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CEAAgenda2024April251.Welcome and Introductions 2.Organizational Activities 2.A.Election of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary 2.B.Adoption of the Bylaws 3.Meeting Minutes 3.A.Meeting Minutes - September 28, 2023 4.Presentation on Purchase of Development Rights - Clarke County 4.A.Purchase of Development Rights Presentation 4.B.Discussion 5.Other AGENDA CONSERVATION EASEMENT AUTHORITY THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024 9:00 AM PLANNING DEPARTMENT CONFERENCE ROOM FREDERICK COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING WINCHESTER, VA CEA04-25-24ProposedBylaws.pdf CEA04-25-24MeetingMinutesSeptember28.pdf 1 Conservation Easement Authority Agenda Item Detail Meeting Date: April 25, 2024 Agenda Section: Organizational Activities Title: Election of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary Attachments: 2 Conservation Easement Authority Agenda Item Detail Meeting Date: April 25, 2024 Agenda Section: Organizational Activities Title: Adoption of the Bylaws Attachments: CEA04-25-24ProposedBylaws.pdf 3 CONSERVATION EASEMENT AUTHORITY County of Frederick, Virginia Proposed Bylaws April 25, 2024 ARTICLE I – AUTHORIZATION 1-1 The Frederick County Conservation Easement Authority is established by and in conformance with Chapter 68 of the Code of Frederick County, and under the Public Recreational Facilities Authorities Act, Chapter 56 of Title 15.2 (§15.2-5600, et seq.) Code of Virginia 1-2 The official title of this body shall be the Frederick County Conservation Easement Authority, hereinafter referred to as the “Authority”. ARTICLE II – PURPOSE 2-1 The purposes of the Authority are to acquire and/or receive conservation easements, by purchase, gift, or other conveyance; to hold and enforce conservation easements conveyed to it; to facilitate the acquisition or receipt of conservation easements by other qualified organizations; to disseminate information concerning conservation easements to landowners and other interested parties; and to exercise any powers authorized by the Public Recreational Facilities Authorities Act. ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP 3-1 The membership of the Authority shall be determined by the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, per the Conservation Easement Authority’s Article of Incorporation, adopted August 24, 2005. Methods of appointment and terms of office shall be determined by the Frederick County Board of Supervisors. ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS 4-1 Officers of the Authority shall consist of a chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer and secretary. The chairman, vice-chairman, and treasurer must be voting members of the Authority. The secretary shall be a member of the Authority or a county employee. 4-2 Selection 4 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 2 - 4-2-1 The officers shall be elected by the voting members of the Authority at the first meeting of the calendar year. 4-2-2 Nomination of officers shall be made from the floor at the first meeting of the calendar year. Elections of officers shall follow immediately. A candidate receiving a majority vote of the entire voting membership shall be declared elected. 4-3 Duties 4-3-1 The Chairman shall: 4-3-1-1Preside at meetings. 4-3-1-2Rule on procedural questions. A ruling on a procedural question by the chairman shall be subject to reversal by a two-thirds majority vote of the members present. 4-3-1-3Report official communications. 4-3-1-4Certify official documents involving the authority of the Authority. 4-3-1-5Certify minutes as true and correct copies. 4-3-1-6Carry out other duties as assigned by the Board of Supervisors and the Authority. 4-3-2 The Vice-Chairman shall: 4-3-2-1Assume the full powers of the chairman in the absence or inability of the chairman to act. 4-3-2-2Carry out other duties as assigned by the Board of Supervisors and the Authority Chairman. 4-3-3 The Treasurer shall: 4-3-3-1Be responsible for the safekeeping of all funds of the Authority. 4-3-3-2Maintain the financial records of the Authority. 5 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 3 - 4-3-3-3Pay approved bills. 4-3-4 The Secretary shall: 4-3-4-1Ensure that attendance is recorded at all meetings. 4-3-4-2Ensure that the minutes of all Authority meetings are recorded. 4-3-4-3Notify members of all meetings. 4-3-4-4Prepare agendas for all meetings. 4-3-4-5Maintain files of all official Authority records and reports. Official records and reports may be purged in accordance with applicable state codes. 4-3-4-6Give notice of all Authority meetings, public hearings and public meetings. 4-3-4-7Provide to the Board of Supervisors reports and recommendations of the Authority. 4-3-4-8Attend to the correspondence necessary for the execution of the duties and functions of the Authority. 