Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand Conservation And Stewardship Board - Minutes - 09/12/2007MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS LAND CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP BOARD Regular Meeting 200 W. Mountain, Suite A September 12, 2007 DATE: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 LOCATION: 200 W. Mountain Avenue, Suite A TIME: 6:00 p.m. For Reference: Bill Bertschy - 491-7377 Mayor Doug Hutchinson - 416-2154 John Stokes, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Raymond Boyd, Michelle Grooms, Trudy Haines, Vicky McLane, Linda Stanley, Dave Theobald, Karyl Ting Board Members Excused Bill Bertschy, Greg Eckert Council Liaison Mayor, Doug Hutchinson Staff Present Natural Resources / Natural Areas Department: Daylan Figgs, Pat Hayward, Geri Kidawski, Karen Manci, Mark Sears, John Stokes Guests Cheryl Donaldson — Fort Collins Museum Director Matt Fater— Special Projects Manager, Customer & Administrative Services Dan Mattson - Special Projects Manager, Customer & Administrative Services Dean Saye — Special Projects Manager, Customer & Administrative Services Public Comments No Public comments Agenda Review Review and Approval of Minutes Stanley: On page twelve of the minutes, please correct the word broad to Board. Boyd moved to approve the August 8, 2007 meeting minutes as amended. Haines second and it was unanimously approved. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 2 of 13 Soapstone Natural Area Final Draft Plan • Stanley: Greg Eckert had a few comments regarding the Soapstone Draft Management Plan, and he sent them to me, so I will forward them to you Daylan and copy John Stokes. • Stokes: We came to the Board in August and presented the Soapstone Management Plan draft and had a very good discussion and received some very good feedback from the Board. We then went to the Council work session where there was a handful of themes one being Bison. Some of the members encouraged us to explore that idea going forward. The other dialogue was about dogs, and we also had a dialogue about site security at Lindenmeier and how well will we manage those resources. Generally, comments from Council were supportive and there were no suggestion from Council to change any of the Soapstone Management Plan. What Daylan brought here this evening is some minor changes to the plan. Based on input from the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board, we changed from being open four days a week to seven days a week at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area for nine months out of the year. We would remain closed December, January and February, which is parallel to Larimer County's Red Mountain Area. • Figgs: The stack of revisions that we sent out was housekeeping items. Publicly, the largest set of changes appeared on Public Improvements pages. • Stokes: A Council member suggested that we consider more segregated usage of some of our trails. That Council member was interested in the possibility of hiking only trails. We are just getting into trail design, and our trail crews are at Soapstone laying some of the trails especially the ones around the Lindenmeier site. I would like to suggest to the Board that in the near future we go on a field trip to take a look at the area, and at that time we can show you what we are thinking about in terms of our trail design and also have a discussion regarding trail use. • Stanley: I noticed from the comments that there are too many bike trails and multi -use trails. • Figgs: That's where we first started hearing the desire for less bike and multi -use trails, and Council mimics the concern as well. With the first cut of trails we're looking at hiking trails, which are also bike trails, to have long distances views down trail by hikers so that they can see bikes coming, avoiding any blind spots. • Sears: It's hard to get a good perspective on this, but currently the Natural Areas program including the trails added to Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, total approximately 38 miles of trails. We will have close to 40 miles of trails at Soapstone, so people will be spread out over dozens of miles of trails. I think the conflicts should be dramatically diluted or considerably reduced. • Stokes: The process is that I will administratively adopt the Management Plan soon, because the staff is ready to build the improvements. This is an adoptive plan and it can be changed moving forward. Thanks to Daylan Figgs, Pat Hayward and Meegan Flenniken who have done an amazing job on the project. • Sears: I have an update on the road access. We got our bids in last Thursday, which were very favorable. We have six general contractors' bids. The engineers estimate was around 2.6 million and the bids came in just under 2.1 million. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 3 of 13 Canal Importation Ponds & Outfall (CIPO) • Saye: I'm here to talk about the CIPO project. We were here in April of this year and Jim Hibbard gave a presentation about the project to the Board at that time. We thought we'd come back to the Board to give you an update as we get closer to completion. We were directed by Council to do this project in 2001. Saye showed the Board a PowerPoint presentation which included the following: Natural Areas Easement Policy o City Council resolution 2001-94 — To the maximum extent feasible, planning for storm drainage, water quality and natural areas and open land acquisitions shall continue to be coordinated so that lands needed for all of these uses are purchased jointly. • Current Floodplain • Contributing Factors o Historic streams obliterated by irrigation, canals, agriculture and urbanization o Urbanization without detention o History of multiple floods o No outlet to the Poudre River o Neighborhood vitality issue • Master Plan Status o Master plan estimate - $51,500,000* o Projects completed - $15,300,000* o CIPO estimate - $21,500,000* o Projects remaining - $14,700,000* o Actual cost of completed projects $9,800,000 *2001 Master Plan estimate dollars, not actual costs • Project Overview Map • Post Project Goal — map of CIPO post project floodplain • Our Approach to the Problem — As a group, including Utilities and Natural Areas staff, we have worked hard to develop a good understanding of the proposed project area and its current uses — including its role in storm water detention and as a neighborhood natural area. • Design Rendering • Fairbrooke and Red Fox Meadows Detention Areas — Changes from 1980 master plan that require larger detention areas: o Unsteady state flow modeling of canals o Modem storm water practices — do not make downstream conditions worse o Rainfall 50 - Year Level of Protection Alternative o About 2.9 inches in 2 hours o Reduces pipe size from 102-inch to 90-inch o Excavation reduced by 30,000 cubic yards - Depth of Red Fox Meadows reduced by 2 feet (average) o One year delay o Cost increase by $430,000 • Summary o Majority of impact is due to modern modeling and storm water practices. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 4 of 13 o A change in the design standard (lower level of protection) does not have significant impact on project or save money due to economies of scale and inflation. o Delay in project schedule delays flood protection and environmental benefits of restoration. Staff Recommendation o Proceed with Canal Importation & Ponds Outfall Project and the Red Fox Meadows restoration. Questions for City Council o Should staff prepare more detailed information on the rainfall standard for an October 23, 2007 Work Session? If yes, o Should construction of the Canal Importation Ponds & Outfall project and the Red Fox Meadows restoration project be delayed? • Results o More than 2,600 structures could receive a total of $142 million in damages during a 100-year stone. o If nothing is done, flood damages over the next 50 years are estimated to be $353 million o Recommended flood control improvements of $164 million will reduce damages by $290 million. o Damages would be eliminated on approximately 2,200 structures, almost 85% of the total damaged. • Reduced Level of Protection o Flood Control Project Cost - 100-Year Level of Protection - $164 million - 50-Year Level of Protection - $141 million o Property Damage Reduced - 100-Year Level of Protection - $290 million - 50-Year Level of Protection - $146 million o Number of Structures — Damages Eliminated - 100-Year Level of Protection - 2,200 - 50-Year Level of Protection — 1,500 Purpose of the Stormwater program o City Code Section 26-492 o Drain and control flood water o Reduce pollution o Enhance the environment o Protect the health, safety, property and welfare of the City Natural Areas Easement Policy o City Council Resolution 2001-94 o ...Innovative approaches shall continue to be used so that flood control and water quality facilities are designed, constructed and managed to maintain or enhance natural area protection values while meeting flood control, stream stability and water quality needs. Canal Importation Stormwater Master Plan — City Ordinance 121-2001 o Adoption of master drainage plan for the Canal Importation Basin o $51.5 million in improvements to avoid $125 million in damages Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 5 of 13 o Proposes improvements to stream habitat and riparian vegetation, enhancing or expanding wetland areas, maintaining and connecting wildlife travel corridors and incorporating water quality Saye showed the Board charts of the 2005 financing plan, stormwater rate comparison and schematic design. • Theobold: Where does the stormwater release from Red Fox Meadows? • Saye: It will eventually flow to Spring Creek. • Grooms: Why were 167 houses built in the flood plain? • Fater: These houses were built in the 1950's and 1960's time frame before there was knowledge of flood plan issues. • Theobold: Was the flood plan developed because of the development in the 1980's? • Fater: There was always a drainage path through there and then when you have development on top of that you have increased run-off rate, and this created more of a problem. • Stanley: When the flume is removed what happens? • Saye: When we take that structure out the water will go into the ditch. The volume of the water in the ditch will be maintained at a certain safe level. • McLane: How will they get across the ditch that is there now? • Saye: Off Stuart Street we will add a pedestrian access bridge, and off Promenade Way we will add another pedestrian access bridge that will connect with the trail system. • Saye: There have always been natural classrooms in the wetland area for the school system, and when we enlarge the pond we will add another outdoor classroom. • Haines: You mentioned the outdoor classroom, where is the area where the Blevins Junior High School kids planted vegetation? Manci showed Haines the location on a map and mentioned that the area will not be disturbed. • Stanley: How often would you see water in that ditch? • Saye: There may be a small