DEPARTMENT: Parks, Facilities, and Fleet Management
FILE TYPE: Consent Action
TITLE
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Authorization To Execute 2024 Lease Agreement For Agricultural Use Of County Property
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Authorize execution of a lease agreement for agricultural use of County property.
SUMMARY
Dakota County has historically leased some unimproved County-owned land for interim agricultural purposes until it can be converted to its highest and best use according to approved plans.
Lease Approach
The County Board directed staff to use a competitive sealed-bid process for leasing County-owned property for agricultural use in 2013 by Resolution No. 12-526 (October 23, 2012). The resolution authorized one-year lease terms for a sealed-bid leasing process; subsequent leases may have terms of up to three years. The resolution further directed that if the County receives no bids or receives unacceptable bids, staff was to negotiate with current tenants or others to develop one-year agricultural-use leases for those sites without an acceptable bid and that all successful bids and negotiated agricultural-use leases be presented to the County Board for review and consideration. The sealed bid process has been successful in offering lease opportunities to more interested parties.
2024 Bids for Lease of County-Owned Land for Agricultural Use
For the 27.1-acre agricultural lease near the Empire composting facility (Attachment: Draft Lease With Lease Site Map), a bid request was placed on the County website, and a legal notice was published in the official County newspaper. Previous bidders for agricultural land leases on County-owned land were also notified. The bid opening was conducted on April 3, 2024, with the following two bids received:
Bidder Annual Rent Per Acre
Paul Werner $4,119.20 $152.00
Kyle Braun $3,724.08 $137.42
For comparison, the lease rate received for 2023 was approximately $6,022, or $222 per acre.
RECOMMENDATION
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