Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board
Draft Minutes of the Board Meeting held on
January 23, 2006 at the
Jefferson County Public Services Center,
1948 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville
Members present: Bob Henshaw (President), Joe Funkhouser (Vice-President), Phil Cox
(Treasurer), Peter Fricke (Secretary), Jane Peters and Jane Tabb.
Others present: Kellie Boles (JCFPB Administrator); owners of Property J.
Call to order: The President called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. He noted that the
first order of business was to meet with the owners of Property J to hear matters relating
to the purchase of the easement.
Property J easement: Jane Peters moved, seconded by Phil Cox, that the Board
convene in Executive Session to hear proposals relating to Property J. The motion passed
unanimously. At 7:25 pm, Joe Funkhouser moved, seconded by Phil Cox, that the Board
reconvene in Public Session. The motion passed unanimously. The President thanked
the owners of Property J for presenting their proposals to the Board. The landowners
then left the meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer reported that the Board’s bank balance on January
9, 2006 was $2,299,884.52. Since the previous report on December 12, 2005, receipts of
bank interest and the November (erroneously shown as October) transfer tax totaled
$116,298.99. Expenditures, including the purchase of the easement on the Printz
property, totaled $132,826.78. Encumbered funds for easements in progress totaled
$956,296.92, inclusive of $83,796.92 of Civil War Preservation Trust monies. The
Board had $1,343,587.60 in available funds for new easements. Jane Peters moved,
seconded by Joe Funkhouser, that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted, with the correction
noted by the Treasurer. The motion passed unanimously.
Matters arising from the Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer noted that he had a
number of invoices for payment and asked that the Board approve the payments. These
invoices are as follows:
Nichols & Skinner, LLC – for Moore property closing costs – $3,846.30
John McLurg, appraiser – for Moore property closing appraisal – $1,000.00
John McLurg, appraiser – for Lewis property closing appraisal – $1,500.00
Jane Peters moved, seconded by Peter Fricke, that the Treasurer be authorized to make
the payments described. The motion passed unanimously.
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Kellie Boles noted that she had received a check for $25 from Jane Tabb as payment for a
Board Annual Report CD mailed to a student. She asked the Board to consider whether
she should accept the $25 or return it to Ms. Tabb because the CDs are for outreach
purposes and she considered the student project to be an example of this. Jane Peters
moved, seconded by Joe Funkhouser, that the $25 be returned to Jane Tabb. The motion
passed unanimously.
Funding of easements for which matching funds were not available or awarded:
The Treasurer introduced a discussion on the issue of how to handle Properties which the
Board had accepted into the program but for which matching funds were not available.
After some lengthy discussion of easement values, future availability of transfer tax
funds, and the Board’s program, it was agreed by the Board that the following general
principles should be followed:
1. All applications should be, as a matter of course, submitted to NRCS
and/or other agencies for matching fund awards.
2. If the NRCS and/or other agency declined to make an award to that property,
for whatever reason, the property owner would be told and asked if they wished
the Board to re-submit their application in the next cycle of grant applications.
3. The landowner would also be asked whether they would consider purchase of
the easement with local (Board) funds and partial matching funds, if the latter
were available, but at an amount less than that if full matching funds were
available.
4. If the landowner chose to consider the purchase of the easement using local
funds and any available partial matching funds (if available), then the Board
would consider making an offer of local funds up to 75 percent of the value of the
easement. It was recognized that circumstances, e.g. the quality of the soil,
availability of partial matching funds, etc, would differ among properties and that
the Board might consider a different percentage offer for a particular agricultural
easement.
5. If more than one property, in a funding cycle, wished to take the local funding
option the Board would rank the farms in the order of the criteria established in
the Board’s program and consider them in the order of highest ranking to lowest.
6. It was further agreed by the Board, that a designated Board member should
undertake negotiations with each landowner who decided to consider the local
funding option
There was some discussion as to whether the Board’s consensus on these guiding
principles should be the subject of a resolution of the Board. It was agreed that to
set the principles in a resolution would limit the ability of the Board to negotiate
individual cases. Once experience had been gained in implementing local funding
option easements, the Board could re-consider the matter.
