Title
Resolution to Ratify the Emergency Request for Additional Funds from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) for the Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) on the Charles and Catherine Braun Farm and William Gould Farm in Ann Arbor Township
Memorandum
Attached for your review and approval is a resolution to ratify the emergency request, authorized by the City Administrator under Section 1:316 of the City Code, for additional funds from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) for the purchase of development rights (PDR) for the Braun and Gould Farms in Ann Arbor Township. The Federal program will grant funds up to 50% of the appraised fair market value of the development rights, to a maximum of $5,000 per acre.
Staff was notified on Friday, January 11, 2008 by the State of Michigan that the 2007 Farm Bill was extended by Congress until March 2008, and as a result, an additional $44 million is available nationwide for the FRPP program for farmland preservation. The State indicated that if the City had requests for these funds the City was required to submit a request by 12:00 P.M. on Wednesday, January 16, 2008.
The Braun and Gould Farms are considered large enough to sustain agricultural production and are in locations that will encourage additional farmland preservation and agricultural preservation activities. The Braun farm is approximately 286 acres and is located at the intersection of Whitmore Lake Road and Joy Road. The Gould property is approximately 51.2 acres and is immediately adjacent to the Braun farm. Thus, these two properties would form 337.2 acres of contiguous protected farmland. Other applications have been received from landowners in the area, providing more opportunities to add to the block of protected land. These two properties are also high priorities for the Ann Arbor Township’s Land Preservation Board, and this project would be in collaboration with the Township. An application to partici...
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