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Kendall Co. Plan Consortium Minutes 2009 11-05-09 APMOVED Kendall County Planning Consortium November 5, 2009 Glen Schieberl, Minooka Anne Lucietto, Yorkville Richard Scheffrahn, Yorkville Michael Brown, Montgomery Jane Tompkins, Montgomery Jerad Chipman, Montgomery Matt Brolley, Montgomery Matt Schury, Ledger Sentinel Annette Williams, Yorkville The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Anne Lucietto. She welcomed the guests and thanked them for attending the consortium meeting. She introduced the speaker, Janice Hill, Farmland Protection Manager for the Kane County Development Department Ms. Hill shared with the group how the Ag Protection Easements work to preserve farmland for gnerations to come. Her 18 county district has 39 farm and 5156 acres in the program. The farm owner and the easement holder enter into a legal agreement. Usually this is an estate issue. The easement is the difference between the market and agricultural values. There is always a waiting list for easement property. Some easement properties are held by conservation districts. Kane County was the first to enter into an easement agreement, followed shortly after by Kendall County. Money is the stumbling block and thus the wait for easements. There is a bill in the Senate right now which, if voted in, would allow counties to tax themselves, raising monies for easements. A family can also accept donated easements. A huge impetus is growing regionally for"arm security and economic strategy" If each person spent$10, combined the money to give the group buying power, then the approximate $48 million collected could be used to buy large lots of food locally. Restaurants with a large customer base are searching for farmers who will grow food locally. This has become a cumbersome task for the restrantiers. Grantd are being sought after to allow chefs to find farmers who can grow produce, dairy and meats to accommodate their cooking desires. Another collaborative effort is the US working farm. These would give those who live on the farm advantages, such as a large farmers' market, restaurants with home grown produce, meat and fruits within the subdivision. Some may have heard of the Serenbe Farm in Atlanta, Some farmers welcome the opportunity to pay a fee for the bounty grown on farms, such as organic or even horse farms. These means offer food security, access to fresher produce, help the local economies, and make the communities healthier. The Kane County Development Department wills soon receiving grant money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation will attempt to find programs customized for Kane County, with commitment, enthusiasm and resources designed to provide healthy foods and beverages in schools and overall communities, to increase frequency of activities, especially bike riding, and funds to affect additional easement opportunities. 1 So how are the plan commissions impacted by all these afore-mentioned items? As plan commission members, a look at public health issues as byproducts of comprehensive plans is not a ludicrous idea. In order to further educate the public and private sectors about health and food issues, Ms. Hill suggested that food policy councils be supported. She encourages a farm-to-school cooperative, where farmers and growers come to present their ideas to schools, tour local organic farms and offer local chef demonstrations. The trend is to go regional, supporting the growth of foods for local consumption. Farmers are making a change from the so-called "traditional" style of farming as younger men and women become sustainable farmers. Often, manufacturers of food products, like Sysco, are eager to find local food producing farmers so they can make more marketable products. Those consuming products are more likely to buy if they know the local farmers. There are many community gardens in the United States. Some of the more well-known are Kennedy Gardens in Sacramento; Athens Community Gardens in Athens; Seven Generations Ahead in Oak Park; and Farm to Fork in Columbus, Ohio and the Serosun Farms in Kane County. This farm encompasses 410 acres with 114 home sites and is a working organic farm. In a learning experiment in conjunction with Iowa State University, there is a large farming community called KanCo near Ames, which includes a agricultural conglomerate with niche farming, its own regional food processing facility, institutional purchasing of foods and is recruiting growers. The relationship between farmers and the growth of residential areas shows how important land use is. Ms. Hill suggested that those in planning could determine more definitions in zoning. She said that F2, for instance, might be zoned Ag-business and F1 be a split off in an agricultural area. Summery submitted by Annette Williams 2