by Bea Peterson
Before the November 14 Hoosick Town Board meeting a one hour public hearing was held to discuss the Draft Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan. Laura Ten Eyck, a NY Field Representative from the American Farmland Trust, addressed the Board and the room full of people there to hear and comment on the plan. Ten Eyck said the Town received a grant two years ago to develop a farmland protection plan.
A public hearing was held in June 2009. A committee was formed to develop the plan. They have been meeting once a month. Farmers were interviewed and many suggestions were received. The draft document is finally complete and ready for review. A copy of the document is available for review in the Town Clerk’s office.
In the document five goals were defined. The goals are to encourage on-farm renewable energy production, retain agricultural land and keep it in production, educate Town residents about agriculture, foster the local economy based on agriculture and create an agricultural identity for the Town. Recommendations for achieving those goals are laid out in full in the draft document.
The five top priority recommendations included in the plan are the establishment of an agriculture advisory committee, the development of renewable energy production, property tax relief for farmers, the holding of an annual educational farm festival and the support of direct marketing of locally produced agricultural products. The document goes on to outline guidelines to achieving these objectives.
Key issues brought up during the hearing included less restriction on trailers and allowing them to be retained on farms to house hired workers. Another proposal is to exclude farmers from the junk yard law. The document also supports reducing the tax burden placed on farms. The issue of trailers, junk yards and the high cost of five fire districts were discussed during the hearing. Comments were in favor of the trailers and lessening junk yard restrictions.
Ten Eyck said the plan addresses the present and what could be 20 years from now. She believes, with the support of this plan, small farmers could survive in Hoosick. The next public hearing will be held in the new year, after the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board have had a chance to review the document.