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BOOK 98 Pai;E 540 Buzau= Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners approve County purchase of 50 lots owned by Atlantic Gulf Communities (AGC), as a first phase of acquisition within the Sebastian Highlands Scrub project. The executed option contract pertains to 56 AGC lots, but staff is negotiating to reduce that number to 50 by eliminating 6 lots outside of the project "core" area. The purchase is summarized as follower Purchaser: Indian River County Board of County Commissioners / Florida Communities Trust (Indian River County will hold title) Seller: Atlantic Gulf Communities Cost -Share: Florida Communities Trust (509) (includes share of acquisition costs) Total Price: 56 lots - $225,000 (average +:4,017 per lot) (50 lots - $183,800) other Costs: +;15,000 (appraisal, environ. audit, title Insurance, management plan) Cony Bonds Bxpenditure: 56 lots - +¢120,000 (not including init. manage. costs) (50 lots - +:99,400) Acreage: 56 lots (+1/4 acre each, +14 acres) (50 lots - +12.5 acres) Principal condition: • Closing subject to County Commission and FCT Governing Body approval of purchase contract and project plan, including management plan. LAAC Recommendation: • At an April 3, 1996 Land Acquisition Advisory Committee (LAAC) meeting, a motion for LAAO to support purchase of the 56 AGC scrub lots failed by a vote of 7 to 5 (see attached LAAC minutes). The Committee also voted on a motion to condition the AGC lots purchase upon an 809 positive sale response from individual lot owners within the "core" area (behind Pelican Island Elementary School), but that motion failed as well. The attached purchase contract and management plan were considered by the Board of County Commissioners at its meeting of April 9, 1996, at which time the Board ratified the option agreement and project plan for submittal to the Florida Communities Trust (FCT). Subsequently, the FCT approved the Sebastian Highlands Scrub/AGC lots project plan. This matter is now being brought back to the Board to fulfill a State statute requirement that the County hold a public meeting after having provided at least 30 days advertised public notice to formally consider exercising its purchase option for the Sebastian Highlands Scrub/AGC lots. The State requirement that the Board hold a public meeting to consider exercising its option after having provided 30 days advertised notice of the meeting applies because the County chose to keep its appraisals of the subject property confidential until the seller executed a binding option contract. Once that option contract had been signed, the appraisals were released and have been available to the public during the 30 day period prior to the advertised public meeting. Besides meeting State statute requirements, the hearing on the Sebastian Highlands Scrub/AGC lots purchase will serve to meet a Land Acquisition Guide requirement that the County hold a public hearing prior to purchasing any property with land acquisition bond funds. DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS The subject Sebastian Highlands Scrub property was approved in early 1995 as a Florida Communities Trust (FCT) 508 cost -share project. In 1995, the Sebastian Highlands Scrub project was ranked 14 out of 19 projects on the LAAC site acquisition list. The City of Sebastian has expressed support of the overall project because the project will alleviate conflicts within the City concerning endangered species protection vs. private development rights. The overall Sebastian Highlands Scrub project approved for FCT cost -share funding consists of 182 lots. Although the total 182 lot project has been approved for cost -share funding, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has indicated that the critical "core" area needing protection consists of +120 lots in the vicinity of the Pelican Island Elementary School, as well as a block of unimproved lots owned by AGC northwest of the school (see attached map). As an acquisition strategy, county and state staff have proceeded in negotiating an option contract with Atlantic Gulf Communities (AGC) as a "first phase" of the overall acquisition. AGC owns 56 of the 182 lots, and is the single largest landowner in the JULY 169 1996 10 M M