HomeMy WebLinkAboutConstituent Letter - Mail Packet - 11/23/2021 - Letter From Mayor Jeni Arndt To Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Re: Use Of Natural Areas Funds For Hughes Land Purchase
Mayor
City Hall
300 LaPorte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2154
970.224.6107 - fax
fcgov.com
November 18, 2021
Land Conservation & Stewardship Board
c/o Zoe Shark
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
Dear Board Members:
On behalf of City Council, thank you for providing City Council and me with the November 10,
2021 memorandum regarding “Use of Natural Areas Funds for Hughes Land Purchase” wherein
the Board urged Council to use Natural Areas funds for a limited, proportional part of the
purchase of the former Hughes Stadium property.
Thank you for remaining engaged in these conversations throughout the year, and we appreciate
your valuable perspectives on this item.
Best Regards,
Jeni Arndt
Mayor
/sek
Cc: City Council Members
Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
MEMORANDUM
Land Conservation & Stewardship Board
November 10, 2021
To — Fort Collins City Council
From — Land Conservation and Stewardship Board (LCSB)
Subject — Use of Natural Areas funds for Hughes land purchase
__________________________________________________________
The Land Conservation and Stewardship Board (LCSB) recommends the use of Natural Areas funds
for a limited, proportional part of the purchase of the former Hughes Stadium property.
We recommend the following, based on discussions by the Council Finance Committee at its meeting
on November 3, 2021:
• Debt financing of a large portion of the Hughes purchase
• Small initial contribution of Natural Areas funds, thus maintaining flexibility for opportunities to
purchase other lands as opportunities appear
• Determination of final, land-area proportional contributions when future uses and facilities on the
Hughes property have been determined
• If any initial contributions made from Natural Areas funds exceed proportional use by Natural
Areas, then the excess should be repaid to the Natural Areas fund.
The Hughes property is a special asset for Fort Collins, and its potential beneficial future uses are
many. This Board envisions and recommends modest expansion of the Maxwell Natural Area and
addition of appropriate Natural Area facilities. We are concerned that an overly aggressive allocation of
land, and therefore of funds, from Natural Areas will preclude other acquisitions that present
themselves only once, and we recommend protection of the Natural Areas fund for those purposes.