff said the award should reduce the need for repeated grant‑writing for matching funds and may help preserve projects that otherwise would not score well in annual grant cycles.
