Carbon County Commissioners are urging farmers to contact the Pennsylvania Farm Service Agency about the proposed closure of the Carbon/Monroe county FSA office.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, explained the deadline for sending written comment about the proposed consolidation is Feb. 16."I strongly encourage all farmers to contact, not only the FSA, but their elected officials as well," Nothstein said. "This is a great disservice to our farmers if the office moves."He thanked everyone who came out to the public meeting, held Feb. 6, in Lehighton, with regards to comments on the possible closing. Over 100 farmers and elected officials attended to show their support for the county office.Nothstein said the proposed consolidation would move the Carbon/Monroe office to Bethlehem because it is within the 20 mile "as the crow flies" radius.He noted that it takes him about an hour to drive to the area where the Bethlehem office is located."A lot of these farmers are smaller farmers in Carbon County," he said. "They have part-time or full-time jobs. They don't have time to spend up to two hours traveling out of the county for farm services agencies."Nothstein added that in addition to hurting farmers in the county, it will also cost the county money because the FSA office in Lehighton is shared with the Carbon County Conservation District. The two offices share costs for space and utilities.To send a letter regarding the proposed consolidation, email it to Bill Wehry, state executive director for the Pennsylvania FSA, at bill.wehry@pa.usda.gov; or mail a written comment to the Pennsylvania State FSA Office, c/o Bill Wehry, SED, 1 Credit Union Place, Suite 320, Harrisburg, PA 17110.In other matters, the commissioners received notification from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development that the county will receive $743,031 in Community Development Block Grants for 2011.Of that total amount, Carbon County will receive $252,615, which will be used on projects in non-entitlement communities in the county. Non-entitlement communities are municipalities that do not meet entitlement community guidelines, have a population of 4,000, with at least 51 percent of the residents being classified as low-to-moderate income.The non-entitlement communities must compete for the annual funding, and do not have to have a specific population but their proposed projects must meet the same guidelines as the entitlement communities.The remaining $490,416 will be distributed through Carbon County to the five entitlement communities in the county. Franklin Township will receive $92,394; Jim Thorpe, $97,999; Lansford, $92,264; Lehighton, $105,323; and Palmerton, $102,436.