THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060368
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 36 lines
Residents of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach Tuesday elected their representatives to the Soil and Water Conservation Board, a little-known public office that helps local farmers manage their land.
Members of the six-person board are known as directors, and two from each city were selected to serve three-year terms.
E.T. ``Joe'' Buchanan, the provost of the Virginia Beach Campus of Tidewater Community College, appeared to claim one of the two seats open in Virginia Beach. The second seat was a close contest between Barry D. Knight, a hog farmer, and George W. Schaefer, a retired employee of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
With all but three precincts reporting, Schaefer held a narrow lead.
In Chesapeake, the election was a formality. There were two seats and two names on the ballot: Leonard M. Harrell Jr. and W. Lyle Pugh Sr.
Both cities are in the Virginia Dare district, one of 45 such districts statewide. The directors are not paid.
The board oversees farm conservation plans that might fall under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. They also sponsor soil nutrient management programs that may enable farmers to earn tax credits.
In addition, the district will help manage the Agricultural Stewardship Act, which is a complaint-driven system for dealing with water quality problems at farms. The act becomes law April 1, 1997.
The district also manages educational programs that target schools, civic groups and garden clubs.
The local district's main office is in the Virginia Beach municipal complex, but the board meets at Angie's Restaurant, at the corner of Centerville Turnpike and Mount Pleasant Road in Chesapeake.
KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA BEACH ELECTION CHESAPEAKE by CNB