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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 05-04-2006-9dORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 4, 2006 Action Agenda Item No. ~-~ SUBJECT: Possible Conservation Easements for Greene Tract DEPARTMENT: ERCDIManager PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): 6/26/02 Greene Tract Work Group Resolution and Concept Map Vicinity and Ownership Maps 1999 Solid Waste Interlocal Agreement Excerpt Estimated Greene Tract Reimbursement INFORMATION CANTACT: David Stancil, 919-245-2590 Rod Visser, 919-245-2300 Amounts PURPOSE: To discuss matters related to the possible recording of conservation easements on portions of the Greene Tract to permanently protect those areas as open space, BACKGROUND: At the Board's regular meeting on April 18, 2006, the Board received a brief report on matters related to the possible recordation of conservation easements on portion(s) of the property known as the Greene Tract, This agenda item provides the Board with an opportunity to discuss issues related to such conservation easements, and to discuss approaches and implications for reimbursements due to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund if actions are taken that would render the Greene Tract no longer an asset of the solid waste management system. The Greene Tract was acquired by the Landfill Owners Group (LOG) in 1984 as a possible future landfill site, pending further study. The Landfill Owners Group was an entity with elected representatives of the three jurisdictions -Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro -that owned the landfill and the Greene Tract prior to 1999, In 1999, the County and Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough entered into an interlocal agreement governing the future management of solid waste throughout Orange County, The agreement provided for the transfer of solid waste management and recycling operations from the Town of Chapel Hill to Orange County. A significant element of the agreement covered the disposition of the Greene Tract (which was explicitly designated by the agreement as a landfill asset) and the conditions under which reimbursement would be due to the Salid Waste Enterprise Fund (which was the source of funding for the $608,823 purchase price of the property in 1984), 60 acres of the Greene Tract were deeded outright to Orange County to be reserved for solid waste management purposes, The remainder of the property (104 acres, as subsequently determined by survey, compared to the 109 acre balance assumed in the agreement) is still in joint ownership by the County, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill. z In 2001-02, a Greene Tract Work Group comprised of elected representatives from each of the LOG member jurisdictions began meeting to develop a concept plan for the remaining jointly owned 104 acres of the Greene Tract. In .June 2002, the Work Group approved a resolution, subsequently affirmed by all three jurisdictions, detailing recommendations that the three parties agree to place a conservation easement on the 85,9-acre portion of the jointly held property that was to be retained as open space, to ensure that future conservation would be achieved, The other 18.1 acres of jointly owned property was targeted for future affordable housing, County staff was asked to facilitate development of a conservation easement at same point in the future, Accordingly, staff has periodically discussed this possible easement with Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC), to assess that organization's interest in being the fourth- party/easement holder on the 86 acres of jointly held open space. There has been positive feedback from TLC, and in the last several months, these discussions have became more formalized with renewed discussions about the Greene Tract. Site visits have been held and the TLC Land Committee has recently recommended acceptance of this easement. The TLC Board of Directors could consider approval of the easement in July. The TLG Land Committee has also offered to hold an easement on the County's adjoining 60- acre tract, if desired, As one of the few local governments with a formal land conservation program in the Lands Legacy Program, the County could choose to enroll the 60 acres in that program, and/or allow for a separate two-party easement to be placed on it, if additional conservation limitations were desired,; Letters of March 24, 2000 from the BOCC to the Town governing boards stated that "it is the`intent of the current Board of Commissioners that this sixty acres remain undisturbed." While there was an assessment conducted of the property's physical attributes at the time the 60 acres was conveyed, the BOCC has held no further formal discussion of the County's plans for the 60 acres. The 1999 interlocal agreement explicitly provided that "any non System use of any portion of the remainder of the Greene Tract or any disposition of any portion of the remainder of the Greene Tract shall result in payment to the County of the Reimbursement Amount for deposit in the system enterprise fund", Arguably, a similar approach might be applied to any portion of the County's 60 acres that are ultimately used for other than solid waste system purposes, The calculation of the "Reimbursement Amount" is spelled out in the agreement, FINANCIAL IMPACT: The Greene Tract Work Group recommendations included a "triggering mechanism" for reimbursements to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund based on the placement of former Greene Tract property under formal conservation easements, Estimated reimbursement shares based on proportional LOG ownership shares (Orange County-43%; Carrboro - 14%; Chapel Hill - 43%) of the original March 1984 Greene Tract acquisition cost of $608,823, are noted in the attached document estimating reimbursement amounts. This information has been distributed to the Town Managers of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. If conservation easement(s) are granted to another party (for either the joint 86 acres and/or the County's 60 acres), there would be transaction costs and potentially an endowment request from the easement holder, These costs are not yet known. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss matters related to passible conservation easements on portions of the Greene Tract, and direct the Manager to coordinate with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Town Managers to develop a proposed reimbursement schedule to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund for discussion at the next Assembly of Governments meeting in September 2006. APPROVED O GREENE TRACT WORK GROUP A RESOLUTION REPORTING THE RECOMMENDED CONCEPT PLAN FOR TtiE PORTION OF THE GREENE TRACT THAT REMAINS IN JOINT OWNERSHIP WHEREAS, Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill acquired the property known as the Greene Tract in 1984 as an asset of the joint solid waste management system; and WHEREAS, title to 60 acres of this property was deeded exclusively to Orange County in 2000 under provisions of the 1999 interlocal "Agreement for Solid Waste Management"; and WHEREAS, under the same interlocal agreement the County and Towns agreed to bargain in good faith during the two year period following the effective date of the agreement to determine the ultimate use or disposition of the balance of the acreage on the Greene Tract; and WHEREAS, the end date of the "bargaining period" as defined in the agreement was April 17, 2002, the second anniversary of the date upon which the County assumed overall responsibility for solid waste management in Orange County; and WHEREAS, the Greene Tract Work Group considered direction from the respective governing boards, comments from interested citizens and organizations, and information developed by staff in response to Work Group inquiries in developing a recommended concept plan for the balance of the Greene Tract; and WHEREAS, the Work Group reported to all three governing boards in a resolution dated March 21, 2002 that it had reached substantial agreement on a concept plan providing for approximately 78 acres to be earmarked for open space protected by conservation easements and approximately 15 acres to be earmarked for affordable housing but had not yet reached agreement regarding what designation should be placed on the remaining 11 acres; and WHEREAS, the Work Group had recommended in that March 21, 2002 resolution that the following additional steps be taken: • The area shown on the concept plan as open space should be protected by executing a conservation easement between appropriate parties • The Board of County Commissioners should consider protecting its 60 acre portion of the Greene Tract by executing a conservation easement with an appropriate party • The Chapel HiII Town Council should consider initiating a small area planning process to examine desirable land uses for the Purefoy Road area The property should be renamed in a manner that recognizes the significance of this area as the headwaters for three important streams (Bolin Creek, Old Field Creek, and Booker Creek) • The governing boards should take note of the public investment already made in the general vicinity of the Greene Tract, as cataloged in an accompanying table; and WHEREAS, the governing boards of all three jurisdictions approved resolutions extending the bargaining period beyond Aprill7, 2002 in order to allow the Greene Tract Work Group additional time to try to reach consensus on the basic uses to be established for the approximately 11 acres at that time unresolved; and APPROVED ~- WHEREAS, the Work Group received a technical report from the County Engineer outlining the basic alternatives available and approximate costs for providing sewer service to a portion of the Greene Tract, which service would be necessary for the economical and practical provision of affordable housing; and WHEREAS, the Work Group concluded by consensus that "the car ,tying capacity of the land" should be the determining factor in establishing how much of the unresolved 11 acres should be earmarked for specific purposes, and that the ridge line reflected on the accompanying concept map determines the portion (approximately one-third) of the 11 acres that can practically be used far affordable housing served by a sewer line that would access the Greene Tract via Purefoy Road: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend that the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, the Chapel Hill Town Council, and the Orange County Board of Commissioners accept the accompanying map as the Work Group's consensus recommendation for a concept plan for that portion of the Greene Tract not deeded exclusively to Orange County, with the acreage to be set aside for open space protected by conservation easements approximating 85.90 acres and the acreage for affordable