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HomeMy WebLinkAbout134 - 09/04/2001 - AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 360 ACRES OF LAND ON THE FORMER ROCKWELL RANCH TO THE US ORDINANCE NO. 134, 2001 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 360 ACRES OF LAND ON THE FORMER ROCKWELL RANCH TO THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE IN EXCHANGE FOR THE CONVEYANCE TO THE CITY OF THE LAND UNDERLYING JOE WRIGHT RESERVOIR, SUBJECT TO A NON-EXCLUSIVE CONSERVATION EASEMENT FOR USE OF THE RESERVOIR PROPERTY BY THE PUBLIC AND THE COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins is the owner of that certain real property located in Larimer County,Colorado,previously known as Rockwell Ranch,which was purchased by the water utility for water utility purposes, a portion of which,totaling 360 acres in size, is more particularly described on Exhibit"A",attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference(the"Rockwell Property"); and WHEREAS,the Rockwell Property is an enclave within the Roosevelt National Forest and is no longer needed for the water utility purposes originally contemplated; and WHEREAS, the Rockwell Property is in part leased to the United States Forest Service ("USFS") for use as Kelly Flats Campground; and WHEREAS, it is the policy and objective of USFS to arrange for the exchange of such enclave properties for outholding of USFS that are not within the boundaries of national forest land, in order to consolidate said lands and improve efficiency and effectiveness of the management of those lands; and WHEREAS,USFS is the owner ofthat certain real property underlying and surrounding Joe Wright Reservoir, which Reservoir the City began using for water storage in 1977, and which property,totaling 203.51 acres in size,is more particularly described on Exhibit`B",attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference (the "Joe Wright Property"); and WHEREAS, in 1996,the City Council adopted Resolution 96-26,directing staff to proceed to utilize the USFS administrative procedure for the negotiation and approval of an exchange of the Rockwell Property for the Joe Wright Property,including the abandonment of a conditional storage decree for 4,900 acres feet of water on the Rockwell Property and the conveyance of the absolute 1888 direct flow water rights totaling 5.95 cubic feet per second ("cfs") to the Colorado Water Conservation Board for the maintenance of an instream flow; and WHEREAS, since 1996, City staff has worked with USFS staff to carry out the numerous steps involved in the administrative land exchange process, including public input, surveys, appraisals, and assessments of environmental, biological and archeological impacts, and as the culmination of this process,USFS issued a favorable Environmental Assessment in May 2001;and WHEREAS, the biological assessment conducted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service "USFWS") called for a guarantee of the City's ongoing participation in the South Platte Recovery Program, in order to offset presumed impacts caused by depletions from Joe Wright Reservoir on Platte River flows far downstream in central Nebraska; and WHEREAS, the City currently is required pursuant to its existing easement from USFS to store water on the Joe Wright Property to contribute annually to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation the amount of$4,903; and WHEREAS, because the conveyance of the Joe Wright Property to the City will eliminate said easement and the related contribution requirement, USFWS agreed that a one-time payment by the City to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation in the amount of$61,288 will, through interest on the investment of the same,result in an ongoing income source equivalent to the continuation of the current annual payments by the City; and WHEREAS, in addition, USFS has conditioned the above-described exchange upon the conveyance by the City of a conservation easement preserving the rights of the public to use the Joe Wright Property for recreation and fishing,the rights of the Colorado Division of Wildlife to operate a fishery on the Joe Wright Property and to stock fish in the Reservoir, to maintain and to conduct research at an existing spawning bed and requiring the City to maintain a 687 acre-foot conservation pool in the Reservoir for the protection of the greenback cutthroat trout for which the Reservoir provides habitat and to maintain a minimum water flow in Joe Wright Creek below the Reservoir (the "Conservation Easement"); and WHEREAS, City staff has negotiated with the USFS an Exchange Agreement,pursuant to which the City and USFS will be obligated to complete the above-described terms and conditions of the exchange; and WHEREAS, the above-described Conservation Easement, including additional terms and conditions as described therein, dated August 2, 2001, is on file in the office of the City Clerk and available for public review and inspection; and WHEREAS, the appraised value of the Joe Wright Property (including the value of the existing easement for water storage on that property, for which the City has not previously compensated USFS) is $814,000; and WHEREAS, the appraised value of the Rockwell Property (which includes three of four parcels originally considered for exchange - parcels A, C and D) is $792,000; and WHEREAS, in order to compensate for the difference is these values, the Exchange Agreement calls for the City to pay to USFS the amount of$22,000 at the closing of the exchange; and WHEREAS,ownership by the City of the Joe Wright Property will ensure the City's ongoing rights to maintain its water storage facility on that property, and will eliminate the risk that USFS may disallow that use in the future; and WHEREAS, Section 23-111 of the City Code provides that the City Council is authorized to sell, convey or otherwise dispose of real property owned by the City, provided the Council first finds by ordinance that any sale or disposition of real property owned by the City will not materially impair the viability of any City utility system as a whole of which the property is a part,will be for the benefit of the City's citizens, and will be 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 above described conveyance of the Rockwell Property and the Conservation Easement on the Joe Wright Property, in exchange for conveyance to the City of title to the Joe Wright Property, will not materially impair the viability of the City's water utility as a whole, will be for the benefit of the City's citizens, and is in the best interests of the City. Section 2. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute the Exchange Agreement, the Conservation Easement, and such documents of conveyance or commitment as are necessary to convey the Rockwell Property and the Conservation Easement to USFS, to accept the Joe Wright Property from USFS, and as are otherwise necessary to carry out the terms of the Exchange Agreement and the Conservation Easement, consistent with the terms and conditions described above. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered pub 'shed this 21st day of August, A.D. 2001, and to be presented for final passage on the 4th day 9,,PSeptember, A. - . 2001. Mayor i-- ATTEST: 14N Al, VU 4 1-.'A t, City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 4th day of September, A.D. 2001. Mayor `.. ATTEST: City Clerk EXHIBIT A Legal Description of the Rockwell Ranch Property Sixth Principal Meridian T. 8 N., R. 72 W. Sec. 5, SW1/4SE1/4. T 8 N., R. 73 W. Sec. 15, S1/2NE1/4,NWl/4SE1/4,NE1/4SW1/4; Sec. 26, SW1/4NW1/4,NW1/4SW1/4; and Sec. 27. NE1/4SE1/4, SE1/4NE1/4. Containing 360.0 acres, more or less, in Larimer County. EXHIBIT B Legal Description of the Joe Wright Property A tract of land comprised of the following Government Lots: Lots 2,4, 6, 7, 10, 12, and 14 located in Section 24, Lots 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, and 15 in Section 25 and Lot 2 in Section 26, all in T. 7 N., R. 76 W., Sixth Principal Meridian, Larimer County, Colorado as shown on the Dependent Re-Survey and Metes and Bounds Survey Plat of the Joe Wright Reservoir Parcel,prepared by Daryl A.Wilson,Director,Chief Cadastral Surveyor for Colorado,U.S. Department of Interior,Bureau of Land Management,dated January 26, 1999,and recorded in the Public Records of Larimer County at Reception#2001076132. Containing 203.51 acres, more or less.