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r, 600K 108 WE 94 7.D. RESOLUTION 99-004 - SUPPORTING FEDERAL ACQUISITION OF KENNEDYGRoyESPROPERTY ASA BOFFER TO THE PELICAN ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE e Board reviewed a Memorandum of January 13, 1999: TO: James E. Chandler County Administrator DEPARTMENT HEAD CONCURRENCE: 2,z, Robert M. Keating, r CP Community Developmen for / FROM: Roland M. DeBlois CP Chief, Environmental Planning DATE: January 13, 1999 RE: Request for County Resolution Supporting Federal Acquisition of Kennedy Groves Property as a Baser to the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge It is requested that the data herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of January 19, 1999. The Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (PINWR), located on north Jungle Trail, was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 as the first national wildlife refuge. Over the past several years, regional staff at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and local environmental groups have campaigned for federal finding to acquire a "buffer" along the refuge. The purpose of the buffer is to guard against potential adverse impacts associated with future development of neighboring lands. Indian River County has contributed to the PINWR buffer by acquiring the "Korangy Tract" and by participating in the acquisition of the "Kennedy Buffer" through the County environmental lands program (see attached map). County staff has recently learned that a nonprofit organization, the Conservation Fund, is assisting the FWS to secure additional land from Ken Kennedy and Kennedy Groves to add to the refuge buffer. The subject property consists of two properties, one of which is ±39 acres of citrus groves west of Jungle Trail (two tax parcels), contiguous to the previously acquired Kennedy Buffer. The other property (also owned by Kennedy Groves) is a ±47 acre tract located along Jungle Trail and the Indian River Lagoon just north of the Windsor development (see attached map). In contacting a representative of the Conservation Fund, county staff has learned that the subject Kennedy Groves properties are under contract for purchase, with closing contingent upon the FWS obtaining sufficient monies for the purchase as may be allocated by Congress through the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). County staff has been contacted by representatives of the Pelican Island Preservation Society (PIPS) and the Indian River Land Trust (IRLT) requesting that the County adopt a resolution supporting the allocation of federal LWCF monies by Congress for the PINWR buffer purchase. As such, attached is a proposed resolution for the Board's consideration. The proposed resolution supports federal acquisition of the subject Kennedy Groves properties, and does not commit county acquisition funding. The subject property is a part of the PINWR Buffer project that is currently ranked 5th on the County Land Acquisition Advisory Committee's (LAAC) acquisition list. The PINWR buffer project has been on the LAAC acquisition list since 1995. Support of the federal acquisition proposal would serve the County's environmental land acquisition objectives, yet require no addition expenditure of county bond fiords. When the County participated in finding of the previously acquired Kennedy Buffer, the County limited its contribution to the estimated value of environmentally sensitive wetlands that were acquired by FWS along with grove land. The County did not participate in the purchase of citrus grove, based on a recommendation from LAAC that citrus groves are not environmentally significant, and therefore do not qualify for county bond funding. JANUARY 19, 1999