Rell To Seek $5 Million For Farms

HARTFORD (AP) — Governor M. Jodi Rell says she wants to borrow $5 million to buy the development rights to some farmland. Rell has put the funds for the purchases by the Farmland Preservation Program into a request that will go before the state Bond Commission on September 25.

The $5 million would be used to buy development rights to farms. Under the program, the land can never be used for nonagricultural purposes and farms will stay under private ownership and continue to pay local property taxes. The state already has purchased 680 acres of land this summer and hopes to preserve 2,500 acres on 20 more farms.