May 21, 2008

Dear Jefferson County Farmland Protection Applicant:

Attached is a copy of the Jefferson County Agriculture and Farmland Board (AFPB) Pre-application for New York State’s Farmland Protection Implementation Grant (FPIG) program.  The local ranking criteria that will be used to select Pre-applications for further consideration by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets are also attached.

Local agency staff from the Jefferson County Agriculture Development Corporation, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Soil and Water Conservation District, and the County Planning Department are available to answer questions about the program and Pre-application process. 

Should your Pre-application be selected for development of the State application, further information will be required to complete the State’s application.  You will also need to obtain a letter of support from your Town or Village Board.  The letter of support will be included in the application to the State.  If the County AFPB is awarded funding by the State’s program, more information will be needed to assist in completing the many documents required to complete the grant process.  These documents will include:

                                    Purchase and Sales Agreement (Contract)

                                    Appraisal

                                    Boundary Survey

                                    Title Insurance

                                    Subordination Agreements (if needed)

                                    Conservation Easement (A land trust will hold the conservation easement in perpetuity)

                                    Monitoring Plan

                                    Baseline Documentation Report

                                    Environmental Audit (if needed)

                                    Final Budget

                                    Resolution of County Legislature to accept the State’s award

                                    County Voucher requesting payment from State

In addition to assisting in completing the above documents, you may be required to pay for some expenses prior to the closing of the grant.  These expenses might include the appraisal, survey, title insurance, baseline report, and/or environmental audit.  These expenses are usually incurred after the purchase and sale agreement (contract) is signed.  In some cases, the land trust you choose to work with may pay for some or all of these expenses and the land trust would be reimbursed at closing.  These expenses should be properly budgeted for in the initial application submitted to the state.

Thank you for considering permanently protecting your farm.  Please understand that this is a very competitive process on the state level and the fact that you are selected to make an application to the State does not guarantee that your application will be awarded state monies.