# Rural Land Management Board - August 28, 2019 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Board · August 28, 2019 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/4828 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/4828?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2019-08-28 - **Body**: Board - **Last revised**: February 5, 2026 - **Length**: 8,769 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1, with speaker labels folded in from Granicus closed-captioning. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Speaker labels and verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Rural Land Management Board convened on August 28, 2019, at 3:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding as the meeting's presiding officer. The board addressed six agenda items during the session, taking four votes throughout the meeting while hearing no public comments from attendees. The meeting focused primarily on administrative updates and informational presentations related to the board's ongoing land conservation efforts. Board members approved the minutes from their previous July 24, 2019 meeting and received several important updates on the organization's operations. Key informational items included an update on the internal audit process, a comprehensive easement monitoring report detailing the status of protected properties, and progress updates on current easement acquisition efforts. The board also learned about new funding opportunities, receiving an update on a funding award from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that will support future conservation initiatives. Additionally, the meeting included the introduction of Joel Kennimer, who was presented to the board as a new appraiser who will be working with the organization on property valuations for easement acquisitions. Overall, the meeting served as a routine business session focused on keeping board members informed about ongoing operations, financial developments, and staffing changes, with most agenda items being informational in nature rather than requiring formal board action beyond the approval of previous meeting minutes. ## Attendance The Board meeting on August 28, 2019 had ten members present and two members absent. **Present:** • Beth Cawood Overman • Margaret • Jennifer • Will • Phil • Christine • Robert • Elizabeth Jensen • Healy • Gloria **Absent:** • Zach • Nick Carter **Late:** • None No members arrived late to the meeting. The meeting proceeded with a quorum of ten present members. ## Votes and Decisions The Board conducted four votes during the August 28, 2019 meeting, all of which passed by voice vote. **Motion 1: Long-Range Planning Committee Chair** Board member Healy made a motion to confirm Margaret as chair of the long-range planning ordinance bylaws update group. The motion passed by voice vote without opposition. **Motion 2: Application Form Review** Will motioned to refer the updated application form to the law department for review, with Healy providing the second. The motion passed by voice vote. **Motion 3: New Farm Owner Policy** Will made a motion to adopt a policy for new owners of farms with pending Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) applications. Elizabeth seconded the motion, which passed by voice vote. **Motion 4: Legal Review of Acknowledgment Letter** The final motion was made by Will to refer an acknowledgment letter to the law department for approval. Robert seconded the motion, and it passed by voice vote. All four motions were approved unanimously through voice votes, with no recorded opposition or abstentions. The votes addressed administrative matters including committee leadership, policy adoption, and legal review procedures for various Board documents and processes. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Board addressed one significant financial item during the August 28, 2019 meeting. The Board discussed a reimbursement of $659,000 from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for farm easements. This grant funding represents reimbursement to the district for conservation easement activities conducted in partnership with the federal agency. The substantial reimbursement amount reflects the district's ongoing collaboration with NRCS in implementing agricultural conservation programs that protect farmland and natural resources within the district's jurisdiction. ## Appointments The Board made one appointment during the August 28, 2019 meeting. • **Margaret** was appointed to the long-range planning ordinance bylaws update group. The appointment was approved as part of the Board's regular business to fill positions on various municipal committees and working groups. ## Approval of the July 24, 2019 Minutes The Board considered the approval of minutes from their July 24, 2019 meeting. This routine agenda item involved reviewing the written record of the previous meeting's proceedings to ensure accuracy and completeness. The minutes were presented to the Board for their review and approval. Board members had the opportunity to examine the document and raise any concerns about the accuracy of the recorded discussions, decisions, or other meeting details. Following the Board's review, the July 24, 2019 minutes were approved. This approval formally establishes the minutes as the official record of that meeting's proceedings. The approval of meeting minutes is a standard procedural item that ensures proper documentation of Board activities and maintains transparency in the organization's governance processes. ## Update on Internal Audit The Board received an informational presentation on internal audit findings during the August 28, 2019 meeting. Beth Cawood Overman served as the key speaker for this agenda item. The presentation provided the Board with an update on internal audit activities and findings. The discussion focused on audit recommendations that had been identified through the internal review process. Board members engaged in discussion regarding the audit findings and the recommendations presented. The item was treated as an informational update, allowing the Board to stay current on internal audit activities and oversight matters. No specific action was required from the Board on this agenda item, as it served as a status update on ongoing internal audit work and findings. The presentation ensured Board members remained informed about internal controls and audit recommendations within the organization. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item.* ## Easement Monitoring Report Charlie Farmer presented an informational report on easement monitoring to the Board during the August 28, 2019 meeting. The presentation provided an update on the district's ongoing easement monitoring activities, though specific details about the monitoring findings, locations covered, or compliance issues were not detailed in the available meeting materials. As an informational item, no formal action was required or taken by the Board following Farmer's presentation. The report served to keep Board members informed about the status of easement oversight within the district's jurisdiction. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps and detailed content of the presentation were not available in the source materials.* ## Update on Easement Acquisitions Beth Cawood Overman provided an informational presentation to the Board regarding recent easement acquisitions and their impact on land conservation efforts. The presentation covered the status of current easement acquisition activities, though specific details about individual properties, acquisition costs, or timelines were not provided in the available meeting materials. The discussion focused on how these easement acquisitions support the organization's broader land conservation objectives. This agenda item was presented for informational purposes only, with no action items or decisions required from the Board. The update allowed Board members to stay informed about ongoing easement acquisition work and its contribution to conservation goals. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item. Additional details about the properties involved, acquisition costs, or specific conservation outcomes discussed during the presentation are not included in the available meeting documentation.* ## New Funding Award from NRCS Beth Cawood Overman presented information to the board regarding a new funding award from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The presentation provided details about this funding opportunity and its potential impact on the organization's operations and programs. The discussion was informational in nature, with board members receiving an overview of the award parameters and requirements. This agenda item served to keep the board informed about new funding streams available through federal conservation programs administered by NRCS. No formal action was required from the board regarding this funding award at this time. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item.* ## Introduction of Appraiser, Joel Kennimer The Board was introduced to Joel Kennimer, the new appraiser from Paul Moore Appraisal Services. This was an informational presentation to familiarize Board members with the appraiser who would be working with the organization. Joel Kennimer served as the key speaker for this agenda item, presumably providing background information about his qualifications and experience in property appraisal services. The introduction was part of the Board's standard practice of meeting new service providers who work with the organization. This was an informational item with no action required from the Board. The presentation allowed Board members to become acquainted with Kennimer and understand his role in providing appraisal services through Paul Moore Appraisal Services. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Confirm Margaret as chair of the long-range planning ordinance bylaws update group - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Refer updated application form to the law department - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Adopt policy for new owners of farms with pending PDR applications - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Refer acknowledgment letter to law department for approval --- ## Full transcript and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and You're up again. This is our new funding award from the Natural Resource, the NRCS. I got out of order, Beth. Margaret, my best chair to my left. You're going to do the easement updates, right? Okay. She's ahead of me. She's with the agenda. So we are going to have this on screen. And we actually, Denise loaded those into your all's computers. And she will show you how to see those. So instead of printing these for you, they are loaded in. Hedley probably knows because I think the planning commission has started. You all started having your packets in the computer. And you'll be able to flip through. It will also be on these big screens. You'll be able to flip through as I go through this. So I'll give Denise a minute to show you all. And then we'll get started. Or Jennifer probably knows, too. We don't have our packet. You don't do that yet. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. It's working. Yeah. Great. It's a touch screen. And when you finally get to where the agenda is, which should show up at the bottom, then you can just scroll it up. You can take two fingers and just push it on up through the documents. But it's not on there. Okay. Okay. Okay. The new farm easements did not come up. Paul Moore is the first thing. Okay. Well, I will have it up here. And if any of you would like, I could send it out electronically afterwards if anyone has any questions or trouble seeing this or would just like a copy. But this is going to be an overview of the four farms that we acquired this or the easements we acquired this summer. So we will start with Farm 3-2016 is at 2311 Evans Mill Road. Let me actually. If you'll look at the maps, the big maps that Beth just gave everyone, they'll be marked on there. And you can see. Okay. So this farm is down the one on the left that says Thompson Barn Hill. It is approximately 266 acres in the southern end of the county. It is owned by Billy and Dorothy Thompson and Mary Barnhill and Lindsay Barnhill Rodericks. It is a general ag farm with approximately 63 acres of cropland, 46 acres of hay land, 95 acres of wildlife, and 53 acres of forest land. The important soils, the soil score on this farm was near 54%. It has areas that are classified as environmentally sensitive by the city's rural land management plan. They have archaeological areas with Indian artifacts that have been verified by the University of Kentucky. It is in the scenic viewshed of Ravens Run. And these pictures were taken in the, I think, October, November, probably November since the leaves are off the trees. And so I've got one I'm going to flip to in a minute where you can see some of the way you can see for miles. This one is actually near Elizabeth's farm that was eased in January of this year. And so together these farms total over 355 acres of contiguous land. And they are in an area, as you can see on the maps, that neither were bordering a PDR. And so we've started a new cluster there of, you know, nearly 400 acres that we're excited about. There are some properties around that we may be able to add in. So this was a really great acquisition. Ravens Run Creek runs through this farm. There is also a large pond on the farm. So I'll show you a couple of the pictures here. There is the pond. And this is one that just shows a view of kind of how you can see for miles when you are there. And one note I'll make since we do have some new people today. When I talk about environmentally sensitive