6/27/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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NOW.. 95 esu 60 During the past year, the county's acquisition consultant (in coordination with county staff) has been actively negotiating the purchase of the Wabasso Scrub. Since the seller(s) recently accepted and executed a purchase contract Option Agreement -for the property, appraisal results, purchase offers and other confidential information can now be released. •Ownership Characteristics Currently, the subject property is owned by Helen E. Bahl and Jane E. Collin, each of whom was separately represented in the course of negotiations. Public records indicate that the .subject property was purchased by the owners' principals for $1,134,800 in April, 1986.. The sellers' have expressed a charitable willingness to convey the property to the County at the negotiated purchase price in the interest of assisting the County in its conservation efforts, and for the protection of scrub habitat resources for future generations. To facilitate public purchase of the property, the sellers agreed to pay for a boundary survey of the property, which has since been upgraded to meet Division of State Lands (DSL) technical requirements. •Acquisition Cost -Share & Property Management Two issues which are important to LAAC staff with respect to all proposed purchases are obtaining cost share assistance in property acquisition and addressing management costs. Cost -Share In 1993, Indian River County submitted an application to the FCT, which was subsequently approved for 50% cost -share funding, including 50% of pre-acquisition expenditures (e.g., survey, environmental audit, appraisals). The estimated purchase cost in the application was $914,000, based roughly on assessed value, without benefit of subsequent appraisals. For this reason, the FCT has allocated $457,000 for purchase cost. County staff, however, has requested and FCT staff has agreed to recommend that the FCT Governing Body adjust its match upward $118,000 to reflect 50% of the negotiated $1,150,000 purchase price. Therefore, the county's share of the site's purchase cost is expected to be $575,000 plus approximately $14,000 in pre- acquisition task costs. Management Costs Besides cost share, management cost is always an issue with environmental lands acquisition. The FCT program, which is highly competitive state-wide, awards points for projects based on the provision of resource-based public access and use facilities. In order to qualify for FCT cost -share funding, the County obligated itself in its FCT application to provide limited access and resource-based facilities on the subject property. 39 JUNE 279 1995