$10M conservation bond on ballot for county voters (complete article from source)
Source: Gettysburg Times, by JOHN MESSEDER
October 06, 2008
A $10 million bond proposal on the ballot next month could attract an additional $30 million to Adams County for open space, watershed and agricultural land preservation, if voters approve.
Land Conservancy Of Adams County President Dick Mountfort said to Franklin Township residents Thursday night the money was “an opportunity to leverage two to three times that $10 million from state and federal sources.”
“This is an opportunity for the voters of Adams County to do something for themselves, for their way of life, but mostly for the future,” he said during the township’s monthly supervisors meeting.
A referendum question on the Nov. 4 ballot will ask the county’s voters whether they would support a bond of up to $10 million for conservation and preservation purposes.
Mountfort said if additional taxes must be levied to pay for the bond, the bill would add about $18 a year to the real estate taxes on a $215,000 home — the current average value of a home.
The estimated cost is based on $10 million on a 20-year bond at five percent. The county’s annual payment would be about $802,000. The commissioners have said it may be possible to use a portion of the $1 million already set aside for land preservation to make the payment.
He said one of the first objectives would be to help pay off the purchase price of 2,600 acres of woodland in Hamiltonban Township.
The land was purchased by The Conservation Fund in March from Glatfelter Paper Company for $12.6 million.
Since then the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has put in $4 million toward repaying the Conservation Fund.
Another $2 million was contributed by the Richard King Mellon Foundation of Pittsburgh.
The Conservation Fund often buys land and holds it until other organizations or agencies can obtain the required money.
When the full $12.5 million has been raised, the Glatfelter tree farm will become part of the publicly accessible Michaux State Forest.
“Preservation would shut off development in that particular tract, which we anticipate coming up from Maryland,” Mountfort said.
He said Friday four groups — the Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, The Conservation Fund and the Land Conservancy of Adams County — have joined forces to actively pursue payment for the tree farm “and on a broader sense get this bond going.” Other organizations, including the Watershed Alliance of Adams County, the Conservation District, Farm Bureau, and the county builders association, also are providing assistance in the bond effort.
“This is not anti-development,” Mountfort said. “This is an opportunity for conservation and preservation; we’ve got to have both.”
The bond money also would be used for agricultural land preservation and the county Green Space Program, established in August 2005.
Lack of funds and a bounty of willing landowners has 75 farmers on a waiting list to preserve about 6,300 acres of land.
Land preservation, whether agricultural or other privately held property, typically involved the owners being paid a negotiated price for the development rights to their real estate.
The land remains privately owned, but will never be developed for housing or industrial purposes.
Last year, Adams County commissioners approved a program to help municipalities develop preservation programs as well as recreational opportunities.
Four applications were approved, but more applications are expected next year.
An educational program has been mounted to inform Adams Countians of the need for the bond money.
In addition to visits to municipal meetings, the effort is being supported with columns in local newspapers, letters to the editor, a targeted mail campaign, and a public forum scheduled for Oct. 28 at the county Agricultural and Natural Resources Center.
“We proposed doing this (bond referendum) last year, but they felt there wasn’t enough time to do the education part of it,” Commissioner Glenn Snyder said when the decision was announced in August to put the question to a vote. “This is a way for the voters of Adams County to have a voice.”
Last year, the county budget included its normal $600,000 appropriation for its ag land preservation program, plus $400,000 for conservation-related programs. The total made $1 million available to use in application for state matching grant funding.
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