areas, scenic view shed, those are things that are in our ranking points. So those are things we give these farms points for when they score. They all come from the city's rural land management plan. And that was updated in 2017. The first one was written in 1999. But we have maps that tell us exactly where those areas are throughout Fayette County. And so we work with our GIS staff, and we are able, when each of these farms apply, we look at that and see are they in those areas. So as I talk about some of those things, that's what I'm referring to when I say environmentally sensitive. They receive points for those, and those are part of the criteria of ranking. Beth, if I may ask, so do you have a map in front of you? Yes. So if you see there the rural subdivision in the pink right above that? Yes. So I'm just curious, and it looks like all those parcels, are those like 10-acre grandfathered in parcels that are broken out? Do you happen to know anything about that rural subdivision by chance? I bet Elizabeth could help us. Okay. Yeah. I wonder if it's probably 10-acre. It's all 10-acre. I mean, it's just curious here just to so note, because the parcel is right underneath y'all's property, and those would be two great parcels to collect as well, because there's so many 10-acre parcels throughout that area, and then you have the Raven Run there. So those would be two great parcels to pursue. I'm sure you've done that already. Well, one of the owners, actually, of this farm asked for an application to reach out to the neighbors. Right. Yes. Adding to what you ask, Henley, is some of those areas you see that show the smaller lots, some of those in that nearby area have more than one lot. So some of those that you see may be two lots, but there may not be something built on them, and some of those are more than one lot, which could be combined in answer to your question. Yeah. It appears that those are already kind of so designated, but then you've got these two parcels of larger land underneath that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Just the surrounding, it just seems like a nice, a good piece to the puzzle. Yes. Just to point out while you're doing that, for some of the new members who may not be familiar with this, the pale blue that is just below the Jensen Guilfoyle Thompson Barnhill piece, you'll see that pale blue is Raven Run Nature Sanctuary. So that's the city-owned. And then if you look to the right of that, there is sort of a different pale green on the map, and that is Mary Wharton's Nature Sanctuary at Floracliff. So all of those properties that you see in the blue and that different shade of green are actually protected. They don't show as farmland, but they do have forested areas. They do qualify for wildlife habitat. They are part of the Kentucky River Tributaries, and they do, had they been part of our program, would actually have had pretty good ratings number-wise. So while they're not part of our program, they certainly do benefit those things in that area for water quality and the natural area. Just FYI, to give them while they have the maps. And the river is right there bordering it as well. Yes, the river is the boundary there. That line is the boundary to the next county. Just to add to that, in this different colored green that Gloria was pointing out, some of those farms that are in that different colored green are farms that are active farms that are conserved through the Bluegrass Land Conservancy through donated conservation easements. So, for example, if you go north of this property and then to the east, there's some sort of odd-shaped-looking properties in that area. All of that farmland is conserved by a private nonprofit organization known as the Bluegrass Land Conservancy. And if you look on the other side of the county, there's a large farm that's protected on Old Frankfort Pike that is also donated, is under a donated conservation easement to the Bluegrass Land Conservancy. So I just wanted to mention that as the person sitting in the conservation seat. Thank you. Yes, that's great. Yes. Yes. Yes, Izzy. And I don't believe, I would have to double-check this, but as far as I know right this minute, the state program, the PACE program, P-A-C-E, Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements, I don't believe that in Fayette County we have any PACE easements, although there are some just over the line in the other counties. But they'd have a pale green also different if were they here. I have a quick question on this one before you go on to the next property. Quick question on this one before you go on to the next property. I notice this says 266 acres, but originally I know this property was listed with the PVA as 271 acres. Yes. And had been told at one time that there was five acres that was grandfathered into some family member, and then they said no, it was an error in the survey. Yes. Do you know, going back to the boundary question, was it a survey issue or... It was. So the survey had listed on it recorded and measured and under recorded. It said 271, and then under measured it said 265, and our attorney pointed out that the measured is the actual one. So the 271 would have been what they thought when they did the deed years ago, but the 265 is actually what the surveyor was able to measure. So there's not a five-acre lot that's going to pop up here? No, I don't think so. Thank you. You're welcome. Are there any other questions for Beth before she moves to our next acquisition? Anybody? Okay. All right, so the next one is over on your right where it says Hayes. This is owned by Raymond Hayes, and it was on Sulphur Well Road. This farm, you can see that it wasn't colored in yet, and I drew the arrow to both. This is combined of a 168-acre tract and a 72-acre tract, and Sulphur Well Road actually runs right between that. Part of this farm, so approximately 240 acres are in Fayette County, but the farm altogether is over 300 acres, and part of that is in Clark County. And so this is one that we had to get a survey of because of it being in two parcels in Fayette but also part of it being Clark, something that NRCS requires us to do because these deeds have the acreage listed totally. They don't specify that part of it is in one county or the other. We have to have the acreage in the other county measured so it can be deducted, and we make sure because we are not paying for that acreage, we are not allowed to. And what they can do, of course, with that acreage, and what Gloria and I talked to them about was since it has been surveyed out, the measure is donate that through Bluegrass Conservancy or PACE and go ahead and put an easement on that. But we can only pay for land that's in Fayette County, so we have to have that measured out. So Raymond and his wife actually bought the 168-acre tract in 1962, so they have lived there a long time. It is a cattle farm as well as hay. It has nearly 81% important