| JUNE 5, 2013 -- The Connecticut Department of Agriculture has been productively engaged throughout the entire 2013 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, working with Governor Malloy’s office, members of the Legislature, sister state agencies, municipal leaders, and nonprofit organizations to craft policy that will grow Connecticut farms and strengthen agriculture in the state.
Preservation of the farmland at the Southbury Training School represents an unprecedented accomplishment of these efforts.
Raised H.B. No. 6542
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF FARMLAND AT THE SOUTHBURY TRAINING SCHOOL
Effective date: upon passage
This bill establishes a procedure to preserve and manage state-owned property known as the “Farm at the Southbury Training School.”
The bill requires the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) commissioner to transfer the care, custody, and control of the property to the Department of Agriculture (DoAg) commissioner, who must grant a permanent conservation easement on it to a non-profit organization.
It specifies that the easement must (1) provide for conservation of the farm for agricultural use and (2) allow the DoAg commissioner to lease, permit, or license farm property for such use.
The proposed easement and any proposed DoAg lease permit or license is subject to State Properties Review Board (SPRB) review and approval. The SPRB must complete its review within 30 days after receiving the proposed easement or any proposed lease, permit, or license from the DoAg commissioner.
The bill exempts the leased, permitted, or licensed property from local property taxes and adds its value to the assessed value of state-owned land and buildings for calculating state payments in lieu of taxes. By law, the state must reimburse towns for 45% of their lost revenue from state-owned property.
The DoAg commissioner must obtain a survey of the property that conforms to a horizontal Class A-2 (boundary) survey. Based on the survey, the DoAg commissioner must grant to a nonprofit organization, whose mission includes protecting agricultural lands for agricultural use, a permanent conservation easement on the property.
Under the bill, the leases, permits, or licenses must (1) be for a term of up to 15 years and (2) comply with the permanent conservation easement. They are renewable for up to 15 years.
The bill also requires that any permanent conservation easement shall provide that all agricultural activities conducted on the Farm at the Southbury Training School be in accordance with a conservation plan prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and approved by the DoAg commissioner.
Such conservation plan shall be updated periodically and whenever the nature of any agricultural operation on the farm changes.
The plan shall provide for management of the farm in a manner that (1) is consistent with generally accepted agricultural practices, including, but not limited to, practices identified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service Field Office Technical Guide, and (2) is consistent with the protection of the agricultural and conservation values of the farm.
This is Governor Malloy’s bill. It passed in the state House of Representatives with an amendment on May 29, 2013, by a vote of 135-0. The Senate passed the bill May 29, 2013, on the Consent Calendar, 35-0.
The bill currently awaits Governor Malloy’s signature. |
