Duplin County VAD votes to keep current chair, vice-chair

KENANSVILLE — Representatives from Duplin County’s Voluntary Agricultural Districts (VAD) moved to extend the term of their current chair and vice-chair at their quarterly board meeting in Kenansville last Tuesday, foregoing an election to retain the leadership Amanda Hatcher and Cynthia Blackmore in their respective roles as chair and vice-chair until June of 2026. The meeting also included the review of updated Notice of Withdrawal/Revocation forms, and an update on the county’s revised VAD application.

Hatcher provided answers Tuesday night to various questions posed by board members at January’s meeting regarding the recording process, the addition of land to an existing VAD, ownership transfer and more.

She explained that she consulted with attorney Andrew Branan, who is affiliated with North Carolina State University and possesses significant legal expertise in VAD and farm law and received valuable insights in response.

“I ran all these questions by him, and he really gave me a lot of information,” she explained.

Hatcher provided those in attendance with a printed Question and Answers sheet for their review.

“I know ya’ll asked about how Sampson County handles enrollment when the land that’s in a VAD no longer qualifies to be enrolled in VAD, so I called Eileen about that,” added Hatcher, explaining that Eileen Coite was in charge of Voluntary Agricultural Districts in Sampson County. “She said it really depends on how they happen to find out. Right now, if a landowner comes to them and says, ‘Hey, I need to pull it out of the VAD’, that’s how they handle it. She said they would be looking at changing that in the future.”

The board was supplied with copies of the updated VAD application and conservation agreement, featuring changes based on member feedback from January’s meeting.

“Organization’s very good, more concise, less busy. I like it,” said J.W. Kilpatrick with the Duplin County Agribusiness Council upon his review. With no changes suggested by the board, the updated documents will go to the county attorney for approval.

A form providing notice of withdrawal or revocation of property from VAD may also see an update in the future, with board members expressing concerns about wording in certain areas of the document and whether multiple owners can be listed on the withdrawal sheet. After discussion, the board decided the forms required further review of Duplin County Register of Deeds Anita Savage.

Hatcher and Blackmore have served as the chair and vice-chair of the Duplin County VAD Board since the positions were created in July of last year. Though Hatcher attempted to open the floor for nominations for chair, the board voted unanimously to instead extend the terms of their current chair and vice-chair by another year through June 2026.

In other business, members can now purchase an optional sign for $39 that designates their property as belonging to the VAD, with a brief summary of what that entails.

The board meets next on July 22 at 7 p.m.