soils, over 1,000 feet of frontage on a historic turnpike. This one is actually also in the Boone Creek Focus Area and the Boone Creek National Register Historic District. They have some stone fences on the farm. And the area that it is in here is together over 700 acres of contiguous conserved land. So that's a great block there that we have been able to conserve. And Raymond's wife is Ann Penhay. She is now deceased, and I believe she's a cousin of Jane Gentry Vance, who was the poet laureate for Kentucky. And they have another farm that they own together that they put in PDR. That's actually one of these, and it's 191 acres. So they did that years ago before I was here. So that is a nice, good block there of over 700 acres that we have in PDR. So I've got a couple more pictures of this. There's some of the hay, and there's Boone Creek running through. So that was really a great farm to get. And Gloria and I enjoyed working with Mr. Hayes a lot. He is a very nice man who cares about his farm and does have family who works on it and intends to keep it going. So this is a neat one to acquire. Right across from this piece, that's the farm we heard last month. The people came. The woman is very much into equine and had asked for a riding arena and a tenant house. The old, old, previously owned by the play force, is literally across the road from this. So that's the other green you see on this map. So that was what you just heard last month. This is directly across the road from that. So this is a very large area now. We're beginning to build areas of critical mass. So with that thought, so Beth or Gloria, do you all pursue, once these are kind of in process, do you all pursue the neighbors and kind of remind them that this has just been done and just kind of to try to. Will has a committee working on some of that. That's great. It's really, it would seem as if that's a great tool. And we do think, and his committee has talked about this, there are people out there, the committee has been trying to identify people who might be interested in donating the easements, which is part of why he's redone the applications. So we may have people who want to be purchased and people who might like to donate or both. And we wanted to know the doors are open for whatever. Yes. Yes, and Mr. Hayes is an older gentleman who meets several others. Some of the people he meets with he talks about they meet at McDonald's each week out at the Athens exit and have coffee. And so he is someone, you know, just like you're talking about, that we can then go to and say, okay, who around you could you help us with? And so, yes, that is. Okay, and just a note, so those two that I just went through were the two that we closed this past Friday, August 23rd, that did total approximately 503 acres. So that was exciting. So our next one is Farm 11-2009. It is over on your left, the Woffords. That is Bill and Beth Wofford. And this is a 79-acre horse farm that's on Kearney Road. They have been in the horse business for over 30 years, and I think that their first they started by buying a 10-acre track and slowly growing and adding. As a matter of fact, they had applied to PDR before I came and applied with 40-plus acres and then were able to buy the adjacent track and consolidate it and then added it to their PDR application. And so they have gradually grown their business. Their soil score was nearly 100%. They also have environmentally sensitive areas and are in the scenic viewshed from I-64 and the designated scenic viewshed based on our Rural Land Management Plan. This farm is adjacent to four other PDR farms that together total approximately 557 acres. So that's another great area of critical mass. And we'll look at a couple of pictures of theirs. I think one, there's some of the horses, a few in the background. All right, so next, our last one. Let's see if they have any questions before we move on. Do you have anything you want to ask about that particular track? Everybody's okay? No questions? Okay, Beth. Okay, so our last one that we've conserved in the last month is the Gilpins, and it is down on your bottom right. This one is on Jacks Creek Pike, and it's somewhat unique because the further you get down to that area, a lot of those farms do not qualify soil-wise for the federal match. And so a lot of the farms bordering them had donated or were purchased in the early days of the program when the state funds were available that did not have that soil requirement. But the Gilpins did have a 57% soil score. This is a 32-acre farm. The majority of it is forest land and some wildlife area. It is in the Kentucky River focus area. It has environmentally sensitive areas, and it is PDR-adjacent. These three farms together, you cannot see the boundaries on this map, but that's actually three farms that border it, and now total over 820 acres. So that is a great block in that area. And one funny story about this, there, if you can see on the side left, is an old outhouse that they told Gloria and me about at the closing, and that has been there for years. And because, yes, they still, because they do not live on the farm, they have the barn and go out there, and Mr. Gilpin's son does some things, they actually still use that. But, yes, so the historic outhouse is still there, and then there's the only barn that's there right now. And it's a little bit of a joke, but the truth, that anything that is 50 years old or more qualifies for National Register of Status. So if you have an outhouse that's 50 years old, it does qualify for historic. Let's see. And so, in summary, we have altogether this year five new farm easements, totaling approximately 711 acres. One farm easement closed in January, and the other four in July and August of this year. Every farm is adjacent to another conserved farm, thereby increasing our contiguous acreage. The total cost of these easements was $1.5 million. The NRCS share was $750,489.99, and ours was two cents more, and thereby making your all's cost for these 711 acres only $1,056 per acre, which is pretty great. Let me say that we and the attorneys on our end had all of these closings ready to be completed in July. The federal requirement now is if a property is over a certain amount, the NRCS locally has to send it on, and you might want to comment on this, has to be sent on to Washington for higher review. So two of these properties that were those big ones, over 200 acres, had to be sent on, and then the appraisals looked at by them. When they came back after they had done that, we told them, hurry, because of our money situation. They came back. It was like $9 difference. Yes, one was $9. And we had to cancel the checks we had written in July and issue new checks for $9 more. So that held us up for a month. So it goes to show you how closely they do look at these, how closely financially they do monitor all of these and see exactly. Ian may have more of a comment after