Page 1 of 2 Land Stewardship/Aea Committee

Agenda posted at Greenville Town Hall, Greenville Post Office, Town Website (www.townofgreenville.com), and email to Rachel Rausch. This is apublic meeting. As such, a quorum of the Town Board, Plan Commission, Park Commission, Board of Appeals, or other Town committee may bein attendance. However, the only business to be conducted is for the Land Stewardship/Aea Committee.

LAND STEWARDSHIP/AEA COMMITTEEMEETING AGENDA

DATE: Monday, September 9, 2019TIME: 5:00 PMLOCATION: W6860 Parkview Dr. Greenville, WI 54942

1.CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

2.APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2.a. July 8, 2019 meeting minutes20190708_LSminutes.pdf

3.COMMITTEE ACCOUNTING

3.a. No Change to Account Balance of $1,068.00

4.BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION

4.a. Basic Elements for Land Preservation in Greenville

5.TOWN UPDATES

5.a. Town Incorporation

5.b. Comprehensive Plan

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Page 2 of 2 Land Stewardship/Aea Committee

Agenda posted at Greenville Town Hall, Greenville Post Office, Town Website (www.townofgreenville.com) and emailed to Rachel Rausch. This is apublic meeting. As such, a quorum of the Town Board, Plan Commission, Park Commission, Board of Appeals, or other Town committee may bein attendance. However, the only business to be conducted is for the Land Stewardship/Aea Committee.

6.HASD COMMUNITY AG EDUCATION

6.a. Ag Tours

6.b. School Activities and Education

7.NEXT MEETING

8.ADJOURNMENT

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Page 1 of 4

Land Stewardship/AEA Committee

Agenda posted at Greenville Town Hall, Greenville Post Office, Town Website (www.townofgreenville.com) and emailed to Rachel Rausch. This is a public meeting. As such, a quorum of the Town Board, Plan Commission, Park Commission, Board of Appeals, or other Town committee may be in attendance. However, the only business to be conducted is for the Land Stewardship/AEA Committee.

LAND STEWARDSHIP/AEA COMMITTEE

DRAFT MEETING NOTES

-- 8 July 2019 -- Present: Jack Anderson, Larry Bentle, Sally Bowers, Michael Brown, Joel Gregozeski, Jean Goffard, John Julius, Mia Ljung, Steve Nagy. Guest speakers: Alison Volk and Ben Kurtzman (Am. Farmland Trust (AFT))

Next Meeting: 9 September 2019 Monday (5:00 pm at the Town Hall)

DATE: Monday, July 8, 2019 TIME: 4:00 PM LOCATION: W6860 Parkview Dr. Greenville, WI 54942 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL. Called to order at 4:05 pm.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2.a. Approval of Land Stewardship/AEA Committee Meeting Minutes May 13, 2019. Motion by John Julius to accept as written, Sally Bowers 2nd. Draft notes approved as written.

3 BUSINESS PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION. Welcome Ben Kurtzman, AFT Director of Land Protection Projects, Northampton, MA and Alison Volk, AFT Easement Project Manager, Madison, WI. Ben, Alison and Mia gave a Power Point presentation on land protection and how we can partner with American Farmland Trust (AFT) to accomplish a land protection program for Greenville (see Attachment I & its referenced pages). Additional notes taken during their presentation are below: a. Page 3, AFT’s role.

i. Experience. AFT’s role in land protection began in 1980 to protect Ag land resources. Land trusts were offered in the 80s & 90s and about 200 trusts were established; they are still in force. AFT is the oldest national trust organization and the 4th oldest trust organization overall. In the late 90s AFT changed direction into other areas and stopped offering land trusts; however, Wisconsin was and is important to the AFT as some of the earliest easements were established here. The direction of AFT has now refocused on land protection and they want to provide easements in areas where no other trust organization is available. Their redefined strategy is to provide new innovations in land

