DEPARTMENT: Parks
FILE TYPE: Consent Action
TITLE
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Authorization To Acquire And Restore Conservation Easement On Coughlin Property
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Authorize expenditure of up to $91,500 to acquire a 39.99-acre permanent natural area conservation easement (Easement) on the Caroline Bender Coughlin and Janson Coughlin (Coughlin) property; authorize the expenditure of up to $263,200 for restoration of the Easement; authorize the Assistant County Manager - Physical Development to sign a purchase agreement (PA); authorize the County Board Chair to execute the Easement and a Notice of Funding Restriction (NOFR).
SUMMARY
The Coughlin property (Property) is in Greenvale Township, within the Dutch Creek Conservation Focus Area. The Property is bordered on the north and west by rural residential parcels along Jamaica Avenue, on the east by agricultural land and wetlands within an existing County-held permanent agricultural conservation easement, and on the south by agricultural land. The Property consists of about 53 acres of wetlands, woods, and grasslands that straddle a south tributary to Dutch Creek. The southern eight acres is former cropland, of which the Coughlin's have prepared about 0.67 acres to grow a variety of flowers. The legal description (Attachment: Legal Description), general depiction (Attachment: General Depiction) and location (Attachment: Easement Location) of the Easement are attached.
An independent appraisal was completed, reviewed, and approved by County staff. The Coughlins have agreed to sell the Easement for $90,000 and are willing to contribute the required match of approximately $11,800 for initial restoration costs estimated to be $275,000 over five years. The landowner contribution is based on a cost share table of varying percentages for various habitat types on the Property.
One hundred percent State Outdoor Heritage (OH) funding approved by the Minnesota Legislature in Minnesota Law 2022 (ML22) for acquisition an...
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