that, but that's, we have to be very, and the local office had no idea. They'd already looked at it all and looked at the appraisals and had forwarded them. Everything was checked off beautifully. Beth and I had looked at everything, and our in-house folks had looked at it. But at the last minute, that had to happen. So just to keep you all up, those little snafus do happen from time to time. Anything you want to comment about that, Beth? No, I think that that was new. That was something our local staff was not aware of. Since the 2014 Farm Bill was enacted, they seem to keep adding new things each year, realizing, oh, maybe we should do this, this practice. There are a lot of internal controls now, and I think that's what triggered this, that a payment over $250,000 right before, even though they are reviewed by the Washington staff and the appraisals are approved, you apparently have to do a final review right before you close it. And so our local staff here, Dena Wiebe and Matt Hutchison, did really push the Washington people to get that done quickly, because this grant funding expired or does expire August 31st. And so with everything, with them being on a national level and having, you know, things from 50 states they have to look at, they really pushed them. So we are grateful that they got this done for us. And they did a great job. We are very appreciative. One thing, Beth, and I've talked about, and I want to state this specifically to this board and the record, there is a myth about and has been for years that we only give money to rich horse farmers, that we are only purchasing land that belongs to a rich horse farmer. This needs to point out that there are 711 acres in these farms that we have disclosed, that only 79 acres of that is currently being used for a horse operation. But I've always said that what is general ag today, as these farms are raising cattle and crops, can be horse farm tomorrow, and in many cases, vice versa. Our goal here is to save the land base so that future generations of whatever crop or animal husbandry needs to be carried on that property, we have the land base for that. It was pointed out just before this meeting, Robert James and Phil Meyer on Phil's farm, the Farm Bureau and Ag Alliance and everybody met for Ag Day. And Phil was one of the hosts on his farm where the James are growing some hemp for hemp seed. We noted then that that was a very diversified farming operation on Phil's farm. Right now there are cows. There's corn. There is this hemp. There was tobacco over the field. And what a crop is today may not be 10 years from now because 10 years ago you didn't grow a lot of hemp. People had a lot of tobacco and now you see very little. So the goal of this group is to save the land base so we may carry on this important economic development contributor to our local Fayette County economy. So that's my soapbox. I just wanted to point that out for the record that we did do 711 acres, and it was not no one on this list was what I would consider to be a rich person. They were very diversified and wonderful people and will be able to utilize this very well. Yes. Gloria, I agree with you completely. I represent the suburbs and they don't understand this. You know what I'm saying? It probably would be a thought down the road when we do this outreach or whoever is this committee is maybe to go to some of these neighborhood meetings when they have annual meetings and talk to them about this because you understand it. Everyone on this chair understands it. Your public doesn't. They are under the assumption. I understand that. We're, you know, supporting rich horse farmers. They don't understand the ag value of the land or the economic value. So that might be something to think about in the future, just because a lot of people don't even know what the PDR program is, the general public. And our education committee, Zach is not here today, as I told you at the beginning, our education committee is working on PR and education for looking at all of these things, whatever we can do, we don't think that the community at large realizes what a valuable economic contributor it is to Fayette County's economy, how many jobs are related. I mean, I'm sure Mary Queen can get on her soapbox about tourism and what all of this means. Not even for people locally who do the driving tours and who bike on our rural roads and people who are out there horseback riding and running, having, you know, that it's a valuable recreational tool as well as national and international tourism that she is bringing in. And as I've always said, we don't have mountains and we don't have an ocean. So this is it. It is our golden goose, and we need to take very good care of it. So, yes, and I'm sure later we'll have Mary Queen give us some updates on that in one of our meetings about how many dollars this brings in from economic development. I mean, not to mention Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland and all of the other things that go with this, but the number of jobs and the payroll taxes. I mean, you know, there have been some studies done and that all needs to be updated because it is certainly a very viable economic. And I can see Healy over there just squirming, wanting to say more. No, I just really appreciate Jennifer's thoughts. I mean, she's speaking from somebody who leads this community, and we're looking for methods for educating. So I serve on the education committee as well, and I just really appreciate your insight. It's a great idea to reach out to the neighborhoods in these various ñ it needs to be grassroot. And we are ñ the whole point about where we are now is that it's become ñ it's 20 years old and it's no longer relevant. So we have to get back and plant seeds and retill, and that's a great idea. So thank you so much for sharing that. Are there any other comments? I mean, I'd love a whole lot of amens. That was wonderful. It's like, yay, uh-huh. Yeah, I think that is an excellent idea. I think we could go ñ sorry. When I speak at neighborhood meetings, they care about their streets, their sewers, their police. As soon as you say something about, or you see a headline, PDR, all of a sudden you've got chaos. You know, they're like, wait a second, you know, what does this have to do with me? Is this coming from my tax dollars to subsidize something that's going to not benefit me? They don't understand the full picture. And I can even tell you probably some council members don't understand the full picture. So today was a great day to kind of bring that to the forefront. But we've got new members, and I think you have to just ñ just like anything, any kind of a campaign, you've got to keep this in front of people all the time because they forget. So it's important that we just are the cheerleaders as much as we can be. So are you available to serve on the committee? I'm done. Well, I'm an educator. Yeah. Yes, I think exactly what you're saying, that we could take a presentation like this and incorporate numbers from Mary Quinn about what it does for the community. I think some of these neighborhoods would really like it. I mean, I think of a neighborhood that I represent that I have maybe 75 to 100 people. The demographic is probably more retired, but they would really appreciate something like this because they just want to learn. Well, and to your point, if we were to reach out to each of the councilmen and their districts and make ourselves available to reach out to the neighborhoods would be a great way to grow a relationship. So I think that would be great. Even newsletters. You know, just incorporating the information that we had today in council members' newsletters, saying, do you understand how much this brings to Fayette County as far as jobs? You know, because we're a payroll-based economy. So it's important. I'll just add two cents. The importance of public education about this program has been a fact of life for this program since the very beginning. And in order for us to get the funding that this program needs, we have to have the whole community understand the program and support it. And when we started the program, we spent a whole lot of time and effort getting out and educating people about how the program would work, what it involves, why it benefits everyone in the community, not just those that live in the rural service area. So I agree with you, Jennifer, and it's a constant challenge that has to be tended to again and again and again and again with every new council and every new neighborhood. It's a constant need, and it's really critical to the success of the program. So that's my two cents. Thank you. And I will have nominated for each and every one of you as cheerleaders. So you have all been appointed as cheerleaders, and I'm hoping that you can carry out this message everywhere you go to anyone who will listen. Christine. Yes, I just had a comment, and the comment was, I think from the historic preservation side, we deal with this a lot. Something came up last week where Mental Park is actually, there's no historic overlay on it, and there's a really old house. The person that was there, he just passed away, and he deeded his home to the Baptist Church, and the Baptist Church is going to sell it. And so now the community is up in arms because they don't want them to sell it to a developer instead of to another neighbor. But they had voted years ago not to put the overlay over Mental Park because of the restrictions. And so I think part of education, part of outreach is to say there's a balance between restrictions and having things that are preserved. So it's kind of like until it happens to them, maybe they won't notice it. But having a restriction, like everyone said earlier, almost guarantees that it is preserved the way that you enjoy it now. So that was just my two cents. Yes, and I will say that people who are looking at purchasing farms, we have noted, and Zach's not here today, but the realtors can tell you that when they look at purchasing property, it's like buying property in a neighborhood that has deed restrictions. They actually like it. They're not buying a pig and a poke. And they actually appreciate knowing what is going to be next door to them on that piece of property. So, yes, in answer to what you say, it has some real benefits. And we have seen that recently. Do you have any other questions for Beth about these properties other than to say yahoo and clap? Well done. I know how much work goes into that. Thank you. Okay. I want to introduce you now and come and just tell people about yourself. He is here today in our closed session. Paul Moore has been our appraisal services for, I guess, since the beginning, weren't they, Margaret? Yes. And we have gotten a letter from them telling us that he is not retiring. Joel is going to be working with him from now on. And he said, I'd first like to express this is the letter from Paul to us. And I don't think they have a copy of this. I think it is. Did everybody get a copy? Okay. Well, he's just telling us that he has appreciated working with us all this time and he's not leaving. He's still going to be there. And you are going to be helping some, well, a whole lot. And, Joel, why don't you introduce yourself to everyone. Tell them a little bit about yourself. And in closed session, he's going to be going over those reappraisals that this board voted to have them do last December. So this will be new to some of you all and will be your first closed session. But right now, I wanted to just introduce him while the cameras are rolling so folks at home could see you. And then we'll hear more from you about these appraisals when we go into closed session. So, like she said, like Gloria said, my name is Joel Kenimer. I work with Paul Moore, Paul Moore Appraisal Services. As of November 15th of this year, I will be the sole owner of Paul Moore Appraisal Services. Paul has six grandbabies, and he's decided that it's time for him to slow down a little bit and spend more time with family. Paul will still be around. He has a contract with NRCS as one of their chief review appraisers for easement appraisals throughout the country. So he does probably 75 to 100 reviews per year for NRCS. And Paul hired me in 2012. A little background on myself. I grew up on a farm in Bourbon County. I see Nick Carter's name played over there. He's not here, but I wish he was. He's a fellow native of Bourbon County. But anyway, I grew up on a farm in Bourbon County. I went to the University of Kentucky and got my degree in animal sciences. And I worked in the thoroughbred industry for several years. I was working at Windstar Farm leading up to going to work for Paul. And then I got interested in appraisals and found Paul because he does strictly agricultural properties, which I was interested in. And I start with Paul in 2012, and I've been connected with the PDR board since then. I do believe Paul has been in some capacity doing appraisals or reviews for the PDR board since 2005, if I'm not mistaken. So it's pretty close to the beginning. But anyway, you know, I'm here today to talk about appraisals. I know some of you all are new to the board and may not understand the process. And I'm here, you know, whatever you all need from me, I'm happy to answer questions or whatever. Thank you. Do you all have any questions for him at this time? Okay. And we'll see you in closed session here shortly. One of the things on the agenda is about our new funding award, and we'll cover that a little bit later in our reports. Committees. First of all, we don't have this on our agenda. Dede has been chairing our long-range planning ordinance bylaws update group. And as you all probably know or remember, in order to be a chair of one of our committees, you have to actually be a board member. Dede rotated off the board. Margaret, who knows just a little bit about the program and a little bit about law, is on that committee and has agreed to chair it now. So I would like for the board to confirm that, please. I need a motion from Healy and a second. And all in favor, please signify by saying aye. I don't know if these are working or not. Aye. All right. Thank you. And Margaret, thank you very much for agreeing to do that. Dede will still be on the committee. The makeup of the committee will not change. She will just be, as a member of this and with a law background, our new chair. Zach is not here, as I pointed out earlier, for the education and outreach committee. But minutes from the other meeting were in the packet. And hopefully he'll be here next time with a new daughter. And Will is our application and donation chair. And I'll turn it over to you. Thank you, Chair Martin. The application and donation committee met last on the 23rd of July, which is the day before our previous board meeting. But we've got a few. We do have some developments over the past month. We finalized, first of all, the application form. It's ready to be sent to the law department for review. I do have some copies. I will send out an online digital copy to everyone. But just as a matter of housekeeping, Chair Martin asked that the board make a motion to refer the updated application form to the law department. And to our law committee, because they sort of reviewed this together. So I entertain that motion. Will, is there a motion? So moved. All right. Second? Second. All right. Healy and Phil. Motion's been made and seconded. All in favor, please signify by saying aye if your screen's not working. Aye. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else, Will? And his committee has done a great job. And as I pointed out earlier, it's one of the things the internal audits pointed out, and that should take care of everything. So we'll do the audit finding number four, recommendation on that. So also at the last meeting, I informed the board of our review of the internal audit. One of the items concerned what happens when a farm sells and that farm has a pending PDR application. The committee has recommended that the new owners of the farm fill out a new application, however, that the $200 application fee not be enforced because it would have already been paid by the previous owner. So like the previous motion, we're seeking a motion for the board to adopt a policy to be written by the law department and reviewed by ordinance review as stated. Basically, so when these properties change hands, there's a way for notification. Is there a motion to that effect? Or we can take his as a motion. Is there a second to his recommending that? And Elizabeth seconded. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any no? All right. Unanimous. Thank you. Will? Did you want to do audit number two as well? I know we don't have a copy of that, but okay. Beth had actually composed a letter, and this came from the second finding in the audit, that applicants should receive an acknowledgment that their application has been received. So it's a very straightforward letter. I apologize we don't have it here, but the Application and Donation Committee has reviewed it and recommends to the board that the board refer this also to the law department for approval. And it will come back, like these other two items, will come back at the September meeting for final board approval. Which is a letter that Beth will be writing, which will be sort of a standard form letter of notification that we've gotten this, and here's the date, blah, blah, blah. Everyone understands that? All right. That's his motion moving forward. Is there a second to that? Second. Robert, second? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. So finally I'm going to pass out, in addition to, I have a few hard copies of the application form. As I said, I'll be sending out the e-mail with the digital. We've also revised the notification for the application period. So this is now a color postcard. Elizabeth Jensen has very kindly helped with the text of this. And so I'm going to pass this around. This is what the Application and Donation Committee has come up with. We'll put one of those up on the screen so you can see. Will has done a great job of this, and the pictures on the front of his postcard, we're trying to do something that is eye-catching. He wanted to do something that people wouldn't just pitch in the nearest wastebasket and that they would look at it to see what it actually was. Beth said that had been a bit of a problem in the past. So all of the pictures on the front are from our farms actually with easements. Who's your database, Gloria? What database are you using to send these out to? How are you determining it? And Will is working on that. I can comment on that as well. That's his next comment. So that came up in our previous meeting as well. So we have a list from GIS of all the properties in Fayette County that are not in the program. So it's all the tracts over 20 acres. I have, using the Secretary of State's website, gone and researched each of the properties that's held in corporate entity, so those that aren't listed as individual owners. So that's complete. What we're going to do is share that amongst the committee and the board to identify existing relationships and then solicit those. The postcard will go out to all of the property owners. And so with this list, I think we'll probably have a much better sort of hit rate. I think a lot of the sort of existing, you know, if you just go to the PVA website and download that list, you have a lot of sort of lawyers' offices and people that aren't really going to, you know. Yeah. So we're very hopeful that this will be kind of a positive development and hopefully increase our number of applications. Are there any questions? Yes, ma'am. Sorry, I have all these questions. No, that's fine. Are grant applications down? Is that what the concern is, is that you don't have the amount of people applying that you used to in the past? Or what's the reason? They have been down. Last year we had none. And what do you attribute that to? We've looked at it and think several things maybe. That's why he's worked on this card that points out the fact that there will be a date that people will be asked to turn in an application or apply if they want to. And we're working on that from the education standpoint to educate the public and notify interested groups. It just wasn't a priority. Well, I should jump in. So this is actually just an updated card. We have for years sent an information sheet. Yeah, sorry. But they must not have paid much attention to the card. They didn't jump out at you. It's like anything, you might get jump mail. You're not reinventing the wheel. We're not reinventing the wheel. We're upgrading and updating the wheel. No, we've always gone out to try to encourage people to apply to the program. I