Post by Logan on Feb 16, 2016 23:48:13 GMT -6
A contentious plan to give two Port Penn farmers $6 million in public money to ensure their farms will not become a future housing development was delayed on Tuesday night minutes before it was set to be voted on by New Castle County Council.
The council spent hours in heated debate over the pending purchase of development rights for two farms on Port Penn Road south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. County Executive Thomas P. Gordon had said he'd kill the plan if the County Council rejected a resolution that would endorse the expenditures, but that measure was withdrawn by Councilman Bill Bell before the vote took place.
Bell, who represents the Port Penn area and sponsored the endorsing legislation, said many council members still have questions about the legality and process of the deals. He temporarily withdrew the legislation in order to protect the "openness" and "credibility" of government, he said. Bell said he intends to have an outside attorney review the deals to satisfy council members' concerns before bringing the legislation back up.
Gordon's administration seeks to combine federal farmland preservation funds, county money and a smaller portion of state dollars to purchase the development rights of 123 acres owned by former state Farm Bureau President Gary Warren for $3.1 million and the rights on 110 acres for $3.2 million tied to former state Public Service Commissioner Jaymes Lester.
Read more: www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/02/16/ncco-council-debates-controversial-6-million-farmland-deal/80462388/
The council spent hours in heated debate over the pending purchase of development rights for two farms on Port Penn Road south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. County Executive Thomas P. Gordon had said he'd kill the plan if the County Council rejected a resolution that would endorse the expenditures, but that measure was withdrawn by Councilman Bill Bell before the vote took place.
Bell, who represents the Port Penn area and sponsored the endorsing legislation, said many council members still have questions about the legality and process of the deals. He temporarily withdrew the legislation in order to protect the "openness" and "credibility" of government, he said. Bell said he intends to have an outside attorney review the deals to satisfy council members' concerns before bringing the legislation back up.
Gordon's administration seeks to combine federal farmland preservation funds, county money and a smaller portion of state dollars to purchase the development rights of 123 acres owned by former state Farm Bureau President Gary Warren for $3.1 million and the rights on 110 acres for $3.2 million tied to former state Public Service Commissioner Jaymes Lester.
Read more: www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/02/16/ncco-council-debates-controversial-6-million-farmland-deal/80462388/