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Page 2 of 4

Land Stewardship/AEA Committee

Agenda posted at Greenville Town Hall, Greenville Post Office, Town Website (www.townofgreenville.com) and emailed to Rachel Rausch. This is a public meeting. As such, a quorum of the Town Board, Plan Commission, Park Commission, Board of Appeals, or other Town committee may be in attendance. However, the only business to be conducted is for the Land Stewardship/AEA Committee.

protection and they are very interested in providing easement services to the Town of Greenville.

ii. Advocacy. AFT is a spokesperson for land protection at the national and federal level. Currently only $300K annually is available for WI from federal sources. They are lobbying for a better WI program.

iii. Resources. There are many resources at the Farmland Information Center on line. Call or email them. There is an Ag Network Forum to share information and model easements. They are partnered with the Natural Resources and Conservation Center (NRCC). There is much information from various areas in the country showing that leaving land in agriculture is beneficial to the entire community simply due to the lower cost for community services. Numerous cost comparisons are available. Often leaving land in agriculture is the best choice financially for the community. See link: Cost of Community Services studies show farmland = fiscal surplus for local governments http://bit.ly/1T4Q3eb .

iv. Promotion. AFT will help develop educational models for PDR (Purchase of Development Rights) promotion to community residents (e.g. develop flyers, fact sheets, etc.). AFT is a fully functional trust organization and will annually monitor for compliance any trust they establish with a landowner. Easements can be established via outright donation of the rights by the landowner or the landowner could be compensated for the rights via a PDR program. Each trust can be individualized as per direction of the landowner.

b. Pages 4-6, Field Trip Findings for Greenville and 2018 Community Survey. i. There has been much work over past decades to plan the growth of Greenville and to

maintain its natural and agricultural lands as evidenced to the AFT team by our Tiered Planning of the Town, our Greenprint Plan, and the Greenbelt with its DATCP approved Agricultural Enterprise Area (AEA). We have a good start for the AFT to help us go further in land protection and they with help provided the resources needed to do so.

ii. From the 2018 Community Survey, it appears that Greenville residents appreciate the planned growth of our town. Education and outreach is needed to further promote land protection efforts.

c. Pages 7-13, PDR model examples (see listed pages for details) i. Madera, CA (p. 8).

• Not every acre needs to be protected to be effective. ii. Town of Dunn, WI (p. 9).

• Local tax levy of $0.50/$1000 of evaluation since the mid 1990s. iii. Town of Dunkirk, WI (p. 10).

• Lower tax levy than Dunn passed for PDR on 4/2/19. iv. Rock County, WI (p. 11). v. Peninsula Township, MI (p. 12 & 13).

• Perhaps most applicable to/for Greenville as a model on how to “get there.” Surveyed residents, publicized the PDR program, Created citizen study groups to gather resident input, planning commission drafted ordinance, developed criteria for selecting easement projects and boilerplate easement language, studied

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Page 3 of 4

Land Stewardship/AEA Committee

Agenda posted at Greenville Town Hall, Greenville Post Office, Town Website (www.townofgreenville.com) and emailed to Rachel Rausch. This is a public meeting. As such, a quorum of the Town Board, Plan Commission, Park Commission, Board of Appeals, or other Town committee may be in attendance. However, the only business to be conducted is for the Land Stewardship/AEA Committee.

financing options, decided on property tax increase and installment contracts for easement purchases, began outreach campaign 3 months before referendum, completed 2 demonstration projects that coincided with outreach campaign, had media involved (was written up in NY Times) – this showed the public what it could look like.

d. Page 14, Actions & Goals. Suggested high-level steps to go about establishing a land protection PDR program that is actively supported by the community. 1) Outreach. 2) Development of Draft Documents. 3) Demonstration Projects.

e. Page 15, Next Steps. Establish teams for: 1) Goal development (directs other teams), 2) Outreach and Education, and 3) Development (document drafting).

f. Page 16. Contact information for Alison and Mia.

g. Group discussion.

i. Joel suggested adding outreach steps to the Actions & Goals to include educating our board and other community officials prior to public meetings/forums for community outreach. Joel said that spring elections are the best time for local issues. Also, referendums in perpetuity are difficult.

ii. Ben was excited that we (Greenville) are asking for help. He also mentioned that in the new farm bill that there is a relaxation of the local matching fund requirement to get funding. He would like to share our land planning and protection experiences with others.

iii. Sally suggested that young folks be involved in creating marketing information. Presentations and/or information could be made available at/through school related activities, e.g. concerts, parent-teacher conferences, etc. (elementary through high school).

iv. Mia said that to get the same impact as the Town of Dunn that the levy rate for Greenville could be less due to Greenville’s larger population. We also have a considerable industrial base that is not present in the Town of Dunn.

4. Field Trip of Greenville Greenbelt and AEA, 1-3:00 pm. a. A field trip of our Greenville Greenbelt and the AEA was completed in the afternoon prior to

our 4:00 pm meeting. Ben, Alison, Mia, Michael, Joel, John, and Larry participated. A van was rented for the tour. Attachment II shows the route and was handed out prior to starting so participants could better visualize the area and route we were taking. We stopped frequently along the way to point out certain highlights; one stop was at Steinacker Farms where Jeff Steinacker talked about their farm operation, its history and the importance of land protection to their family and their business.

5. COMMITTEE ACCOUNTING

a. No Change in Account, totaling $1,068.00

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Page 4 of 4

Land Stewardship/AEA Committee

Agenda posted at Greenville Town Hall, Greenville Post Office, Town Website (www.townofgreenville.com) and emailed to Rachel Rausch. This is a public meeting. As such, a quorum of the Town Board, Plan Commission, Park Commission, Board of Appeals, or other Town committee may be in attendance. However, the only business to be conducted is for the Land Stewardship/AEA Committee.

6. TOWN UPDATES a. Village Incorporation. 23 July 2019, public hearing in Madison, 1:00 – 3:00 pm, the meeting

place is yet to be determined as of today, 8 July.

b. Comprehensive Plan. 22 July 2019, public hearing at 5:30 pm at the Town Hall.

7. HASD COMMUNITY AG EDUCATION a. AG Tours

b. School Related Activities

8. NEXT MEETING 9 September 2019, Monday, 5:00 pm at the Town Hall

9. ADJOURNMENT. Motion to adjourn by Steve Nagy, John Julius 2nd. Meeting adjourned 6:02 pm.

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Protecting the green in Greenvi l le

What a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program could look l ike

for the Town of Greenvi l le

July 8, 20197

Introductions

● Alison Volk● Ben Kurtzman● Mia Ljung● Rest of the Committee and Attendees

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AFT’s role

● Experience● Advocacy ● Resources● Promotion

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Field tr ip findings!

● Land Stewardship Committee has already done a lot of the hard work ● Area established (Greenprint Plan, AEA, Tier 3)● Abundant resources (selection criteria, easement templates, ordinances etc.)● Community Survey with farmland protection specific questions

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Communi ty Survey - 2018

ECWRPC, 2018ECWRPC, 2018

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Communi ty Survey - 2018“It's a great start, but in 12-15 years some of these landowners in the AEA might be itching to cash in by selling their land to a developer. We need some sort of program which offers landowners something comparable for not selling. We need some sort of PDR program in place soon! All residents (not just landowners in the AEA) need to become educated on the whole concept.”

“Yes. Green space is one of the perks of living in Greenville.”

“Yes I do. I feel Greenville needs to continue to limit new rural residential development to "keep the Green in Greenville". That's a major reason moved here many years ago.”

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Models for PDR programs… from sunny Cali fornia to s nowy M ichigan

1. Madera (CA) a “barrier to growth” approach 2. Town of Dunn (WI) as first Town in WI taking on farmland conservation project

and bake into the tax levy3. Town of Dunkirk (WI) currently replicating Dunn’s model4. Rock County (WI) has a countywide program with ATC funds as catalyst5. Peninsula Township (MI) perhaps most applicable to Greenville, using

education outreach alongside with demonstration projects?

