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r OCT 0 5 6993 <br />Advantages <br />BOOK .90 FACE 61 <br />There are a number of advantages relating to the County obtaining <br />land acquisition consultant services. One of these advantages is <br />expertise based on experience. Although county staff are capable of <br />performing purchase negotiation tasks, the added expertise of an <br />experienced consultant may result in the Countv obtaining <br />properties at lower cost. Moreover, consultants with proven <br />experience and insight relating to state cost -share program <br />workings can help staff secure state funds in a timely manner. <br />Another advantage is the public perception of objectivity relating <br />to an independent party other than the County directly negotiating <br />purchases. Moreover, a prospective seller may be more willing to <br />work with a experienced consultant than with local government <br />staff. <br />If the County contracts for acquisition services, the selected for- <br />profit or nonprofit consulting firm or organization would have the <br />opportunity to focus on negotiation tasks as a singular effort. <br />With County staff fully responsible for negotiation efforts, <br />however, that would not be the case. Instead, staff will still be <br />performing other tasks in addition to acquisition negotiations, <br />resulting in less than optimum circumstances for obtaining the best <br />possible acquisition deals. <br />Other counties with similar land acquisition programs have opted to <br />contract land acquisition consultant services. Two examples are <br />Brevard County and Palm Beach County. Both of these counties have <br />full time staff devoted to the task of environmental land <br />acquisition. Even with this staffing, these large, sophisticated <br />local governments have found that contracting for land acquisition <br />consultant services is in the best interest of their programs. <br />Disadvantages <br />A disadvantage of the County contracting land acquisition <br />consultant services is the cost of those services. However, the <br />savings of negotiated lower purchase costs would potentially offset <br />consultant services. For example, in administering Palm Beach <br />County's environmental land acquisition program, the acquisition <br />consultant has successfully negotiated purchases averaging <br />approximately 80% of appraised value. <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners authorize <br />staff to advertise the attached Request for Proposals to solicit <br />land acquisition consultant service proposals. <br />Commissioner Macht felt that staff is right on in their <br />recommendation of having an independent party negotiate the <br />purchases. <br />Commissioner Eggert asked if there are any local consulting <br />firms that could provide this service, and Community Development <br />W <br />