HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 10/03/2006 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 146, 2006, AUTHORI ITEM NUMBER: 14
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: October3, 2006
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: John Stokes
SUBJECT
Second Readingof Ordinance No. 146, 2006, Authorizing the Conveyance of a Conservation
g Y
Easement on City Natural Area Property (Round Butte Ranch Phase 2) to Larimer County and
Authorizing a Related Grant Agreement with the Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on Second Reading.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Ordinance, unanimously adopted on First Reading on September 19, 2006, authorizes the
conveyance of a 720-acre conservation easement on Round Butte Ranch,Phase 2,to Larimer County
and authorizes a grant agreement with the Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund. The
City will receive a S212,700 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to support the conservation of the
property. 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. It also allows a single five-acre building envelope as well as continued ranching and
other compatible activities.
ITEM NUMBER: 18
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: September 19, Zoos
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: John Stokes
V SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 146,2006,Authorizing the Conveyance of a Conservation Easement
on City Natural Area Property(Round Butte Ranch Phase 2) to Larimer County and Authorizing a
Related Grant Agreement with the Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. At its September 13th meeting,the
Land Conservation and Stewardship Board voted unanimously to recommend the project to City
Council for approval.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Transferring the conservationCemt an er o y `11 kwe no associated costs.
The actual cost of conserving td tte will not known until the City is successful
in selling the ranch with the conservation easement on it to a conservation minded buyer. The initial
acquisition was $1,020,000(1,360 acres x$750/acre). Two grants in the amount of$428,700 were
received from Great Outdoors Colorado towards the cost of placing a conservation easement on the
property, reducing the City's investment in the property to $591,300. If the ranch is sold with the
conservation easement for more than$435 per acre,or$591,300,the net cost to the City will be zero.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Ordinance authorizes the conveyance of a 720-acre conservation easement on Round Butte
Ranch, Phase 2, to Larimer County and authorizes a grant agreement with the Board of the Great
Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund. The City will receive a $212,700 grant from Great Outdoors
Colorado to support the consCec7tsthe
' of e pro ert . The grant requires that a conservation
easement be placed on the pr onv e o q 'fi third party. The conservation
easement acknowledges and pr tural a ' of th operty. It also allows a single five-
acre building envelope as well r i and oth compatible activities.
September 19, 2006 -2- Item No. 18
BACKGROUND
In February 2006, the City close oine
. Rion
ut anch, which consists of 1,360
acres for 11,020,000(or$750 acreta of a Soapstone Ranch, and located
at the northern end of Count oad 1tof City is to resell the property to a
conservation-minded buyer a . ase ent. Because the City already has
made substantial investments in this area, a Great Outdoors Colorado grant was pursued to defray
the cost of the retained conservation easement.
The City was successful in receiving a Great Outdoors Colorado grant for Phase 1 of the Round
Butte Ranch in the amount of$216,000 on the 640 acres contiguous to this Phase 2 Parcel. City
Council approved Ordinance No. 040, 2006 on March 7, 2006, authorizing conveyance of a
conservation easement to Larimer County for the Phase 1 parcel,as required for the Great Outdoors
Colorado grant.
The City recently was notified that the second of a two-phased grant application for the remaining
720-acre portion of the property was successful and that the City will receive a grant in the amount
of$212,700. The City's match to this grant will be $70,900.
As a condition of the grant agre on-m
t n a conservation easement on the
Round Butte Ranch to anoth ntity f ti at the City continues to own the
property(i.e.,prior to a sale to onsery buyer). us,the City is proposing to convey
a conservation easement to Lari Clo ainin 0-acre portion of the property.
The conservation easement recognizes and protects the natural and scenic values of the property,and
allows any fixture owner to build a home and related structures within a building envelope of not
greater than 5 acres. Other primary activities that may be conducted include ranching and hunting.
Larimer County has reviewed and is willing to accept a conservation easement in the form of
easement on file with the City Clerk's office. The conservation easement evidences the County's
commitment to convey the easement back to the City when the underlying fee interest has been sold
to a conservation-minded purchaser, among other terms. This arrangement is the same as the
arrangement used for the Phase 1 grant.
This is also similar to the arrangements made in connection with the $11.6 million Great Outdoors
Colorado grant for Red Mountain c ,on hick the City,holds a conservation easement. Portions
of the 15,000-acre Red Mounta' an I be ld c Y,�
minded buyers and,when these
sales have been completed, th ity wil sign a eement on those portions back
to the County.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Round Butte Ranch Location Map.
