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Tompkins County approves $2,500 to help Ochsner Farms apply for state farmland-protection grant
Summary
The county voted unanimously to pay $2,500 from contingent funds to the Department of Planning and Sustainability to cover application costs for the New York Agricultural Land Trust's FPIG application to protect 131 acres at Ochsner Farms; the payment covers application work only and the state award is not yet final.
Tompkins County's Planning, Energy & Environmental Quality Committee voted unanimously to appropriate $2,500 from contingent funds to the Department of Planning and Sustainability to pay the New York Agricultural Land Trust for completing a Farmland Protection and Implementation Grant (FPIG) application for a portion of Ochsner Farms.
Rachel Auslund, who introduced the resolution, told the committee the payment 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." Committee members asked whether the county was paying for the application before the state award was confirmed; staff clarified the county is paying the Land Trust to submit the application on behalf of the farmer and that an award is not yet guaranteed.
County staff and Land Trust representatives explained the FPIG program pays landowners for development rights so land remains in agricultural use. Planning staff said the county will not manage the land if the grant is awarded; the Land Trust would take on stewardship. The committee recorded no objections and approved the measure on a unanimous vote.