ripple. We are planning on planting shrubs and trees along the ditch. You see water there year round now and we think we can establish this to continue to see some water there. • Ting: Whose water is it? • Saye: It is the State's water. We are not using it, all we are doing is bringing it to the surface and letting go the natural flow path. There is no consumptive use. • Theobold: You mentioned the plans for riparian vegetation, is it also native plants and trees in the upper areas as well? • Saye: The entire site will be completely stripped of all vegetation with the exception of a few trees. Fairbrooke is almost park -like, and we've heard from some of the neighbors that they still want that amenity. What we decided to do is on the west side to replant with something that can be mowed and will look park- like. The eastern third in the riparian areas it will be replanted with native grasses and shrubs. • Grooms: Why are you stripping all the trees? • Saye: To enlarge and dig the basin deeper. • Grooms: How deep will it be? Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 6 of 13 • Saye: Four to six feet. • Stanley: There will be 10,000 large truck loads of dirt taken out and it will cost around $20 million dollars? • Say: The three ponds will comprise half of the cost. • Grooms: What kind of truck will haul the dirt? • Say: It will probably be large excavator's trucks. • Grooms: So there will be trucks coming in and out, will they come out on Stuart Street? • Saye: We will build a road off Taft Hill Road, which will go back to Red Fox Meadows. • Stanley: How long do you think it will take? • Saye: We are looking at about a year, but it depends on what you call complete. We are planning on starting sometime in March 2008 and we probably wont' be planting until spring of 2009. Then we are looking at between three to five years before it is well established. • Theobold: Is this a similar process to what you did in City Park area around Sheldon Lake? Are there any things to think about or lessons learned from that project? • Saye: We've done four major basins in the last four or five years, which happen to be larger than this entire project. We have the experience over the years. • Boyd: Are we making a habitat for mosquitoes from this? • Mattson: We will be eliminating standing water ponds with this project. • Theobold: When is something a detention area and when is something a Natural area, and what is natural about something that is completely scooped out? Where is the natural process in this? To me a natural area has natural processes operating on it. • Manci: This project will restore some of the natural processes. Historically small streams did flow through there. This land may have been farmed for the last hundred years, so it wasn't a natural area to begin with. Although it seems like we are destroying a natural area because it has a name Natural Area actually this project will bring it back to the natural state. There will be more diversity of trees, grasses and shrubs than currently lives on the site. We will remove Russian Olives and a lot of the exotics, and it will take some time. Some of the wild life will be disturbed and they may have to relocate to another part of this site or other areas temporarily. • Grooms: Will the wildlife come back? • Manci: This area will be very attractive for the species people are concerned about like deer and fox, they will come back. • Grooms: Is there more risk of contaminants? • Saye: The new construction process should prevent oil, trash and sediment from entering the area, catching it in the inlet. • Manci: We are concentrating on City Wetland Plans along the stream, and that helps to do the final clean of some of the water. • Stanley: Can you talk about the slop. • Saye: What you see now is three or four to one, and what we'll have will be three to one and as much as eight to one. • Haines: How many miles of trails? Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 7 of 13 • Manci: Maybe a mile and a half total, the site is only forty acres. • Saye: We are just starting the final design on this project. • Haines: Does the Corp of Engineers ever get involved, and who has more authority Council or the Corp? • Saye: The Corp of Engineers does, and it is a very formal process. • Ting: Six years down the road when we have our first round of invasive plants in the area, who is responsible for eradicating these plants? • Manci: The first couple of years of establishing the natives, the cost for maintaining weed control etc. will be handled by the stormwater department. Then beyond the first two years once the natives have seeded the Natural Areas program will maintain the site. • Ting: Will the natural area expand with this development? • Manci: No, Fairbrooke will still be handled by stormwater, Red Fox Meadows Natural Area will include Kane and Red Fox. • McLane: How did the City of Fort Collins acquire the property? • Manci: The first piece was purchased by stromwater, and then early in the ninety's Natural Areas purchased the bridge areas, and then Kane property was almost a fifty-fifty shared purchase. • Saye: This has been part of the stormwater master plan since around 1980. • Grooms: Why did stormwater purchase the property if they knew that it would have to be modified at some point? • Manci: We own a number of properties together. Some of them look a lot better after our work. The problem with this site is that some people feel it looks fine now. • Grooms: I need to say my piece. I have been on this Board since it started