4-4 Term of Office 4-4-1 Officers shall be elected for a one-year term or until a successor takes office. Vacancies shall be filled for an unexpired term by a majority vote of the Authority. In such cases, the newly elected officer shall serve only until the end of the calendar year or until a successor takes office. 4-5 Temporary Chairman 4-5-1 In the event of the absence of both the chairman and the vice-chairman from any meeting, the Authority shall designate from among its members a temporary chairman who shall act for that meeting in the absence of the chairman or vice-chairman. 6 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 4 - ARTICLE V – MEETINGS 5-1 Meetings shall be held as needed at the time and place set by the Authority. 5-2 Special meetings may be called by the chairman or by the secretary after due notice and publication by the secretary. 5-3 Notice of all meetings shall be sent by the secretary with an agenda at least five days before the meeting. 5-4 All meetings of the Authority shall be open to the public except for Closed Sessions held in accordance with the provision specified of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended. ARTICLE VI – VOTING 6-1 A majority of voting members shall constitute a quorum. No action shall be taken or motion made unless a quorum is present. 6-2 No action of the Authority shall be valid unless authorized by a majority vote of those sent present and voting. ARTICLE VII – OPERATING RULES 7-1 Order of Business 7-1-1 Call to Order 7-1-2 Consideration of Minutes 7-1-3 Public Hearings 7-1-4 Public Meetings 7-1-5 Discussions 7-1-6 Citizen Comments on Items not on the Agenda 7-1-7 Other 7-1-8 Adjournment 7 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 5 - 7-2 Minutes 7-2-1 The Authority shall keep minutes of each meeting. The Chairman and Secretary shall sign all minutes following approval by the Authority certifying that the minutes are true and correct. Minutes made available to the public prior to formal approval by the Authority shall be clearly identified as a draft version of the meeting. 7-3 Procedures 7-3-1 Parliamentary procedure in the Authority meetings shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, except where otherwise specified in these. procedures. 7-3-2 Whenever an agenda item involves a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, the Authority shall continue to consider the item until a definite recommendation is made. If a motion has been made and defeated, additional, different motions may be made concerning the item under consideration. 7-3-3 Business items on the agenda shall be considered using the following procedures: 7-3-3-1 Report by County Staff 7-3-3-2 Presentation by Applicant 7-3-3-3 Citizen Comment 7-3-3-4 Rebuttal by Applicant 7-3-3-5 Discussion by Authority 7-3-3-6 Motion and Action by Authority 7-3-4 Public comment shall be allowed in all cases required by the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, or the Code of Frederick County. In other cases, the Chairman may allow public comment. 7-3-5 The Authority members may ask questions of clarification and information after the staff report, applicant presentation and citizen comment. 8 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 6 - 7-3-6 Petitions, displays, documents or correspondence presented at a meeting may be made part of the official record of the meeting by motion of the Authority and are to be kept on file by the secretary. Such items need not be made part of the published minutes. 7-3-7 Public Hearings 7-3-7-1The Authority shall hold public hearings on all items which require a motion to accept a Conservation Easement. 7-3-7-2The Chairman may establish special rules for any public hearing at the beginning of said hearing. These rules may include limitations on the time of staff report, applicant presentation and citizen comment. 7-3-7-3The Authority may hold public hearings on any matter which it deems to be in the public interest. In such cases, the public hearings shall follow all procedures described for public hearing in these bylaws. 7-3-8 Postponement 7-3-8-1The Authority shall have the authority to postpone agenda items if any one of the following situations occurs: A) The agenda item does not meet the requirements of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended. B) The agenda item does not meet the requirements of the Code of Frederick County. C) Insufficient information has been provided for the agenda item. D) Issues or concerns that arise during formal discussion of the agenda item warrant additional information or study. E) The applicant provides the Authority with a written request to postpone the agenda item. F) The Authority is advised of an emergency situation that prevents attendance by applicant. 9 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 7 - G) The applicant fails to appear at the meeting in which the application has been advertised to appear. 7-3-8-2The applicant shall be permitted to request that an agenda item be postponed from a scheduled Authority meeting. 7-3-8-3An application that has been postponed for an unspecified period of time shall be re-advertised for consideration by the Authority once the following steps have been completed: A) The applicant has requested in writing that the agenda item be considered by the Authority. B) The applicant has provided all required information to the Authority which addresses all concerns of the Authority. 7-3-8-4The Authority shall have the authority to act on an agenda item that has been postponed when the agenda item has been re- advertised for a subsequent Authority agenda. 10 CEA Bylaws April 25, 2024 - 8 - ARTICLE VIII – AMENDMENTS 8-1 These bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of the entire voting membership after thirty days prior notice. 8-2 Authority shall conduct an annual review of these bylaws to ensure their accuracy. All amendments to these bylaws shall be considered by the Authority in November of each calendar year. The Authority shall adopt their bylaws during the first meeting of each calendar year. 11 Conservation Easement Authority Agenda Item Detail Meeting Date: April 25, 2024 Agenda Section: Meeting Minutes Title: Meeting Minutes - September 28, 2023 Attachments: CEA04-25-24MeetingMinutesSeptember28.pdf 12 MEETING MINUTES OF THE FREDERICK COUNTY CONSERVATION EASEMENT AUTHORITY Held in the Planning Department Conference Room of the Frederick County Administration Building at 107 North Kent Street in Winchester, Virginia on September 28, 2023. PRESENT: Diane Kearns, Chairman; Todd Lodge, Vice-Chairman; Patricia Scheulen-Ferrell, Ryan Dougall, Charles Triplett, Planning Commission Liaison; and Judith McCann-Slaughter, Board of Supervisor Liaison ABSENT: Elaine Cain, Treasurer, Lowell Henderson and Philip Haines, STAFF PRESENT: John Bishop, Assistant Planning Director and Pam Deeter. OTHER: Kathy Baker, Stafford County PUBLIC MEETING Welcome and Introduction The meeting was called to order by the Chairman Kearns at 9:00 a.m. and she determined there was a quorum. On a motion made by Mr. Lodge and seconded by Mrs. McCann-Slaughter, the minutes for the May 25, 2023, meeting were unanimously approved as presented. Ms. Kathy Baker of Stafford County give a presentation on Purchase of Development Rights Program (PDR). Stafford County offers a voluntary PDR program and that is where the County pays landowners to preserve the land from residential development. The Property owner can live on the property or could create another parcel to reside on. Property owners can also continue to operate the farm. They can maintain ownership of parcel. The County places an easement on the parcel, and if the property owner wants to sell property the easement will remain. The County looks outside of the Urban Development Area for PDR’s. Since the parcel is outside the UDA, the impacts on services such as water & sewer, fire & rescue, bus transportation and utilities are a minimum. There are incentives to the PDR program such as state tax credit and federal tax deduction in which the landowner would need a tax attorney. 13 Stafford County rollback taxes fund the PDR program. The funded money is determined each year by the rollback tax program and then allocated for the PDRs. Matching funds are sought from outside sources because the Board only allows 50% of the amount. Stafford County has 12 parcels, approximately a little over 1,200 acres. The Board will hold the easement. The Board of Supervisors can change the PDR program if needed but the easements would remain on the parcels. Ms. Baker informed the Committee as to criteria for applying for a PDR. Once the Applicant meets the criteria, the property is appraised and then processed through a ranking system. Discussion Chairman Kearns asked if the PDR program is something the Committee would like to pursue and expand the opportunities to preserve land. There was an agreement. Mrs. McCann-Slaughter suggested that the Committee have a plan. She can approach the Board when it meets in November to start on the budget for the following year. A Board Liaison mentioned at the approval of the solar projects in the citing agreement some money was set aside for other projects. The citing agreement would need to be reviewed. A draft plan for PDR will be presented at the next meeting on October 26, 2023. A suggestion was maybe a presentation from Clarke County and Albemarle County to see how their programs work. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 a.m. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________ Diane Kearns, Chairman ______________________________ John A. Bishop, CEA Secretary 14 Conservation Easement Authority Agenda Item Detail Meeting Date: April 25, 2024 Agenda Section: Presentation on Purchase of Development Rights - Clarke County Title: Purchase of Development Rights Presentation Attachments: 15 Conservation Easement Authority Agenda Item Detail Meeting Date: April 25, 2024 Agenda Section: Presentation on Purchase of Development Rights - Clarke County Title: Discussion Attachments: 16