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Mad1. Madera, CA● Wine grape production area,

many families had lived and worked on land for 4 generations

● Development pressure was preventing landowners from reinvesting in operations

● 8 landowners worked with AFT to create a barrier that prevented westward expansion of city

● Properties protected nearly s imultaneously

● Directs development to north and south where soils are less productive 14

2. Town of Dunn, WI● T own citizens reacted to the increas ing

development pressure; between 1978-1995 nearly 3,000 acres of farmland had been lost

● T hree year process ; Plan Commiss ion established an Ad Hoc R ural Preservation Committee in 1994 to explore ways to permanently protect farmland and open space

● 1st farmland conservation project undertaken by a T own government in Wiscons in

● Began with a 174 acre farm in 1997; now 3,396 acres protected by T own; additional 2,662 by other programs (total 36% of town protected)

● Groundswell Conservancy vital partner● Funding from tax levy, county and state

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3. Town of Dunkirk, WI● Annexation pressure; 462 acres lost to

City annexation (2000-2016); citizen led process with consultant

● Following the model of T own of Dunn● Support in Comp Plan● T hird year into process as of now● Passed a referendum to on April 2, 2019

to initiate a PDR program and increase the mill rate as in Dunn

● “Build it and they will come!”, R enée Lauber, Consultant in local government planning

● T BC :-)

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4. R ock County, WI ● Started as a $1 Million power line

settlement fund● At least 3 years to build the program

support and foundation● R ecognition of farmland loss on high

quality prairie/farmland soils in east; target acquis ition areas identified

● Diverse stakeholders part of Ad Hoc Committee formed to establish a PACE program

● Build-it-and-invite-everyone-in-the-process , T om Sweeney, R ock County Conservationist

● Program started in 2012; in 2014 County Board voted to approve an annual appropriation of $200,000

● 15 easements , two underway; 2,237 acres protected

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5. Peninsula Township, MI● Catalyst: foreclosure of 500-acre tart

cherry orchard with 8,000 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline, attractive to developers who could build over 100 res idences , worried about spinoff from poss ible development

● Property protected with AFT ’s help, but highlighted need for protecting ag; planning and zoning not enough

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Peninsula Township, MichiganPDR program steps :

● Survey of res idents● Publicized PDR program● Created citizen study groups to gather res ident input● Plan commission drafted ordinance, developed criteria for selecting projects

and boilerplate easement language● Studied financing options, decided on property tax increase and installment

contracts for easement purchases● Began outreach campaign 3 months before referendum● Completed 2 demonstration projects , coincided with outreach campaign

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Outreach

Mailings, newsletter articles

Public meetings (3?) on basics of PDR program

One-on-one landowner outreach (need a group of volunteers willing

to talk to neighbors)

Development of Draft Documents

Ordinance, describes how program will work, make up of selection

committee etc.

Selection criteria for ranking applications

Agreement with AFT, establish expectations define who will do

what

Demonstration project(s)

Find farm owner(s) who are interested in having land permanently protected

If one landowner, can look into funding options; if more than one, depending on location, try RCPP

Landowners should be eager to talk about why want to protect land

Raise awareness & build public support

Prepare program and help answer questions for residents

Highlight how easements workGoals:

Actions:

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Recommendations & next steps...

➢ Teams!1. Goals Team (directs the other two Teams with funding and timeline targets)2. Outreach & Education Team3. Development Team

➢ Let’s talk! Questions and Discussion!

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Contact information

Alison Volk Easement Project ManagerAmerican Farmland TrustD: (608) 207-6813 • C: (610) 812-6578avolk@farmland.org

Mia LjungCommunity Extension Development EducatorOutagamie & Winnebago Counties(920) 944-3628mia.ljung@wisc.edu 22

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