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Aurora Beacon-News
May 3, 2002
Community effort: 'Hopefully, it's not too late'
By Jim Faber
STAFF WRITER
YORKVILLE ó Some 80 percent of Kendall County is farmland.
Still, now is the time to start efforts to save that land, advised Brad Walker of the American Farmland Trust.
Walker held the first meeting for the American Farmland Trust's farmland preservation crusade this week for a
group of farmers and other community members at the Kendall County Farm Bureau offices here.
"It's not too early," Walker said. "And, hopefully, it's not too late."
The American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization, also is running farmland preservation efforts
in Boone and DeKalb counties.
Eight of the roughly 20 people at the meeting expressed an interest in volunteering to form a community-run farm
preservation effort. Kendall is the first place the American Farmland Trust will set up a community group from
scratch, Walker said.
To stress the importance of farmland preservation for Kendall, Walker pointed out the county has lost about 30,000
acres of agricultural land since 1960.
If that loss continues, Kendall County could find itself short of the water it needs for new homes and in a financial
crunch, Walker said.
For every dollar in taxes collected from farmland, that land needs just 38 cents worth of government services,
Walker said. For residential land, $1.24 worth of services is needed for every dollar collected, he said.
Frustrated with government
Walker characterized the meeting as a success both in term of the number of people who showed up and their willingness
to ask questions and talk through issues.
"I didn't expect quite as many people as we got," Walker said.
Farmers at the meeting expressed frustration because they feel county and city governments don't listen to their
opinions in light of the money rapid development can bring.
"Towns count new homes to determine if they are in good shape," said Buck Nesson, who owns a livestock
farm just south of Plano. "They promote development because it makes the economy look good."
Because of that, "the best farmland in the whole world" is being threatened and lost, Nesson said.
Walker introduced a number of farmland preservation techniques from assessing farmland at its agricultural value
rather than its property value to allowing farmers to sell development rights to their land to builders who would
then be able to build in town at a higher density than normally allowed.
But none of those ideas is the right one for Kendall County yet. Committee volunteers working with county and
city governments and farmers will have to figure out what will work for all parties in Kendall, Walker said.
Large-scale effort
Oswego Village President Craig Weber, who was at the meeting, applauded the efforts, saying it wasn't too late
to start preservation in the county, but he warned it would take more manpower than just the people at the first
meeting.
"If we don't (preserve farmland and open space), the cost to maintain homes for the taxing districts is
going to be enormous," said Weber, who grew up on a farm and whose brother still farms in western Illinois.
One challenge may be getting farmers to buy into selling their development rights, Weber said.
By doing that, the farmland never can be developed and would pay lower property taxes. That, however, takes a
final payday away from farmers, many of whom are struggling to make money now, Weber said.
Once Kendall County cities and villages finish their boundary agreements, cooperation between the different municipalities
and between the municipalities and the county should be easier, Weber said. However, a comprehensive farm preservation
effort still isn't a given, he said.
"It will take a lot more cooperation that we even conceived of last night," Weber said. Contact Jim
Faber at (630) 844-5889 or jfaber@scn1.com.
05/03/02