Agenda - 09-07-2005-6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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z The property is comprised of four adjacent tracts (Attachment 3). The Keith residence - a restored 1830s log cabin - and the Arboretum are located on a 19-acre parcel (Tract A). Tracts B, C and D are entirely wooded and undeveloped. Dr, Keith already donated a conservation easement on 45 acres (Tract D) to the Triangle Land Conservancy. He is now interested in putting the remaining 36 acres of the property under easement (Tracts B, C and D). Dr. Keith has agreed to "sell" the conservation easement to Orange County at a bargain price of $108,000 ($3,000 per acre), which is well below the $406,800 appraised value of the conservation easement ($11,300 per acre). The purchase price would help fund a stewardship endowment for a nonprofit foundation that Dr. Keith has established for the long-term care of the Arboretum. ERCD staff and the County Attorney have worked with Dr. Keith (and in coordination with the Triangle Land Conservancy) to craft an easement that meets his needs and the County's interests, Future development rights would be relinquished, with the exception of potential walking trails and a potential future visitor/educational center and maintenance buildings for the Arboretum (restricted to Tract A). Tracts B and C would remain entirely undeveloped. The conservation easement would help protect the Keith Arboretum, the undeveloped woodlands, and the Morgan Creek headwater streams located on the property, Dr. Keith is one of five landowners in this immediate area to have granted conservation easements on their land, This project would increase the protected farm and forestlands associated with the Pickard's Mountain area from 479 to 515 acres. Finally, the Triangle Land Conservancy has proposed assigning its easement on Tract D to the County-thereby putting all easements under the responsibility of a single easement Grantee. That proposal would be brought back to the Board for consideration at a later date. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The negotiated purchase price of the conservation easement for Orange County is $108,000 ($3,000 per acre). The County would also pay an estimated $8,000 in transaction costs, including a boundary survey. The Environment and Resource Conservation Department (ERCD) would monitor the property on an annual basis and help to enforce the development restrictions, The County costs (estimated $116,000) would come from the Lands Legacy Opportunities Fund. The Budget Office will bring a Capital Project Ordinance forward in an upcoming budget amendment abstract. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board adopt the resolution approving the acceptance by Orange County of the conservation easement and authorize the Chair and the Clerk to sign the conservation easement agreement, subject to final review by staff and the county attorney,