Board of Directors and Officers
The Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board is composed of seven members, each serving without compensation. All members are required to be county residents. Each member is a voting member, except for the Berkeley County Commissioner, who shall serve in a non-voting, advisory capacity. All members are appointed by the Berkeley County Commission, typically for a four-year term. The composition of every farmland protection board is dictated by the Voluntary Farmland Protection Act at WV Code §8A-12-1(2004).
The specific composition of the Board is as follows:
- One Berkeley County Commissioner(Steve Catlett).
- Executive Director of the Berkeley County Development Authority (Jennifer Smith).
- One farmer who is a member of the Berkeley County Farm Bureau (George Miller).
- One farmer who is a member of the Eastern Panhandle Soil Conservation District (P. Fred Johnson).
- One farmer who need not be a member of any farm organization (Bill Bennett).
- One county resident who is not a member of the foregoing organizations (Karen Burkhart).
- One county resident who is not a member of the foregoing organizations (Tom Gleason).
The 2024 Officers of the Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board are as follows:
- Board Chair (Tom Gleason)
- Board Vice-Chair (George Miller)
- Board Secretary (Jennifer Smith)
- Board Treasurer (Karen Burkhart)
The Executive Director for the Board is Resa Ingram-Orsini.
The Conservation Stewardship Manager is Rebecca Pearl.
The Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board meets on the second Monday of each month, unless that date is a holiday in which case they meet the next day. Meetings are generally at 6:00 PM in the offices of the Berkeley County Economic Development Authority, 300 Foxcroft Avenue, Suite 200, Martinsburg WV. Please note that the Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board reserves the right to change it’s meeting time/date/location subject to the provisions of the West Virginia Open Government Proceedings Act.