Published: April 04, 2008 11:40 pm      

Commission gets Hardy farmland protection status

MOOREFIELD — A report on Hardy County’s Farmland Protection program was presented to the county commissioners to clarify some issues and provide information so they could better answer questions from the public.

Dennis Funk, chairman of the county Farmland Protection Board, and Christi Hicks, acting district conservationist with the Potomac Valley Soil Conservation District, appeared before Hardy County Commissioners Roger Champ, Stanley Moyer and JR Keplinger on Tuesday.

Funk said that the county board is working its latest easements with three landowners, conducting title searches and surveys.

Hicks said that no previous easement bounds had been surveyed for the sites.

Funk said the county has $86,900 in its farmland protection fund.

Champ asked if the board could work on several sites at one time and if that wouldn’t benefit the county.

“We don’t have the revenue to do it at this point,” said Funk.

While they would be able to spread the payments to landowners for the easements over a period of three to five years, the average cost for an easement is $400,000 to $500,000.

If landowners are willing to donate an easement, they might be able to do it.

“It would be a tax benefit to the landowner,” he said. “But, most landowners don’t have the financial resources to do that.

“Most are elderly and they want the money now, rather than having it paid in installments to their kids,” he said.

Keplinger said that for many people, things can change over a three- to five-year period.

Funk said that the county has 400 acres of farmland protected under the program.

He and the commissioners praised the assistance that has been provided by Hicks as “very helpful.”

She is interim since Ed Kesecker retired from the position in January.

She said that the conservation district is looking at possibly combining Hardy and Grant counties under one conservationist. The district may include Hampshire and Pendleton at a later date.

She and Funk said that there may be some state money available later that would boost the program.

The farmland protection funds in each county are built with the taxes paid on the sale of properties in the county. Funds are matched with federal money after a lengthy review process to determine the suitability of any site being considered for inclusion in the program.

In other business, the commissioners noted that they had talked with Terry Lively of Region 8 concerning the possibility of applying for a grant for extending infrastructure into combined areas.

Champ said that some locations individually don’t qualify based on the grant criteria for income or the number of potential customers but they might if they were combined.

The commissioners also agreed that they would not participate in a telecommunications audit offered by Gene Watkins, president of RAJCO. The audit would have reviewed costs and services in an effort to save the county money.

Champ said that the commissioners undertook such an audit about four years ago and as a result reduced some lines and changed the county’s service from Frontier to Hardy Telecommunications.

He said that he doesn’t believe this is an appropriate time to do another audit, but the commissioners would likely consider it again in a few years.

Watkins said the service is contingency-based in that if they don’t find savings for the county there would be no charge.

Contact Mona Ridder at mridder@times-news.com.