and time and time again what is happening is that everyone comes to the Natural Areas to do something on these sites. It could be power lines, or others, and it seems like the Natural Areas is the collection for everyone else to bring in there stuff. People feel that they can do whatever they want in the Natural Areas. Now Stormwater comes in and tells us they have to redo all of this stuff, or Utilities might want to come in to put up utility poles etc. I would like to go on the record as saying that it is frustrating for me as a Board member that other departments come in and utilize the Natural Areas for their free will. • Manci: On this site we knew there was a need for major restoration down the road and we saw an opportunity to work with Stormwater to accomplish some of this. They would restore the streams and get rid of the Russian Olive trees and plant native grasses, and we would get the diversity of trees and shrubs. This would be expensive for the Natural Areas. • Saye: In 2001 the City Council directed Stormwater and the Natural Areas to work together so that we could use our resources collectively. • Grooms: I'm not here to be antagonistic, but it is frustrating for me as a private citizen sitting on this Board to see the Natural Areas tax dollars always being minimized by some other organization who wants to do something on the Natural Areas. • Haines: A frustrating example of that is over by the Cathy Fromme area. Because planning and development allowed housing development too close to the Natural Area someone had to come in and put in drainage up to the south end of the housing developments, which had to disrupt the natural area. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 8 of 13 • Sears: There are huge stories behind these projects. When Cathy Fromme was purchased, not as a single purchase but as a number of purchases, the development was all ready plotted and in some cases the water and sewer lines were all ready installed. We purchased the site from the developer so that is why the development is at the edge of the Natural Area property. • Haines: I trust the departments to make it look better than it is today. I like the fact that the money comes from Stromwater, and I'm very pleased that the departments work together to make it look natural. • Saye: We are equal partners and we will work together to make the best project we can. • Theobold: I think we need to be somewhat flexible depending on the natural area, depending on the context, with different things. So I feel that it is important that the citizenry understands where the restoration comes from. • Stanley: I was very skeptical at the last presentation, and I will walk over there occasionally to make sure things are getting done well. I live near there and our neighborhood has a connection to Red Fox Meadows, and it was upsetting to me to hear about the project. I'm hopeful after hearing your presentation this evening that things will be better than they are now. I'm worried about going from no access to three access points. Regarding the discussion about departments working together, I would hope that this continues, and even not in as so far as the natural areas necessarily, but in so far as Stormwater drainage etc. You have good ideas of things that could be done less expensively, and more in coming with the flow of natural environment. • Matt: Our approach is not only looking for flood control, but also looking for the environmental pieces of it, along with improving water quality and lessening the impact on surrounding values. Proposed 2008-2009 Budget • Stokes: The City budget is on a bi-annual basis, so we budget two years in advance, and we will be talking about the 2008-2009 budgets this evening. Council has been going through Budgeting for Outcomes, which is the budgeting process that the City uses to alien its goals, its Council City objectives with the money that it spends. The category we fall under is environmental health. As a staff we prepare our budget proposals and we sent them to an internal staff team called a results team. They review those proposals and make suggestions as to how to amend them and then they send them to the budget lead team, which is the Senior Management staff. Senior Management reviews it and then they presented a draft budget to City Council on September 4, 2007. You may have received as a Board member the City's invitation to attend this meeting and comment on the Natural Areas budget or any other budget. I will give you an overview of the budget, and talk about a few specific projects that will have an impact on the budget. We present our budget to you in two ways 1) the way we prepare our budget internally and 2) the way a budget is typically shown. Stokes reviewed the slides with the Board. o Natural Areas 2008 Budgeted Expenditures 9,225,212 0 Program Management — $712,501 - 8% Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 9 of 13 • Land Management — $307,826 - 3% ■ Education— $386,036 - 4% ■ Enforcement — $547,647 6% ■ Facility Operations — $206,942 - 2% ■ Public Improvements — $3,522,406 - 38% (museum money included in this amt.) ■ Resource Management — $142,681 - 2% ■ Resource Management (Restoration) — $1,091,255 12% ■ Land Conservation — $2,307,918 - 25% o Natural Areas 2008 Budgeted Expenditures by Category ■ Personnel - $2,833,819 - 3% ■ Contractual & Commodities - $1,947,942 - 21% • Capital Improvements - $2,530,000 — 27% ■ Land Conservation - $521,620 — 6% ■ COPS Payment - $1,391,831 — 15% o Natural Areas 2009 Budget