Forty-five
farms totaling 3,832 acres qualified for state
preservation funding in this year's second round
of the State Agriculture Development Committee's
county grants program, Agriculture Secretary Arthur
R. Brown, Jr., announced today. "I'm pleased to
welcome these farms to New Jersey's rapidly expanding
list of farmland and open space preservation projects," said
Governor Whitman. "With each step toward our million-acre
goal, we guarantee our children and grandchildren
a greener New Jersey and a better place for them
to raise their own families." "Earlier this year,
a record 145 farms covering 12,672 acres were approved
for state preservation grants in the first funding
round of the county grants program," noted Secretary
Brown, who chairs the SADC. "This second round
-- a first for the program -- only adds to that
already impressive achievement." The two funding
rounds combined will provide state preservation
funding for up to 190 farms covering 16,504 acres
in 11 counties. Prior to this, the highest annual
total under this program was 85 farms covering
11,331 acres that were approved in 1999. Under
the county grants program, landowners apply to
counties to sell their development easements or
development rights. The SADC provides cost-sharing
grants of 60-80 percent to help fund those county
purchases. In June, the SADC certified development
values for each farm based on the recommendations
of three independent appraisers. A development
value is the maximum price on which the state is
willing to cost-share. Each landowner then had
the opportunity to submit a sealed bid stating
his or her final asking price. The SADC opened
those bids today. Valid bids were submitted by
45 of the 74 landowners eligible for this round.
Altogether, the state preservation costs for the
45 farms will total $10,407,702. To be valid, bids
must not exceed the highest appraised value. The
SADC provides grants that are based on no higher
than the state certified value. If a landowner
submits a valid bid that is higher than the certified
value, the county must determine whether it will
expend the additional funds to preserve that farm.
Funding is subject to final approval by the counties,
SADC, Garden State Preservation Trust and Legislature.
To
date, 438 farms totaling 65,555 acres have been
permanently preserved under the state Farmland
Preservation Program. |
