YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 20, No. 15
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Plans Taking a stand made for K elected fire board by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
Over 90 percent of voters approved the measure to reduce the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Board from nine to five, according to a postelection report released by the agency this week. Just over 18 percent of registered voters went to the polls on March 6, with 90.5 percent of them voting to reduce the number of board members. A total of 11,772 ballots were cast. “We are going to be moving toward
athy Griffin and Diana Harris protest the proposed rezoning of the Shadow Lakes and Deer Ridge golf courses for high-density housing in Brentwood on Tuesday, April 10. The protestors appeared outside of a luncheon – hosted by the owners of the Photo by Tony Kukulich properties, Sun Coast Golf Inc. – that was intended to make realtors aware of the project. For more background on the proposed project, visit www.thepress.net. To view more photos of the event, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia/slideshows
see Fire Board page 26A
Trust merger to protect farmland “ (The merger is) going to be good for those
by Aly Brown Staff Writer
A recent merger between two land trusts focused on farmland protection has garnered support and hope from East County farmers. When Kathryn Lyddan, former executive director of Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust (BALT), left her seat to accept a position with the State Department of Conservation, the BALT board decided it was time to merge with Central Valley Farmland Trust (CVFT). According to Tom Bloomfield, owner of Bloomfield Cherries, the merger courtship transpired over the last two years and was finalized in December. The trust’s new name is California
farmers in Brentwood who sold easements and are going to have a responsible agency overseeing that part of their property that has a restriction on it.
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Tom Bloomfield, owner Bloomfield Cherries Farmland Trust. “I am very excited (to merge with CVFT), being a larger and more sustainable organization,” said Bloomfield, who also served on the BALT board prior to the merger. “Ours had gotten to the point where you had to grow to be sustainable. This is a very small ag area, and we probably shouldn’t have had our own
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local land trust, but the good thing was all of these local easements have landed in the lap of a very responsible organization that will steward throughout everyone’s lifetime.” Bloomfield went on to explain that CVFT was the goto agricultural farm trust of the state and was issued mitigation funds when the construction of
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railways resulted in a loss of agriculture. “Those mitigation funds were given to CVFT, so they have been accredited twice, and annually, they have a thorough accreditation process, which is expensive, and small trusts for the most part can’t afford to do it,” he said. Within the farmland trust realm, accreditation is a mark of distinction, indicating that a trust meets high standards for land conservation. And the role of a farmland trust is to make sure agricultural easements – a deed restriction landowners voluntarily place on their property to protect its resources – are not being see Merger page 26A
Musical Lineup www.thepress.net/news/webextras
Star-studded concerts on the way for Alameda County Fair.
April 13, 2018
Ideas For The Home, Garden
Check out this week’s tips and trends in The Press’ Home & Garden section. Page 1B
Giving Up The Grapes
Two Oakley brothers are selling their generations-old vineyard and saying goodbye to a way of life. Page 5A
Off To A Good Start
The Heritage girls’ softball family has won the last seven out of nine games. Page 18A Calendar.............................27A Classifieds..........................21A Cop Logs.............................25A Entertainment..................12A Food.....................................13A Health & Beauty...............17A Milestones.........................11A Opinion...............................16A Pets........................................ 9A Sports..................................18A
4-H Fun
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Tractor Supply in Brentwood kicks off semi-annual 4-H fundraiser.