Carbon County officials plan to address issues with its farmland preservation program.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Troy and Sherry Johnson, Monroe County residents who own 100 acres of farmland in Carbon, approached the board to discuss their concerns about the Farmland Preservation Board.The Johnsons attended the June preservation board meeting to see the status of their application for preserving their farmland, which they submitted on Jan. 12.Troy supplied a letter he had written outlining the misinformation he had been given early on that was potentially causing his farm to not be approved.He said that at that June meeting "I became aware of the dysfunctionality and unprofessionalism of the Carbon County Land Preservation Board.""Things didn't go so well," he said on Thursday. "I think there are some conflicts of interest there (on the board)."Troy said following that meeting, he contacted Doug Wolfgang, director of farmland preservation for Pennsylvania, and voiced his concerns.Commissioners Wayne Nothstein, chairman; Thomas J. Gerhard; and William O'Gurek agreed with the Johnsons that there are some issues that will be addressed."I have some genuine concerns as well after reading your letter," O'Gurek told the Johnsons. "We have spent taxpayer dollars to hire someone skilled in that program, and it appears to me that the people on the board seem to not want to take the advice of someone who knows the program."I have a serious problem with someone being on our Farmland Preservation Board who is also an applicant in the program at the same time and voting on issues that deal with his own farm," O'Gurek said, noting that Richard Fedor, the chairman of the board, also has a farm currently waiting approval into the program. "That is a serious conflict, and I think we need to address it."Gerhard, who was present at the preservation board meeting the Johnsons were at, said he was unhappy with how things were being done at the meeting, even having to step in at times to stop some of the actions."We're definitely going to work on it," he told the couple.The Carbon County Farmland Preservation Board has been in existence for nearly three decades.According to previous articles published, a person owning a 50-acre farm may apply to have the land preserved so no development may take place on the property.Once the owner applies, the land is scored, ranked and appraised at the market value and agricultural value. Those values are then used to determine an offer by the county board for the land if the property is deemed a good candidate for inclusion in the program.If the owner accepts the offer, the land becomes farmland only and cannot be subdivided by the owner or future generations.The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture states that the program was developed to "strengthen Pennsylvania's agricultural economy and protect prime farmland."O'Gurek said the program was formerly overseen by Duane Dellecker of the Department of Solid Waste, which was shut down last year.Following the closure, the responsibilities for the program were transferred to Judy Borger, director of the Office of Planning and Development.Borger retired in September, and the program was again transferred to the new planning director, David Bodnar.To help with the transition and get the preservation program back up and running, the commissioners hired Diane Mathews of the Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Program to advise the board moving forward."I am hearing that our members of our board, for whatever reason, seem to not be receptive to Diane coming in and telling them what she knows about the program," O'Gurek said. "As commissioners, we lean on the expertise of people and pay to get the program right."The next board meeting is Aug. 12.