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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/18/2007 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 104, 2007, AUTHORIZ ITEM NUMBER: 11 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: September 18, 2007 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: John Stokes SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 104,2007,Authorizing the Conveyance of a Conservation Easement on City Natural Area Property(Roman Ranch) to Larimer County. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. The Land Conservation and Stewardship Board will review this item on September 12 and its recommendation and the minutes of the meeting will be provided in Council's read-before packet. FINANCIAL IMPACT Transferring the conservation easement to Larimer County will have no associated costs. The City of Fort Collins purchased the Roman Ranch in fee for $1,176,000 in 2004 to add to and protect the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area lands previously acquired. Subsequently, as part of the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project, GOCO agreed to grant$976,000 of the$1,176,000 total cost of the Roman Ranch in exchange for the Conservation Easement to be held and monitored by Larimer County. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Ordinance authorizes the conveyance by the City of a conservation easement on the 1,960-acre Roman Ranch property to Larimer County. The City will receive a $976,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to support the conservation of the property as part of the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains project approved in 2004. 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. September 18, 2007 -2- Item No. 11 BACKGROUND Over the last four years, the City has been involved in a major land conservation endeavor in the northern portion of the County known as the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains(MTP)project. The core of the project is represented by two properties,the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area(owned by the City) and the Red Mountain Ranch (owned by the County). In the Spring of 2004, the City purchased Soapstone. In the 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 MTP project. The purchase and conservation of this property is essential to the Soapstone Prairie and Red Mountain master plans and the success of the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains project. The County plans to construct its parking area on this property and to construct trails across this property to connect to Soapstone Prairie. As a condition of the grant agreement, the Natural Areas Program is required to convey a conservation easement on the Roman Ranch property to another entity. Thus,staff is proposing that the City convey a conservation easement to Larimer County. The conservation easement recognizes and protects the natural and scenic values of the property,and allows some improvements necessary for the recreational programming and maintenance of the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. Latimer County has agreed to accept the conservation easement. ATTACHMENTS 1. Roman Ranch Location Map. SOAPSTONE RP�C� Red Mountain Ranch Soapstone Prairie Open Space Natural Area SO PR PPSTONE ■AIRIE RD a Z � BRg2 C , G) �O Z Gallegos Property r 0 �� a a q �o Former Roman Property r �.. 2�o�NTYRogD23 1Wr N� O HAWKCP O �p,OAD 92 Round Butte c�� - Natural Area I 1 ' ` Q � . } z O U Z rn Legend N i Soapstone Prairie aturaC,Area (z — Colorado / WyomingBoundary O Meadow Springs Ranch Public Conserved Lands Gallegos Property I City of Fort Collins Natural Area Citvof Fort Collins Xed .9dountain Xanch Open Space zZ Roman Property Lease Red Mountain Ranch Open Space SffiiCCS Miles 0 0.5 1 2 ORDINANCE NO. 104, 2007 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF A CONSERVATION EASEMENT ON CITY NATURAL AREA PROPERTY (ROMAN RANCH) TO LARIMER COUNTY 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 has acquired the Roman Ranch, a property 1,960 acres in size contiguous to and partly surrounded by the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area; and WHEREAS, the GOCO Board has approved as part of the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project a grant to the City to support the conservation of the 1,960 acre Roman Ranch(the Property)more particularly described on Exhibit"A"attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference,in the amount of$976,000,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,as a requirement of the grant,the City must convey to an approved third party, in this instance Latimer County, a conservation easement intended to protect the 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 Larimer County certain conservation easement terms and conditions to which the Property shall upon conveyance be subject, a copy of which conservation easement, dated September 10,2007, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and available for public inspection (the "Conservation Easement"); and 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 for the benefit of and in the best interest 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 Property to Larimer County is for the benefit of and in the best interest of the City of Fort Collins. �I Section 2. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute the Conservation Easement in substantially the form for the same dated September 10,2007,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 no result in a material increase or change in the character of the property intended to be conveyed. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 18th day of September, A.D. 2007, and to be presented for final passage on the 2nd day of October, A.D. 2007. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 2nd day of October, A.D. 2007. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk EXHIBIT A Legal Description of Roman Ranch Section 26, Township 12 North, Range 69 West of the 6'" P.M., Larimer County, CO All Section 3, Township 11 North, Range 69 West of the 6' P.M., Larimer County, CO NW4 of SW4 and SW4 of NW4 and W2 of Lot 2, Section 2 NE4 of NW4, Section 2 S2 of S2, Section 2, all in Township 11 North, Range 69 West of the 6'" P.M., Larimer County, CO S2 and SW4 of NW4, Section 4 in Township 11 North, Range 69 West of the 6' P.M., Larimer County, CO