DEPARTMENT: Parks, Facilities, and Fleet Management
FILE TYPE: Regular Information
TITLE
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Discussion To Consider Acquisition Of Wicklund Property In Waterford Township
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Review potential acquisition of the 123.5-acre Jerry and Audrey Wicklund property located in Waterford Township to establish a new County Park Conservation Area (CPCA).
SUMMARY
Background information on the establishment of County Park Conservation Areas (CPCAs): By Resolution No. 15-239 (May 5, 2015) the County Board approved acquisition of the 61.7-acre former Cemstone property along the Vermillion River to preserve a future greenway trail corridor and by Resolution No. 15-534 (October 20,2015) designated the property as the first CPCA and amended the Parks Ordinance to allow hunting. Since 2015, an additional nine properties, totaling 270.5-acres, have been acquired and designated CPCAs in anticipation of future paved greenway trail segments.
Wicklund Property:
The Wicklunds own 151 acres, including 4,100 feet of Chub Creek in Waterford Township. The Wicklund property is located within the future Chub Creek Greenway corridor identified in the 2008 Dakota County 2030 Park System Plan and within the Chub Creek Conservation Focus Area, identified in the 2020 Land Conservation Plan for Dakota County. Several State-listed rare plants have been identified on the property. The Wicklunds have planted many native trees and prairie species over their lifetime of ownership, in addition to investing extensive effort into controlling invasive species, such as buckthorn. The Wicklunds have also allowed public use of two snowmobile trails and special turkey hunting opportunities in the Spring for veteran’s and youth.
County staff began working with the Wicklunds in 2009 to permanently protect a portion of their property. The County Board of Commissioners, by Resolution No. 20-633 (December 14, 2020), approved the expenditure of up to $291,912 to acquire a 121.60-acre Easement on the Wicklund property. However, due to a reduction in landowner donation and a slight increase in the size of the Easement, the County Board of Commissioners rescinded Resolution No. 20-633, and by Resolution No. 21-185 (April 6, 2021), the County Board of Commissioners approved the expenditure of up to $339,412 to acquire a 122.43-acre natural area conservation easement (Easement). The Easement was acquired on May 14, 2021, using a combination of 73 percent State Outdoor Heritage (OH) funds and 27 percent County grant match.
The County and the Wicklunds continue to improve natural resource quality within the Easement through a natural resource management agreement, and the Wicklunds have allowed County staff to harvest seeds for use within the park system.
The Easement area includes two existing countywide snowmobile trails and numerous mowed trails which function as natural resource management unit boundaries. This Easement and other County easements allows additional recreational trails only with prior written County approval. (Attachment: Wicklund Property Conservation Easement Trail Language).
In 2023, the Wicklunds began planning for future ownership of their property and have a strong preference to sell fee title to the Easement Area to the County for public use as a new CPCA. Public benefits for acquiring fee title include providing public access through use of existing mowed trails, ensuring that existing high natural resource quality can be maintained, which could be at risk with new ownership, and not requiring landowner approval and additional acquisition cost for future greenway trail easement. A landowner request to sell property, with an existing County easement, to the County has not occurred to date and this acquisition could establish a potential precedent for the future.
The County completed a fee title appraisal for the Easement area plus an additional 1.07 acres for a small parking area and access. A general depiction of the proposed acquisition is attached. (Attachment: General Depiction of the Wicklund Property)
County staff contacted the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC), to determine if OH funds previously appropriated to the County would be eligible for this fee title acquisition since the LSOHC has a policy that OH funds are generally not eligible for funding fee title acquisitions of property with an existing easement. This policy was recently affirmed when the LSOHC did not approve a request from the Nature Conservancy to use OH funds for a similar circumstance. LSOHC staff determined that a County request to use OH funds for this intended purpose would likely not be approved, which was confirmed by the LSOHC Chair. Since OH funds were used to acquire the Wicklund Easement, a future paved Chub Creek Greenway trail will require approval from the LSOHC.
The Wicklunds are willing to sell the property for 31 percent less than the $617,000 appraised value. The County would be eligible to receive payments from an existing State Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contract with the Wicklunds, which would reduce the net cost of the acquisition by an additional $63,305. The Wicklunds are requesting that the County Board consider approving a variance to section 3.7 of Park Ordinance 107 to allow Spring youth and veterans turkey hunting to continue. The financial summary of estimated acquisition costs is as follows:
|
Appraised Fee Title Value of 123.5 acres |
Landowner Donation |
County Acquisition Cost |
Estimated Closing Costs |
CRP Payments (2025 - 2028) |
Net Total County Cost |
|
$617,000 |
$192,000 |
$425,000 |
$3,500 |
$63,305 |
$365,195 |
RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
None. Staff is seeking County Board guidance on this acquisition.
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EXPLANATION OF FISCAL/FTE IMPACTS
The combined total expenditure of the previous Easement payment and cost of fee title is $700,607 or $5,674 per acre. Adequate funding is available in the ML 22 OH County match for this acquisition.
☒ None ☐ Current budget ☐ Other
☐ Amendment Requested ☐ New FTE(s) requested
RESOLUTION
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Information only; no action requested.
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PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION
15-239 5/5/15
15-534 10/20/15
20-633 12/14/20
21-185; 4/6/21
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment: Legal Description of the Wicklund Property
Attachment: Wicklund Property Map
Attachment: Wicklund Property Easement Trail Language
BOARD GOALS
☐ A Great Place to Live ☒ A Healthy Environment
☐ A Successful Place for Business and Jobs ☐ Excellence in Public Service
CONTACT
Department Head: Niki Geisler
Author: Tom Lewanski