just was wondering if this was something brand new. And we're working on every aspect of that in answer to your question, Jennifer. Education Committee, Will's Committee. Are we doing anything from a digital standpoint to get the information out? I mean, I hate to say it, but I toss a lot of stuff that comes in the mail. Just thinking out loud. Yeah. What we have done is we've worked with our partners like the Fed Alliance, the Farm Bureau, the Kentucky Cattlemen, Fed Extension, to put all this information, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners, in their newsletters. I'm sorry, not newsletters. Well, in their newsletters, but on their social media accounts. We've also asked council members to put it in their newsletters. But a big part is trying to reach the members of the various organizations, the farming organizations in Fayette County, through social media. But it has declined. We had a great year in 2017, a great group of applicants. Last year we did not have any. So it is something where we've had to be working on recruitment, and we'll continue that. Christine. Maybe this is a stupid thing. There are no stupid questions. Okay. So I saw the card. I think the card is super cute. I love it. I love mail. So I'm like a weird cusp millennial person where, yes, yes, social media, but I love cards. Send me all of your Christmas cards. I still have them up all over my mantel. I love them. But the stupid part, which is probably just me, but I didn't know what this orange thing was. And I was like, what is this orange thing? And I get that it's this. It's Fayette County. It's Fayette County. But I think a lot of PR needs to be done as to this is what Fayette County looks like. Because everywhere that I see, it's always like Kentucky. Kentucky is the most huggable shape. And we have pillows made out of the Kentucky shape. And so I like that this is like, is this Alaska? Like I totally went over my head. And I don't know. I just think that people don't know what this shape is yet until we, like, tell them. So I don't know if we could put, like, Fayette County proud in the little middle of the thing or something, just to let people know that this is not Alaska. Okay. Do you have any other questions or comments? I'll have Chris flip it to the side. She's referring to you all on the side. There you go. Okay. Any other comments? I want to thank Will and the committee because this is a good thing. Anything else, Will? That's it. And we'll bring everything back that he has moved forward hopefully by next month. Phil doesn't have a treasurer's report, but I know they're getting ready to meet before long. Well, I did meet with Beth on Monday to go over the four recent closings and her application for us to get reimbursement from NRCS and making sure the numbers were all correct and everything was in order. And so to me it was good to go, and I think hopefully it's on the way, are essentially almost that 50% back that we have to pay first and get reimbursed. And I did sign those, and we turned them in post haste, so our money should be coming back. So that's the extent of my report. Everything was in order. Because we have a closed session, I'm going to quickly move on with our reports that we have, because our closed session will be very important. Again, I'll just touch on a few of the things. One is I did sign that, and our reimbursement was about $659,000 plus. So that's reimbursement. And I do want to say that some of the things that we point out today are not the fault of this board. The 2% request and the fact that the closings got delayed for a while, those that have nothing to do with Beth or this board. And we have, I did review the new farm templates, which you've probably seen in great detail. And as a result of the new farm bill, and there are going to be some changes, things we will have to incorporate now in our next easements. And we've had lots of questions and e-mails and texts about various things that have to do with this program, and Beth and I are both working hard to try to answer all of those, including the property owners interested in easements, and asking about do we have any kind of a brochure. So that's one of the things that I think maybe our education committee can be looking at to see about devising a brochure. And, Beth, you have something you want to say before I talk about closed session? No. So I will just, I have a few items I was going to tell you in a staff report. We are, there is a meeting supposed to start at 5 o'clock in here, so we are going to move fast. When I send out the monthly report telling you when our September meeting is and reminding you of any committee dates, I'll just run over mine. So we will try to hurry today. So I will skip that and provide it by e-mail. Thank you. We are getting ready to go into closed session. And before we do that, for our new members in particular, I want to say that closed sessions by Kentucky revised statutes, they are very specific about what we can discuss and with whom we can discuss that. When we go into closed session here shortly, what stays in closed session, what goes on in closed session stays in closed session. And it's, that is very important for numerous reasons. One, because we're limited as to what we can discuss. We're going to discuss the appraisals, the reappraisals that you all voted on to have redone in December. And it could, number one, affect the value of what we decide or the properties at all. And because it doesn't need to be front page in the newspaper or anywhere else as to what we discuss. It is strictly a private matter. And when we come out of closed session, if there are to be motions to made, it will be public. And I say this just to make certain that everyone understands, because legally, individually, you are bound to that. So I wanted to make sure that everybody understands and is pointed out again the rule that has to do with that. Tracy says we can't stay in this room because there's another meeting scheduled, but we can go in the council room behind this. If Jennifer says we can't, it is so nice having a council person on here. Thank you. And we won't be able to come back in here to make our announcement, but we can make that public. How? Well, hopefully this closed session is not going to take until after the Board of Architects review is completed, but I don't think it should take that long. And let me say again to the new board members, we try to make these meetings last one hour. I have tried to stick to that. But in the case where we have closed sessions and we're talking about property acquisition, they may run a little longer. Madam Chair, may I make a motion? Yes. I move that we move into closed session to discuss the acquisition of real property interest, the public discussion of which is likely to affect the value. Is there a second? All in favor? Aye. And your microphones will be turned off and your screen will be turned off.