MINUTES

GENESEE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND FARMLAND PROTECTION BOARD

Monday, April 25, 2016

A meeting of the Genesee County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board was held on Monday, April 25, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. in the Large Conference Room of Genesee County Building No. 2. Members in attendance: Mr. Donn E. Branton, Mr. Kevin Andrews, Mr. Mike Davis, Mr. Charlie Miller, Mr. Dale Stein, Ms. LuAnn McKenzie, Ms. Jan Beglinger, Mr. Jim Veazey, Ms. Shelley Stein, Mr. Steven Boldt, and Mr. Felipe Oltramari. Staff present: Mr. Derik Kane.

The Meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM

Mr. Oltramari had a note on membership. Mr. Jim Veazey and Ms. Luanne McKenzie’s terms on the board have both expired. Mr. Veazey stated his daughter, Janette Veazey-Post, had expressed interest in serving and had submitted an application. Ms. McKenzie is still considering renewing her appointment but would like to hear suggestions for a possible replacement. Ms. McKenzie stated she would like a representative who could represent other demographics within the farming community. Mr. Oltramari advised that there is enough membership to carry on until replacements are found.

Approval of Minutes

Ms. Stein requested updates on three items from the May 27, 2015 meeting.
1. The process for mailing letters for Ag review. Mr. Oltramari stated that he spoke with John Brennen from Ag & Markets regarding their new law. He stated Seneca County provides a method which could be emulated where two letters are sent out. One letter tailored towards small land owners and the other for large land owners. If small land owner do not reply their property is removed from the Agriculture District while large land owners stay within the district by default. Mr. Oltramari stated that they have until next year to finalize the process but he is hesitant to decide on one approach until the Ag & Markets law is finalized.
2. Question whether water district taxes are levied upon utility companies. Mr. Andrew stated he does not believe utility companies pay water district charges.
3. Update on the inconsistency between assessor data. Mr. Andrews stated that some assessors have been able to clean up their data but as a County official he is limited on what he can do to urge individual assessors to fix the issues. Mr. Oltramari inquired whether waving filing fee to merge parcels could assist. Mr. Andrews stated that could be explored but grant funding is likely needed to pay for these ‘side projects’ as some assessors do not have the time as they oversee multiple municipalities.

A motion to approve the meeting minutes from May 27, 2015 was made by Mr. Veazey for approval, seconded by Mr. Miller, and carried unanimously.

Ag District Annual Enrollment

Mr. Kane presented the request for inclusion into Agricultural District No. 3 received during the Annual Enrollment period as shown below.

Requests for Inclusion into Agricultural District No. 3

Application Received: 2/24/16

Tax Map Parcel #: 20.-1-21.111

Town: Stafford

Acres: 29.1

Owner(s): Marie A. Rouse

Current Land Use: Rented to farmer

Approx. Prime Farmland Soils Composition: 0.4%

Contiguous to Main Farm Operation? No

Mr. Kane advised the board that the requested parcel had little prime soil (0.4%), and although it was next to active farmland, it was not contiguous to the operation of the same landowner or farmer. Mr. Kane informed the board that he had contacted Jared Elliott from Soil and Water, the landowner, and the farmer inquiring whether the property had ever been tiled, as a significant portion of the property was classified as ‘prime if drained’. All three individuals stated they had no record of the property ever being tiled / drained. Mr. Kane therefore indicated that the property does not appear to meet the board’s criteria that it either is: 51% prime farmland or contiguous to the main farm operation.
There was discussion as to whether the Agriculture and Farmland Protection Boards requirement is an effective requirement as this parcel seems appropriate for inclusion outside of that threshold. Mr. Oltramari explained the history behind the board establishing that threshold for enrollments outside the 8 year reviews. Mr. Stein described how the board came to that threshold in an attempt to prevent none farmland from being enrolled within an Ag District. However, he feels a new threshold is necessary as this property is not the type of land they were attempting to prevent from being enrolled. Mr. Kane informed the board that their decision is only a recommendation and that the parcel could in theory be enrolled as part of the annual enrollment in three years. The board determined that the parcel should be recommended for inclusion with the condition that the threshold be amended to read: contiguous to main farm operation, or 51% prime farmland, or 51% actively farmed land.

A motion was made by Mr. Stein to recommend to the County Legislature that they approve the request for inclusion into Agricultural District No. 3. The motion was seconded by Ms. McKenzie and carried unanimously.

Update on the Genesee County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan

Mr. Oltramari presented the board with Wendel’s progress reports for the Genesee County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan, and the separate Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plans being created for both Oakfield and Alabama. Wendel had hosted a farmer’s roundtable in Oakfield and another one is scheduled in Alabama for April 28th at 7pm. Mr. Oltramari stated that he has not met with the consultants since the launch in fall 2015 but there is a meeting scheduled with the steering committee on May 4th. Additionally, he stated that the consultants have not posted any updates on the county website even though they were given access and training to do so.

Infrastructure Extensions/Improvements

  1. Village of Elba Water System Improvements

Mr. Oltramari provided the board with the project notification letter and map for the proposed Village of Elba Water System Improvements. No action is currently required by the board.

  1. Batavia Southwest Water District

Mr. Oltramari provided the board with the project notification letter and map for the proposed Batavia Southwest Water District. No action is currently required by the board.

  1. Joint Stafford (Dist. 11) – Bethany (Dist. 3) Water Project

Mr. Oltramari provided the board with the project notification letter and map for the proposed Joint Stafford (Dist. 11) – Bethany (Dist. 3) Water Project. No action is currently required by the board.

  1. STAMP

Mr. Oltramari notified the board that the update to environmental documentation for STAMP, to accommodate the build out of 1366 Technologies, is currently underway.

Ms. Stein advised the board that several other water districts were being proposed, and when speaking with representatives from those municipalities they stated they did not understand the necessity of the Smart Growth Plan nor understood that funding for water districts was contingent upon its existence. Mr. Oltramari stated that education on the Smart Growth plan is an ongoing process and that with the plan currently undergoing its three year update there is an opportunity to further educate each municipality.

Comprehensive Plan Updates

  1. Bergen

Mr. Oltramari provided the board with the draft future land use map proposed by the Town and Village. Mr. Oltramari stated that he has been working with the municipalities for over two years and believes the proposed plan adequately protects agricultural lands.

  1. LeRoy

Mr. Oltramari informed the board that the Town and Village of LeRoy are updating their comprehensive plan themselves. He stated he has viewed an early draft of the plan and advised them that the language in their plan is not in sync with what is represented on their future land use map.

  1. Elba

Mr. Oltramari reported that the Town and Village of Elba are also currently undertaking an update to their comprehensive plan by themselves. Mr. Oltramari reported that he advised Elba that their proposed plan intends for future development on a scale larger than what is present in the village and should be scaled back. He did state a parcel next to the park on South Main St., near the school, would be an area more appropriate for development.

Mr. Stein inquired as to where the Smart Growth Development boundary is defined. Mr. Oltramari advised that the plan itself is what is drawn on the map but the current boundary may be amended as part of the 3 year update.

  1. Green Genesee Smart Genesee (Alabama, Oakfield, Batavia)

Mr. Oltramari notified the board that the Green Genesee Smart Genesee plan is wrapping up with meetings scheduled for Alabama on May 23rd and Oakfield on May 31st. At these meetings the plan will be presented in its entirety, including the proposed zoning code model. The Town of Batavia is currently updating their entire comprehensive plan so the inclusion of the Green Genesee Smart Genesee plan will be rolled into that process at some later point.

Mr. Oltramari raised the idea of having more regular meetings of the Agriculture and Farmland Protection board as a number of these issues were last discussed a year ago. Ms. Stein requested that Mr. Oltramari come up with some tentative dates for the Agriculture and Farmland Protection board to meet as well as forward notices of public meetings which impact agriculture. It was decided the board should meet quarterly, with the first meeting tentatively set for Monday July 18th.

Old/New Business

  1. Solar Farms

Mr. Oltramari stated that Ag & Markets is investigating potential long term impacts of solar farms on farmland. As solar farms typically operate on twenty year cycles the long term impacts, such as soil compaction, have not been fully explored yet. Mr. Oltramari advised that one of the companies that build these solar farms stated that they look to build within a 2 mile radius of substations; anything outside that area is found to not be cost effective. Mr. Miller requested the County Planning Department draft and presents a map to the board depicting which farmlands would fall within the 2 mile radius of substations.

  1. Dollar General in Pembroke

Mr. Oltramari updated the board on the proposed Dollar General in Pembroke. As the property was enrolled in both the Ag District and Smart Growth development area there was a question whether they would be restricted to sewer and water. It was determined that the store would be able to hook up to the water district but was restricted from connecting into the sewer system.

  1. Agricultural District No. 1 Eight year review
Mr. Oltramari reported that the Agricultural District No. 1 Eight year review was accepted by Ag & Markets.
  1. Agricultural District No. 6 Termination
Mr. Oltramari reported that Ag & Markets accepted the termination of Agricultural District No. 6, thus ending the consolidation process.

A motion was made to adjourn by Ms. Stein, seconded by Mr. Veazey and carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 8:04 PM.

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