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Report from the Cabarrus County Agricultural Advisory Board regarding the proposed condemnation of agricultural land by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in the Cabarrus County Agricultural Districts DRAFT REPORT October 15, 2009 W NEREAS: The Advisory Board was charged with determining the criteria of Cabarrus County Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance - Article X -Public Hearings, section B. Procedure, #2. The Advisory Board met to review: a. Whether the need for the project has been satisfactorily established by the agency or unit of government involved, including a review of any fiscal impact analysis conducted by the agency involved; and b. Whether there are alternatives to the proposed action that have less impact and are less disruptive to the agricultural activities of the district within which the proposed action is to take place. The need for the project has been established, as congestion causing accidents and multiple issues were presented for consideration as part of the initial community review established in 2007. The AAB was pleased to see that an al#ernate route for the realignment of Pitts Schoal Road impacting Shelton Road has been considered and drawn up for review. Impact- Environmental: While the IVC Department of Transportation has issued its environmental report, Dennis Testerman of the Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District office has pointed out that there are forms and information missing including the Federal Farmland Report required by the United States Department of Agriculture when changing or disturbing farmland with a certain soil designation. The negative impact on our farms in Cabarrus County is tremendous and the integrity of the family farms that are proposed for condemnation is in jeopardy. Same of the negative impacts include such issues as biosecurity to livestock, trespassers, security to farm and home, productivity of soil, invasive species, fire ants, limitation and constraints to construction of farm buildings, fencing. There would also definitely be a loss of productivity of farming the land due to all of the items mentioned above. The Barbee Farm, which is one of the farms that is in the condemnation process, is actually not only a production agriculture farm, but also is currently undertaking a gleaning project for the community. Gleaning is an ancient tradition where volunteers pick the corn that is not suitable for commercial or customer sale due to minor blemishes. The Barbee Farm was highlighted in The Charlotte Observer on Thursday, August 6, 2009. They are donating corn to local citizens in need. In 90 minutes, according to Charlotte Observer, volunteers had gleaned 4,450 pounds of corn from one field at the Barbee Farm in Concord. This family and its production agriculture are not only valuable to our economy but they are vital to our camm unity in what they are giving back to those less fortunate. In this condemnation process if the recommended Alternative A is used, the Barbee farm will lose a 100 gallon a minute will and many miles of irrigation line in the ground being used to produce valuable fresh fruits and 339 G-1 Supplemental Information