County Commissioners Accept Committee Ranking Of Farms for Protection

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners last night accepted a ranking of six farms under consideration for the county’s farmland protection program that put the 75-acre farm of Carole Ludwig, 1510 Old Farmington Road in the south of the county, at the top of the list.

In accepting the recommendation of its review committee, the Commissioners gave themselves considerable leeway to select another of the farms on the list.

The county now will begin discussions with the Athens Land Trust about purchasing a conservation easement on the Ludwig farm in the hopes of obtaining federal funding to make the purchase possible.

If the negotiations with Ludwig are unsuccessful, BOC Chairman Melvin Davis told the BOC last night, the county can go to another of the farms on the list.

For more on the story and on a dispute among the Commissioners about an application for state highway funds, go to Oconee County Observations.