Local-funding option for Properties D, G, J and M. The President proposed
that we should make local funding proposals to Properties G, J and M, and up-to2
double the amount of the Board’s matching funds to the owner of Property D (the
Federal matching funds for D would remain unchanged). Phil Cox moved ,
seconded by Peter Fricke, that the President’s proposal be implemented and
discussions begun with the landowners. After some further discussion, the
motion passed unanimously. The following Board members were designated to
work with the landowners:
Property D -- Bob Henshaw
Property G – Joe Funkhouser
Property J – Phil Cox
Property M – Peter Fricke.
It was agreed that Kellie Boles would set up the appointments and would
accompany Board members at the meetings with the landowners.
Minutes of the Board meeting held on January 9, 2006: The minutes of the
Board meeting on January 9 were circulated and read. Joe Funkhouser moved,
seconded by Phil Cox, that the minutes be adopted as read. The motion passed
unanimously.
Matters arising from the Minutes:
•
•
Legal Representation for the Board: Kellie Boles reported that she had
received a letter from John Skinner, Attorney, in response to the Board’s
letter of inquiry concerning possible representation by Nichols & Skinner,
LLC, in the closing of conservation easements and other legal matters.
Mr. Skinner had responded positively and offered a scale of fees for
services rendered. The Board discussed these, and it was agreed that Phil
Cox would approach Mr. Skinner and discuss possible fixed or hourly fees
for legal advice and research. It was also agreed that Mr. Cox should
discuss with Mr. Skinner possible retainer mechanisms.
Lavonne Paden: Ms. Boles reported that the briefing by Lavonne Paden,
on the purchase of Boydville, by the Berkeley County FPB, would be at
the Board meeting on February 27. The briefing, originally scheduled for
today (January 23), had been postponed because of the Board’s meeting
with landowners
Status of Easements in Progress:
•
•
Property H: Ms. Boles reported that the paperwork on the survey was
expected tomorrow (January 24). When the survey was in hand the
easement would go forward to NRCS and the Prosecuting Attorney’s
Office for review and approval.
Property K: Ms. Boles reported that the landowner and their attorney
continued to work on the easement language.
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•
Property L: Ms. Boles reported that the landowner was waiting for
CWPT-approved appraisal to be completed.
New Business:
•
Shepherdstown Battlefield properties: Jane Tabb reported that the group
proposing preservation of the Shepherdstown Battlefield had requested the
County Commission for support and funding of the project. In the
submission and presentation to the County Commission, the representative
of the group said that funding would be available from the CWPT and the
Board for adjacent properties. Ms. Tabb had requested that the references
to the JCFPB be struck from the submissions since, to her knowledge, no
applications had been received and/or approved by the Board for the
referenced properties. The group’s representative said that the information
about funding by the JCFPB had been provided by Grant Smith, of the
CWPT and the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle. The representative
agreed to delete the references to the JCFPB as requested. On behalf of
the Board, the President thanked Ms. Tabb for her action in this matter.
Ms. Boles reported that she had had a conversation with one of the
landowners involved during the past week, but that no applications had
been received. After a very brief discussion by the Board, it was agreed
that the Board’s standing procedures and criteria for reviewing and
ranking applications would be followed with regard to these and any other
properties with historic significance.
•
Tax credits and farm protection bond issues: The President opened a
discussion on the need for workshops or other educational mechanisms for
informing County Commissioners, farmers and others interested in
conservation tax credits and farm protection bonds. It was noted that prior
workshops by Vince Collins and others had been well attended, but there
was a new audience of Commissioners, State Authority members, and
newly-formed FPBs around the State. After some discussion, Ms Tabb
said she would discuss the issue with the WVAFPB and see whether an all
day work on farm protection tax credits and bonds could be organized for
the time frame of the State Authority’s next meeting on April 13 at
Boydville, Martinsburg. It was suggested that Wednesday, April 12 could
be the date.
Adjournment: There being no further business, Jane Peters moved, seconded by
Phil Cox, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion passed unanimously and the
meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm.
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The next meeting of the Board will be held on Monday, February 13, 2006, at 7
pm in the Jefferson County Public Service Building, 1948 Wiltshire Road,
Kearneysville, WV
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