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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 04/20/2021 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 052, 2021 APPROPRIA Agenda Item 11 Item # 11 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY April 20, 2021 City Council STAFF Zoe Shark, Interim Natural Areas Director Barb Brock, Natural Areas Financial Coordinator Ingrid Decker, Legal SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 052, 2021 Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the Natural Areas Fund for the Purpose of Land Conservation, Visitor Amenities, Restoration and Other Related Natural Areas Stewardship Activities not Included in the 2021 Adopted City Budget. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to appropriate $5,000,000 in prior year reserves and unanticipated revenues in the Natural Areas Fund. These appropriations are for land conservation, visitor amenities and restoration of wildlife habitat, as well as other Natural Area Department stewardship activities to benefit the residents of Fort Collins. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading . BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Funding for the Natural Areas Department (NAD) for purposes, other than capital pro jects lapses each year if not spent. Unspent prior year funds and unanticipated revenues need to be appropriated into the following year’s budget before they can be used. The purpose of this item is to appropriate $5,000,000 in unspent funds and unanticipated revenues in the Natural Areas Fund to fund land conservation, restoration of wildlife habitat, trails and visitor amenities, facility operations, special projects and other NAD needs to benefit the residents of Fort Collins. Of the total appropriation, $4,313,875 will be used for land conservation. With over $10,000,000 in land acquisitions under negotiation there is a reasonable likelihood that most of these funds will be spent in 2021. In 2020, NAD received $914,000 in unanticipated revenues; $515,875 of these revenues are being appropriated to provide funds for NAD expenditures not included in the 2021 adopted City Budget. The remaining $398,125 will be left in the fund balance for use in future years. The funds for NAD come from the following desi gnated sources of revenue: the City - Open Space Yes! ¼ Cent sales tax; the Larimer County - Help Preserve Open Space ¼ cent sales tax; and miscellaneous anticipated and unanticipated revenues. All these funds are restricted to the purposes of the NAD, in cluding unanticipated revenues, which consist generally of income from sales tax revenues, sale of easements and leases, and grants. The prior year reserve funds being appropriated in this Ordinance are more specifically described as: Agenda Item 11 Item # 11 Page 2 $4,484,000 Unspent 2020 Budgeted Funds - appropriated for same purpose. $ 516,000 Unanticipated Revenues & Unspent Funds - appropriated for new purposes. ======== $5,000,000 Total Appropriation from 2020 Prior Year Reserves ANTICIPATED USE OF FUNDS Land Conservation - $4,314,000: $4,100,000 in unspent land conservation funds plus $214,000 in new funds for land conservation efforts per the Natural Areas Master Plan. Resource Management - $146,000: $76,000 to carryover the unspent donation from the West Vine Neighborhood for the restoration of Kestrel Fields and $70,000 for fire recovery restoration at Bobcat Ridge. Planning and Special Projects - $120,000 to provide $100,000 to remediate the undocumented dump at Bobcat Ridge that was disturbed by the 20 20 wildfire, $20,000 for miscellaneous small projects. Trails and Visitor Amenities (TVA) - $420,000: $298,000 in unspent TVA funds plus $122,000 in new funds for trail and visitor amenities projects, including: upgrading the Foothills Trail across Maxwel l Natural Area per the Foothills Management Plan; a new parking lot in Arapaho Bend Natural Area; and a Signalized pedestrian signal for the Foothills Trail crossing on Dixon Canyon Road. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS This Ordinance increases 2021 appropriations in the City’s Natural Areas Fund by $5,000,000. The requested total appropriation of $5,000,000 in the Natural Areas Fund represents 2020 appropriations that were unspent and unencumbered at year -end in addition to 2020 unanticipated revenues. These funds are restricted to the purposes of the NAD. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION The Land Conservation and Stewardship Board voted unanimously at its regular meeting on March 10, 2021, to recommend that Council approve the appropriation. (Attachment 1) PUBLIC OUTREACH Natural Areas funds will be spent in alignment with the Natural Areas Master Plan, which was extensively reviewed by the public prior to its adoption in October 2014. ATTACHMENTS 1. Land Conservation and Stewardship Board Minutes (PDF) Land Conservation & Stewardship Board March 10, 2021 Regular Meeting – Excerpt 12/11/2019 – MINUTES Page 1 Natural Areas Department 2021 Reappropriations Mark Sears, Natural Areas Manager provided an overview of the proposed Natural Areas Department’s (NAD) reappropriations for 2021. NAD is proposing to appropriate $5M. In 2020 NAD received $914,000 in unanticipated revenues; $516,000 of these funds will be appropriated to provide funds for expenditures in 2021 that were not included in the 2021 budget. The remaining, $4,484,000 of the funds being appropriated are unspent funds being carried over from last year. Of the $5M appropriation, $4,413,000 will be spent in Land conservation, $146,000 in resource management, $120,000 in special projects and $420,000 in Trails and Visitor Use. Andrea Elson made a motion that the Land Conservation & Stewardship Board recommends that City Council approve the proposed 2021 appropriation of prior year natural areas reserves. David Tweedale seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved 7-0 ATTACHMENT 1 -1- ORDINANCE NO. 052, 2021 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES IN THE NATURAL AREAS FUND FOR THE PURPOSE OF LAND CONSERVATION, VISITOR AMENITIES, RESTORATION AND OTHER RELATED NATURAL AREAS STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES NOT INCLUDED IN THE 2021 ADOPTED CITY BUDGET WHEREAS, the City is committed to preserving natural areas and providing educational, interpretive and appropriate recreational opportunities to the public; and WHEREAS, Natural Areas Department (“NAD”) programming implements open land conservation priorities identified in the City’s Comprehensive Plan by purchasing conservation easement interests in key natural areas, community separators, or other open lands; providing stewardship for lands purchased; and developing trails and interpretive features for public use; and WHEREAS, the NAD is funded primarily through the collection of City Open Space - Yes sales and use tax revenue, as well as revenues from the Larimer County Help Preserve Open Space sales and use tax, investment earnings, and other miscellaneous revenues deposited in the Natural Areas Fund; and WHEREAS, funding for purposes other than capital projects lapses each year if it is not spent; and WHEREAS, NAD staff has asked that the City Council appropriate $4,484,000 in unspent 2020 budgeted funds and $516,000 in unanticipated revenue to increase 2021 appropriations in the City’s Natural Areas Fund by $5,000,000; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9 of the City Charter permits the City Council to appropriate by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year such funds for expenditure as may be available from reserves accumulated in prior years, notwithstanding that such reserves were not previously appropriated; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 11 of the City Charter requires all appropriations unexpended or unencumbered at the end of the fiscal year lapse to the applicable general or special revenue fund, except appropriations for capital projects and federal or state grants do not lapse until completion of the capital project or expiration of the respective grant; and WHEREAS, the City Manager has determined that the appropriations as described herein are available and previously unappropriated in the Natural Areas Fund; and WHEREAS, the City Manager has recommended the appropriation from prior year reserves in the Natural Areas Fund of a total of $5,000,000, comprised of unspent and unencumbered appropriations from 2020, to be used for land conservation and restoration, acquisition, construction, enhancement and maintenance of trail systems, wildlife habitat and other natural areas, and other NAD stewardship activities to benefit the residents of the City. -2- NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That there is hereby appropriated from prior year reserves in the Natural Areas Fund the sum of FIVE MILLION DOLLARS ($5,000,000) to be used for land conservation and restoration, acquisition, construction, enhancement and maintenance of trail systems, wildlife habitat and other natural areas, and other NAD stewardship activities to benefit the residents of the City. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 20th day of April, A.D. 2021, and to be presented for final passage on the 4th day of May, A.D. 2021. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 4th day of May, A.D. 2021. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk