Failure to fill a vacant position at the Richmond County Soil and Water Conservation Agency could jeopardize a request for more than $148,000 in state subsidies for local farmers and landowners.

The agency has drafted a request for that amount for its Agricultural Cost Share Program, which provides funding for the implementation of best management practices.

For example, a poultry farmer who needs a better way to store chicken waste could apply for money to subsidize 75 percent of the cost of a storage shed. The agency’s Ag Cost Share Technician is responsible for facilitating the use of such state money, from new applications to implementation of existing funds.

“All of the moneys that we’ve been applying for, we’re subject to lose it because of the county hiring freeze,” said Donnie Richardson, a member of the agency’s Board of Supervisors. “We can’t make a request for anything without having a technician do it, because the technician is the one to implement it.”

According to Jackie McAuley, Richmond SWCD board administrative assistant, Best Management Practices are geared toward protecting soil and water resources by alleviating the effects of pollution caused by disposal or run-off of pesticides and animal by-products.

The Ag Cost Tech position is funded with half state and half county money. The Richmond County Board of Commissioners made the agency a county entity on April 6, which means that the county requests agency payroll funding from the state, matches it, then provides the paycheck to agency employees; the Ag Cost Share Tech would be one of those employees. Both county and state checks used to go directly to the agency itself.

“(County Manager Jim Haynes) advised that this position has previously been funded by the county, but the person in this position has not been classified as a county employee,” read the minutes of the April 6 meeting. “Mr. Haynes noted that there would be no additional cost to the county and that he considered this to be good for county government.”

McAuley said the position was vacated on April 30. Due to an existing freeze on new hires for positions that are 50 percent county-funded, the agency cannot advertise for someone to fill the vacant spot.

In a May 18 letter to Haynes, agency board members plead their case by giving reasons why the SWCD cannot operate without a technician:

“The Ag Cost Share program works on a precise time frame and numerous governmental deadlines,” read the letter. “Farmers and landowners are in jeopardy of losing state funding if qualifications are not filed by specific dates...Without an Ag Cost Share technician, Richmond County is likely to lose $187,000 - the 2010 program request.”

“It takes a lot to oversee these contracts over a number of years,” said McAuley of existing Ag Cost Share subsidy agreements. “If for some reason the paperwork timing isn’t kept on schedule or payment vouchers aren’t processed, a farmer could be liable for 100 percent instead of 25 percent.”

On Tuesday, Haynes said he would be reviewing the letter within the next couple of days, noting that the position came open after the freeze had already gone into place.

“They wanted to become a county department,” said Haynes Tuesday, a fact which McAuley confirmed. “Then we had the budget cutback, and like every other department, they have been affected by it.”

Haynes said he will be taking time to research what the agency has sent to him before making a decision on whether or not to fill the spot.

“It’s up in the air based on whatever decision we can make or any justification that I can do here,” he said, adding that he has “some wiggle room in terms of making some exceptions.”

Vilma Mendez, a full-time U.S. Department of Agriculture district conservationist who serves Richmond County and Scotland Counties, is currently pulling double-duty at the agency to alleviate the problems that have arisen from short staffing.

“(Mendez) has really stepped up to the plate and helped out,” said McAuley.

“It is unrealistic to think that (Mendez) can oversee the Ag Cost Share Program,” read the letter from the agency’s board. “Her responsibilities to the District are to provide oversight, review and technical assistance to the Ag Cost Share Technician.”

The agency’s funding proposal is slated for review, and a decision by the state, in July, at which time the presence or absence of a technician will be factored in.

For more information, contact the Richmond County Soil and Water Conservation District Office at 997-8244 ext. 3.