Farmland preservation at forefront of town's concerns

NORTH EAST — The Town Board named a working group for the town’s farmland protection plan at its June 12 meeting.

The Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) prompted the formation of such a group to help institute the protection plan, the drafting of which is to be funded by a recently awarded $25,000 grant. The group, known for now as the Farmland Preservation Planning Committee, will work with the American Farmland Trust (AFT), which has been contracted to act as consultants to help create a farmland protection plan.

The planning committee appointees are Kenneth Beneke, John Perotti, John Pulver and Kevin Smith (all of whom are local farmers); Dianne Engleke, Kent Kay, Lynn Mordas and Jane Rossman (all of whom sit on the CAC); and Patti Lynch (of the Millerton Planning Board) and Dan Briggs (of the North East Town Board).

"This is to work on the project developing an agricultural farmland preservation plan and this is to conduct the work consistent with the services we agreed to with Ag and Markets to develop our preservation plan," town Supervisor Dave Sherman said, adding the Town Board approved the contract and submitted it to the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets for funding.

"These folks [in the Farmland Preservation Planning Committee] will be the core group working on this. There will be others dropping in from time to time, and a number of people who are resource people who... may be called upon to provide assistance on this project."

"Our goal is to draw up a plan which will work and which will actually save farmland for farmers and create income and perhaps even encourage new farmers and make farming appealing enough to a new generation," Engleke said, adding that there are varied goals included in trying to preserve farmland. "I think we would also like to take advantage of the eating local movement. We produce a wide range of food here, not just milk, but beef, lamb, food grains; I think we’re well situated for the buy local movement.

"In fact, we can actually benefit from a lot of the challenging things in the economy. People don’t want to drive and are concerned about food safety, which benefits local agriculture. Cows in the pasture are not just a pretty sight, but a healthy one."

At Thursday’s meeting there was a discussion regarding services with the American Farmland Trust, specifically focused on a few details in the contract. According to Sherman, the board reviewed the information with counsel and although he was not able to comment on the scope of service with AFT, it was concluded that with the addition of a couple items not appearing in their initial scope of services, Sherman would be able to sign the contract.

"There were just a few minor differences between the contract AFT submitted and the work plan," Engleke said. "We’re bringing that to AFT’s attention. It’s a minor detail but Dave [Sherman], Lynn [Mordas] and I thought it needed to be addressed. The Town Board authorized Dave Sherman to sign the contract once it was amended."

Additionally, the town received word from state Senator Vincent Leibell’s office on Thursday that its legislative request to create a community preservation fund was still in front of the Legislature. That’s good news, according to Sherman.

"Before the Assembly and the Senate amend the laws, we’re required to submit home-rule requests," he said. "The board has acted on that, and approved the submission of request forms."

In fact, 10 copies of those forms were signed and sealed Thursday evening, to be sent to Leibell’s and state Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro’s offices the following day. The end result of the meeting, according to Engleke, was a positive one.

"I was very optimistic after the meeting, which was attended by Dutchess County Planning, the Dutchess Land Conservancy, the Farmland Protection Board, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and others," she said. "I thought that showed a desire to actually do something. No one was there because they were forced into it. People there felt optimistic and up to the challenge.

"The next step is to come up with a list of farmers to be interviewed, and that’s something the AFT will be doing, but the working group will draw up the list of farmers," Engleke said, adding that the group is hoping to conduct interviews with the farmers in mid-July. "We’re hoping to have a representative list, showing a full range of farming here. I’m very pleased [with the progress]."

One other CAC goal is to bring a copy of the agricultural district map to the Millerton farmers market along with fliers to serve as an introduction to people to the group’s farmland preservation work.

"I know there are people who think agriculture is no longer a part of the community, but that’s not true," Engleke said. "An enormous number of acres are still in the ag district. It’s not the only part here, but it never was. We can live in conjunction with the shops here, and the Rail Trail, and artists, etc. Agriculture is an interesting neighbor to have, and it makes your town more real, since farmers have to deal with reality all the time."