Embarking on a Farmland Protection Plan

Meredith, NY – The Town of Meredith is exploring ways to enhance the role of agriculture in its future, thanks to a $25,000 grant from New York State Agriculture & Markets. The highly competitive award allows smaller rural towns like Meredith to hire a planning consultant to guide the town through the process of data gathering and analysis to the making of a plan that will assist and promote farming within the Town.


Meredith’s consultant, Community Planning & Environmental Associates, led by planner Nan Stolzenburg, is coordinating the process with the five-member working group. Town Supervisor Keitha Capouya sits on the group along with town board members John Janiszewski and Paul Menke, both farmers. Local beef farmer Ken Jaffe and resident Tara Collins round out the working group. “This is an open process,” noted Capouya, “and we rely on our residents to participate, so that we can create the best farmland protection plan possible. The working group, although several of its members are farmers, is primarily administrative—the most important part of the plan is in the observations and ideas that will come from our resident farmers themselves. It is their problems we are here to address, and their ideas that are of primary importance.”

“Farming has been at the center of life here since the founding of the Town, “ says Capouya, “and we want to ensure that Meredith remains an agricultural community. As a town, we want to foster and support farm business activities to serve our resident farmers and to attracted new farmers to the area. In Meredith, close to 25 percent of the town’s parcels have agricultural exemptions, and that’s a good indicator of the strength of farming as a way of life in Meredith. Moreover, the survey we did for the 2006 Comprehensive Plan indicated that the people of Meredith, farmers and non-farmers alike, value immensely the rural character of our town and the farming activities that create that character. The Farmland Protection Plan we’re working on will formalize that commitment, and, we hope, temper the hardships that farmers have to contend with.”

The Farmland Protection Plan will take the Town roughly a year to complete. “First, we collect data,” said Nan Stolzenburg of CPEA. “We have printed out a big map of the town, showing all parcels and soil types, and are in the process of identifying parcels that are actively being farmed or that have a potential for farming. We have also prepared a confidential survey, soon to be mailed to all farmers and farmland owners, so that we might find out from them what they need to help them continue farming. Those maps and surveys can be seen at the Meredith Dairy Fest on June 11 and 12, and we very much hope you will come by and see them. Once the surveys come back, the group will begin drafting a plan, conducting focus groups and participatory public meetings, revising the draft plan for public review and finally presenting the Plan for Town approval.” There will also be presentations by key farming representatives from such agencies as Cornell Cooperative Extension, Delaware County Farmland Protection Board, American Farmland Trust and others. All discussions will be open to the community and announced and reported through the Town’s website, a blog and press releases.

“We urge the community to respond to this farm-parcel map and the mailed survey” said Capouya. “In order to make an accurate assessment of the town’s agricultural assets, I appeal to everyone who receives the survey to return it by June 25. It’s completely confidential, and CPEA will compile the results and data for us. As for the map, you can help us identify farmland either at the Town Hall or at the Meredith Dairy Fest on June 11 and 12. Copies of the survey will also be at the Dairy Fest.”

Working group meetings are open, and we need residents to attend and participate in the informal sessions on the second Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Meredith Town Hall. Working sessions will also be held on the fourth Monday of the next few months to deal with such administrative matters as data collection, public meeting scheduling, and research.

The Farmland Protection Plan process will be posted on the Town’s website, www.townofmeredith.org, or the Meredith Farmland blog www.meredithfarmland.blogspot.com. Meetings minutes, agendas and relevant resource materials will also be posted. Residents may also participate by email to meredithfarmland@gmail.com (cc tomsuper@delhitel.net) or in writing to PO Box 116, Meridale, NY 13806. Town Supervisor Keitha Capouya is also available at Town Hall most Thursday mornings, and can meet with you by appointment at other times. Please call her at (607) 746-2431 to arrange a meeting.