Expenditures $9,428,171 ■ Program Management $732,105 - 8% • Land management - $315,043 - 3% • Education - $387,296 - 4% ■ Enforcement - $631,316 - 7% ■ Facility Operations - $213,712 - 2% ■ Public Improvements - $3,102,233 - 33% • Recourses Management—146,664 - 2% • Resources Management ( Restoration) $1,161,691 -12% • Land Conservation - $2,738,111 - 29% o Natural Area 2009 Budgeted Expenditures by Category $9,428,171 • Personnel - $3,046,991 — 32% • Contractual & commodities - $1,951,104-21% ■ Capital Improvements - $2,095,000 — 22% ■ Land Conservation - $946,720 —10% ■ COPS Payment - $1,388,356 — 15% • Haines: By 2018 when you need to have enough money in all of your accounts to pay for all of your maintenance and operations for three years down the road, does that mean that that money needs to be saved in anticipation of that and that there will be land deals that you have to walk away from? • Stokes: Will have enough money available to hold us over for a couple of years. We will come back to the Board next month to explain this better. • Haines: There is always an option to buy property if it comes available. We can buy it but not open it. • Stokes: The way we would have to do that is to work with that seller to try and structure a transaction that would spread out over a few years. We could also borrow internally from the City of Fort Collins and pay that fund back over a period of time. • Theobold: To what extent does GOCO take into account where you guys are with this? Is it easier for you to make a case? • Sears: We could use the policy that if it weren't for GOCO this deal would never get approved. We haven't been as aggressive with GOCO as Larimer County has, so we could get more funding if needed it. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 10 of 13 • Stanley: I was wondering about the split between local vs. regional vs. community separators. • Stokes: We will explain in more detail next month, but to touch on it briefly, we are currently out of balance so we are heavily weighted towards regionally. Community separators are ok right now. Local is where we would like to do more projects. We have some assets that are regional in nature, we may recoup some money from county road 15, near Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, those are properties that we bought, and intended to sell the conservation easement. We also have some money in other properties that we'll be selling. • Stokes: I would like to introduce Cheryl Donaldson, Fort Collins Museum Director. I asked Cheryl to come to the Board meeting this evening because I would like to talk about, in context with the 2009 budget, the museum project we had talked to the Board about briefly at past meeting. In the 2009 budget there is one million dollars for the Discovery Science Center. The museum has been working with us at Soapstone on the cultural resources, and we have a territorial agreement with the museum for all the cultural items collected at Soapstone. The museum has one of the best collections from Soapstone. As we developed this relationship with the museum and became more familiar with the museum's mission and its objectives for the future, we talked about if there a roll they could play in helping us interpret our Natural Areas. We decided there was, and part of the way to achieve that was by having our program contribute one million dollars to the reconstruction of this project. • Donaldson: In 2005 the voters approved the partnership between the Fort Collins Museum and the Discovery Science Center. This partnership is in the final stages of being approved. Part of what makes us unique in Fort Collins is our commitment to our environment and our natural lands and historically it has been that way. Donaldson gave the Board a presentation of the museum project. o The Museum tells the stories about who we are as a community and why we are on the land historically and contemporarily. ■ Exhibitions ■ Programming ■ Publications o Interpretation of our Lands • Culture • Science ■ Nature o What we've done Since 2006 the Fort Collins Museum has been working to collect the stories of the people who once called this place home and worked the land o Giving them a voice ■ Dr. Jason LaBelle, Colorado State University o Partnership with Natural Areas Program ■ The Museum offers the public an opportunity to learn about their Natural Areas by providing opportunities for the public to learn about. - Nature and its beauty Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 11 of 13 - The rich cultural heritage - The science of the land To date the Museum has secured $250.000 in grant money and an additional $200,000 in match to partner with the Natural Areas Program to tell these stories. • At the New Museum o Provide the public opportunities to enjoy and learn about their Natural Areas when they are not able or inclined to visit their Natural Areas. o Provide a introduction for users of Natural Areas to enrich and enhance their experience at the Natural Areas. o Provide an opportunity for people to learn about and develop an understanding of the role the City has in land stewardship and conservation. • Stokes: As we looked at our budget to see what we could and couldn't afford, we strongly believe it's a way for us to leverage a presence in this community. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us to share our program with the public in a way that we don't do right now. We do not have a visitors center for our program, there is no place to go. • Haines: Is there an overall marketing plan for the Natural Areas? • Stokes: We've promoted Zoe Whyman to Community Relations Manager, and one of the first things I've asked Zoe to do is to create a strategic communications plan. We've had around 156 articles in the newspaper in the last year regarding our program. This did not happen by accident, we work very hard to make sure that the media paid attention to us hopefully in a positive way, and most of it has been positive. • Stanley: Are you obligated for maintenance at the Science Center? • Stokes: No, we have specifically articulated to Marty and Cheryl that we do not want to be responsible for any ongoing maintenance. One thing that we talked about is, can we do some fund raising to create a joint position that would help interpret the history and culture of our Natural Areas. We focus more on the natural attributes than the culture attributes of our Natural Areas when in fact our properties have tremendous cultural values. • Donaldson: Assuming everything goes smoothly with the partnership, we are planning in 2009 and building in 2010. One of the offers was for this shared position, so that we can get this project moving. We plan on putting a significant investment into exhibits, and this will be something you have never seen before anywhere and certainly not in Northern Colorado. • Stanley:l am uncomfortable with one million dollars, unless I see more data to know that this is what people voted on. The people I talk to about land conservation say that we keep doing this and we keep building more stuff and are we really getting the land conservation that we want to see. I understand the public relations part of it, but I think when people think of Natural Areas money they think about conservation. I think we made a gigantic contribution by buying Soapstone. It has allowed the museum to do a lot of work around that. So to put in one million dollars without knowing what we are getting for that makes me uncomfortable. • Stokes: That's a good point. Moving forward we can come back to the Board and explain the progress. If the Board, in 2009, feels that this was not a good investment we can have that conversation. This is a 200 million dollar plus Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 Page 12 of 13 program over a twenty-five year period, so a million dollar investment out of 200 million dollars to do what I feel will be a great thing for the community and for our program seems like a reasonable investment to me. • McLane: I think what we're talking about is education. I feel that a lot of people here feel strongly about the accessibility issue, that a lot of people physically can't get up or don't want to get up to our Natural Areas for whatever reason. I think it is a great partnership, and one million dollars does not seem like a lot to contribute to this exhibit. • Stokes: We will be talking about this more in the future, so we can come back to the Board. It may be a year before we know much more. Conveyance of Conservation Easement on Roman Property • Sears: The Board is being asked to recommend to Council that they approve an Ordinance authorizing the conveyance of a 1,960-acre conservation easement on the Roman Ranch property from the City's Natural Areas Program to Larimer County, and authorizing entering in to a grant agreement with the Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund. In fall of 2004, the City, County and other partners applied for and received an $11.6 million grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, which included the $976,000 reimbursement to the City for the Roman Ranch. The $976,000 the City receives from the grant will be used to help the County purchase the Gallegos Ranch as was planned for in the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains project. The grant requires that a conservation easement be placed on the property and conveyed to a qualified third party. The conservation easement acknowledges and protects the natural qualities of the property while allowing some visitor services facilities associated with the recreational opportunities to be provided at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. Latimer County has agreed to accept the conservation easement and will monitor it on an annual basis. Transferring the conservation easement to Larimer County will have no associated costs. • McLane: Can you show us the Gallegos Ranch property. Sears showed the Board a map of the Gallegos Ranch property. • Sears: We will give Larimer County a check for $976,000 on September 21, 2007, which is when they close on the Gallegos Ranch property. • Stanley: How much is Gallegos costing, and is it a conservation easement or an outright purchase. • Sears: It is an outright purchase, and the amount is confidential until after the closing date. McLane motioned that the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board recommends that Council approve the Conveyance of a Conservation Easement on City Natural Areas Property (Roman Ranch) to Larimer County and authorize a related grant agreement with the Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund as part of the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project Grant received in 2004. Boyd second, and it was unanimously approved. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board September 12, 2007 • Page 13 of 13 New Business: No new business. Announcements: No announcements. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Submitted by Geri Kidawski Administrative Secretary Approved • C