2. Round Butte Ranch Phase 1 & 2.
3. Draft Minutes from the September 13, 2006 meeting of the Land Conservation and
Stewardship Board.
ORDINANCE NO. 146, 2006
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF A CONSERVATION EASEMENT
ON CITY NATURAL AREA PROPERTY(ROUND BUTTE RANCH PHASE 2)
TO LARIMER COUNTY AND AUTHORIZING A RELATED GRANT AGREEMENT
WITH THE BOARD OF THE GREAT OUTDOORS COLORADO TRUST FUND
WHEREAS, the Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund(the "GOCO Board") is
a political subdivision of the State of Colorado, created by Article XXVII of the Colorado
Constitution, adopted at the November 1992 General Election, which Article allocates a portion of
the net proceeds of the Colorado Lottery to the Board and directs the Board to invest those proceeds
in the State's parks, wildlife, open space and recreational resources; and
WHEREAS,the City acquired Round Butte Ranch,a property 1,360 acres in size,consisting
of both Phase I and Phase 2, located to the south of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and along
County Road 15, on February 28, 2006, for the amount of$1,020,000; and
WHEREAS, the City has been awarded and is in the process of completing a grant from the
GOCO Board for the costs associated with acquisition of Phase I of the Round Butte Ranch; and
WHEREAS, the GOCO Board has approved a grant to the City to support the conservation
of Phase II of Round Butte Ranch, which is 720 acres in size and is more particularly described as:
The West '/z of the Northeast '/4, and East '/: of the Northwest '/< of Section 24,
Township 1 I North, Range 69 West of the 6' P.M., and the South ''/2, Northeast ''/a,
and West '/z of Northwest '/ of Section 13, Township I l North, Range 69 West of
6" P.M., all in Latimer County, Colorado
(the"Phase If Property"), in the amount of$212,700, which is a substantial share of the City's cost
to acquire and conserve that property; and
WHEREAS,in order to issue said grant,the GOCO Board will require that the City enter into
a grant agreement setting forth the City's obligations in connection with the grant; and
WHEREAS, a copy of the grant agreement required by the GOCO Board, dated September
13, 2006, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and available for public inspection (the "Grant
Agreement"); and
WHEREAS, as a requirement of the grant,the City must convey to an approved third party,
in this instance Larimer County, a conservation easement intended to protect the Phase II Property
from uses contrary to the purposes of the GOCO Board's grant program; and
WHEREAS, staff has negotiated with the staff of the GOCO Board and Latimer County
certain conservation easement terms and conditions to which the Phase II Property shall upon
conveyance be subject,a copy of which conservation easement,dated September 13,2006, is on file
in the Office of the City Clerk and available for public inspection (the "Conservation Easement");
and
WHEREAS,the City is authorized to enter into intergovernmental agreements to provide any
function, service or facility, such as a grant agreement, as provided in Article [I, Section 16 of the
Charter of the City of Fort Collins and Section 29-1-203, C.R.S.
WHEREAS, under Section 23-111 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins, the Council is
authorized to sell or otherwise dispose of any and all interests in real property owned in the name
of the City, provided that Council first finds by ordinance that the sale or disposition is in the best
interests of the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the conveyance of the Conservation Easement on the Phase [1 Property
to Larimer County is in the best interests of the City of Fort Collins.
Section 2. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute the Grant Agreement, in
substantially the form for the same dated September 13, 2006, and on file in the Office of the City
Clerk,subject to such modifications,amendments or additions thereto as may be determined by the
City Manager, in consultation with the City Attorney, to be necessary or appropriate to protect the
interests of the City.
Section 3. That future amendments to the Grant Agreement not otherwise provided for
herein may be approved by the Council by resolution rather than by Ordinance.
Section 4. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute the Conservation Easement
in substantially the form for the same dated September 13,2006, and on file in the Office of the City
Clerk, subject to such modifications in form or substance as the City Manager, in consultation with
the City Attorney,may deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Ordinance or to protect the
interests of the City,including any necessary corrections to the legal descriptions shown thereon that
do not result in a material increase or change in the character of the property intended to be subject
to the conservation easement.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 19th day of
September, A.D. 2006, and to be presented for final passage 3rd day of October, A.D. 2006.
M o
TTEST:
i;
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 3rd day of October, A.D. 2006.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk