By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — City Council members will hear a presentation today about the Rowan County Cooperative Extension’s initiative to preserve agricultural land and working farms.

The meeting will be held virtually and can be streamed live at salisburync.gov/webcast and via the city’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. Anyone who wishes to speak during the public comment period must sign up by 5 p.m. today by contacting City Clerk Kelly Baker at kbake@salisburync.gov or 704-638-5233.

The Rowan County Agricultural Advisory Board and Cooperative Extension are working to develop a Working Agricultural Lands Plan to show the current state of agriculture and forestry, outline challenges and opportunities as well as make recommendations to help sustain local family farms and forests. The plan also seeks to provide a comprehensive strategy to assist with the county’s agriculture and land use policies and programs while also strengthening and developing compatible use partners. Such partners include the various industries, military installations and communities located adjacent to farms and forestry.

The initiative is funded by the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund from the state’s Agriculture Department, with the Lois G. Britt Agribusiness Center at the University of Mount Olive leading the project.

The agricultural board applied for a grant to help write the plan in 2019 and was awarded funding in 2020. Now, the board is working to solicit input from the public. The current Working Agricultural Lands Plan survey can be completed online at go.ncsu.edu/rowanworkingaglands, by mail or in person by visiting the Cooperative Extension office at 2727 Old Concord Road.

At the end of the meeting, the council will go into closed session to discuss an issue covered by attorney-client privilege as well as an economic development issue.

Also on the agenda:

• Council members will receive a presentation and hold a public hearing to amend the city’s Land Development Ordinance. Amendments would apply to sections about subdivisions and infrastructure; lots, infill, additions and accessory provisions; environmental protections; development plan requirements; and definitions.

• Council member David Post will present an update on the KIVA platform in Salisbury. KIVA is a national loan program that provides women and minorities zero-interest and zero-fee micro-loans to help kickstart their entrepreneurial endeavors.

• The council will consider an amendment to the 2021-22 budget in the amount of $5,000 to appropriate Joint Operations funds from the U.S. Secret Service for the purchase of equipment used in criminal investigations. Salisbury Police Chief Jerry Stokes told the Post the grant will be used to purchase computer forensic equipment to retrieve information from electronic devices or media. SPD receives the funding because a member of an Internet Crimes Against Children task force, he added.

• The council will receive a certificate of sufficiency for the voluntary annexation of Cloninger Ford Investments located at 645 Julian Road and adopt a resolution to hold a public hearing at the March 1 meeting.

• Mayor Karen Alexander will declare the month of February “African-American History Month.”

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.