housing approximating 18.10 acres; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend to the three governing boards that the acreage for affordable housing be placed in the Land Tn~st; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend to the three governing boards that the Managers investigate options for reimbursement of the Solid Waste/Landfill Enterprise Fund for the portions of the site designated for affordable housing and open space; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend to the three governing boards that the triggering mechanism for reimbursement to the Solid Waste/Landfill Enterprise Fund should be formal action taken by all three boards to approve conservation easements protecting the designated open space, with such approvals taking effect no sooner than .luly i, 2003, and no later than July 1, 2005.. This, the 26"' day of June, 2002 Moses Carey, Jr. Chair Greene Tract Work Group Greene Tract Concept Plan ~ Approved by the Greene Tract Workgroup, 6/26/02 '~ Landfill (Inactive) /! Landfill (Active) ~! .I~', ~ / F - ,. - -.. ~ .. ~\, ~. ~ i ~, '~'(/ Conlom Lines Palceis ;~.,;i. 6lmdures "". Orangs Caunly Lantl ~~tl u:e ~;~g AfioNd~le Mousing 18.10 Aeees ~ Open Space BS eD Actes Neville Tract N 300 0 300 600 Feet ~i Homestead Park ~ 1 ~~ 1 Orange County Environment & Resource Conservation Department June 27 2Q02 B, Young .!Dint affordable housing 18 acres Joint open space 86 acres ( Greene Tract -Joint Ownership (104 acres) -_-- j Orange County open space (60 acres) Parcel boundary Streams 2003 Orthophoto Greene Tract Ownership Map A 100 0 700200 Feet Qlan6B County O Environment 8 Resource Conservation Department MNl 04I25I06 \ f ~ 1 << ~~- ~ , = ~ ~ , ~ i~ ~ 1 ~ ~ ~ d~ ~ _ I ~ i ~ ~ / -L ~ ~- _._ / a_ 1 ~ _ I_ 1 ` ~` ~ ., ~ ~ I ` ~~ ''~~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ - 1 t it ~ - r ; _ __ a, o, i 1 I -~1 _ i i . Q _- _ . W~ ~ , ~ I PUREFOY _ j ~ J ~ , i - - / 1. /, ~ ~ T r, ~ ~ ~~, ~ ~ r ~ ~ / ~_1 I ,_ , ~ ~ ~' r ;/ ' ~ I i - ~ ~, ~rz~-, ;~ ~ ' . ~ ~ ~ / „ / ~ - i o ~.~,~, i J- ~ ~ , r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~~ ~ ~ LA R~ -~ ~ ~vs ~ ~ ~ ~ o/ / ? ~- ~ i_I I I ~ I b ~~? Q ' ~ ~ t~ t~ ~-~El~hdtsE~R~ l. I i ~ / I ~ ,~~ ,~ , v ~ l ill ~ ; ~ ~ ~ i i ~ ' ~, ~ ~ ~~ -_ 9 ,~ atn>_~ao i :~~ r-_ n,~ - ~ ~ - ~ ~ p~uiu ~ ~ ~, i ~ ~~ -. ~i / ~ I i _ ~ ' ~, ~~ ` "~ I i i ~'~ ~, ~ ~ - ~ ~ ~~ ~~ .,, i, Greene Tract Ownership Map A too o too 206 Feet '; Greene Tract -Joint Ownership (104 acres) Orange County open space (60 acres) __ I Parcel boundary '~ OrenBe County O EnvironmontB Rasourca ti C ~ l t ~, l Streams onserva on men epar MN! OA/25/O6 O 5. The Greene Tract will remain a landfill asset. Sixty acres of the Greene Tract will be reserved for solid waste management purposes, and the three owners will work together to determine ~I~`'~ the ultimate use of the remainder. The Parties agree that the Greene Tract remains a landfill asset. Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the County (the "Greene Tract Owners") will transfer to the County title to that portion of the Greene Tract described on Exhibit E, which contains approximately sixty acres. The County may use the property described on Exhibit E for System purposes, The County states its current intention not to bury mixed solid waste or construction and demolition waste on any portion of the Greene Tract. The County states its recommendation to future County Governing Boards that the County make no such burial. The deed to this property will include~a restriction prohibiting the use of the property described on Exhibit~E for burying mixed solid waste or construction and demolition waste r This restriction becomes effective at the same time that the zoning change described in the next paragraph is effective; and it will remain effective so long as zoning remains effective which allows solid waste management uses, other than burial of mixed solid waste or construction and demolition waste, as permitted uses as described in the next paragraph. i Chapel Hill agrees to commence, and states its current intent to complete, the process to make solid waste management uses not ;' including burial of mixed solid waste or construction and demolition waste, but expressly including, but not limited to, a solid waste w transfer facility and a materials recovery facility, uses of the Exhibit E property "permitted" uses under The Chapel Hill Development Code/Ordinance, subject only to staff level site plan and similar reviews and not subject to special use or similar processes, Chapel ;' Hill agrees to provide the other Parties with a plan, including a planned schedule of reviews and approvals, to process the zoning change described in this paragraph. The Parties agree that nothing that they have agreed to herein {. constitutes an agreement on the part of Chapel Hill to zone the Exhibit E property in a particular way. It is instead, an agreement that if the Exhibit E property is zoned a particular way one event will follow and if the Exhibit E property is not zoned in a particular way another event will follow, The Greene Tract Owners agree to bargain together in good faith and with all due diligence, and to use their respective best efforts, to determine an ultimate use or disposition of the remainder of the Greene Tract as soon as possible and in any event by December 31, 2001, or two years after the effective date, whichever is later. During this "bargaining period," no Greene Tract Owner shall make any use of the remaining portion of the Greene Tract without the consent ! of the other Greene Tract Owners. 6 0 The Greene Tract Owners agree that among the issues to be addressed in the bargaining process are (1) the specific future uses, or ranges of use, to be made of the remainder of the Greene Tract (including issues of devoting different portions to different uses, devoting portions to public uses and the possibility of making portions available for sale or private use), and (2) whether to impose specific use restrictions, either through deed restrictions or through governmental regulation. The Greene Tract Owners agree that during the "bargaining period" each should provide opportunity for public comment on possible or proposed uses or dispositions, During the "bargaining period," no Greene Tract Owner shall (1) i file any legal action or proceeding to force any sale or division of i the Greene Tract, or (2) enter into any agreement to sell, mortgage or ~ otherwise transfer all or any part of its ownership interest in the Greene Tract, in either case without the consent of the other Greene Tract Owners. To the extent permitted by law, Chapel Hill agrees not to initiate any proceeding to rezone any po=tion of the Greene Tract during the "bargaining period," without the consent of the other j Greene Tract Owners. Execution and delivery,'of this Agreement by the t Greene Tract Owners constitutes consent of the Greene Tract Owners for E Chapel Hill to rezone the Exhibit E property as described in this Part 5. Chapel Hill states its current intent to accommodate any agreed- ! upon future uses or range of uses of the remainder of the Greene Tract •a in its Development Code/Ordinances and states its recommendation to future Chapel Hill Governing Boards to the same effect. After the "bargaining period" is completed, namely, the day after the last day of the bargaining period, no Greene Tract Owner shall (1) file any legal action or proceeding to force any sale or division of the Greene Tract, or (2) enter into any agreement to sell, mortgage or otherwise transfer all or any part of its ownership interest in the Greene Tract, in either case without giving the other Greene Tract Owners at least 60 days' prior notice of such filing or entering into an agreement, In addition, after the "bargaining period" is completed, any Greene Tract Owner may give 60 days' prior notice of an election to be no longer bound by the above restrictions pertaining to the uses of and whether to impose use restrictions on the remainder of the Greene Tract, and such election shall be effective at the end of the notice period, The Parties agree that any non System use of any portion of the remainder of the Greene Tract or any disposition of any portion of the remainder of the Greene Tract shall result in payment to the County of the Reimbursement Amount For deposit in the System enterprise fund. 6.T The County will finance community benefits from System funds to the extent legally permissible. The Parties will cooperate to provide public benefits to the community of residents and property owners in the neighborhood of the existing landfill. 9 IO "Reimbursement Amount' means, (1) in the case of disposition to a North Carolina local government that is also a Party, so long as that ) government devotes the transferred portion to public purposes, (a) $606,623, being the original purchase price of the Greene Tract, ~' multiplied (b) by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of ~` p whole acres of the Greene Tract being disposed and the denominator of ~:- ~~ which is 169, plus (c) uncompounded interest on the product of (a) and (b) at the annual rate of 6,00% from March 30, 1964, to the effective ~ ~ date of any disposition, and (2) in the case of any other disposition, ~ the greater of either (a) the Reimbursement Amou nt to a North Carolina y local government that is also a Party, or (b) the net proceeds of a f, sale after the costs of the sale are paid. "-'"" "Solid waste" means all materials accepted by the County for disposal at System Management Facilities, as the same may be established and amended from time to time under the Solid Waste Management Plan and Policies (subject to, the provisions of Part 2 which authorize the County to refuse tom. accept for disposal any material or substance which the County rea'sbnably determines is barred from such disposal by any applicable ~1aw or regulation or the restrictions of any permit), other than County Recyclables. ~r "Solid Waste Management Plan and Policies" means, the combination of (a) the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, and all future modifications of that Plan, which is the report submitted pursuant to law to State authorities describing the long-term plan for solid waste management, which the Covnty, as designated lead agency, files on behalf of the County and the Towns, and (b) the Solid Waste Management Policies, which are, collectively, all policies related to the System and coordinated solid waste management for the County, the towns and the persons and organizations in their jurisdictions, as the same may exist from time to time (including all such policies in effect as of the date of this Agreement). The term "Solid Waste Management Plan and Policies" thereby encompasses all policy choices, as in effect from time to time, related to the management and operation of the System. "State" means the State of North Carolina. "Syystem" means all assets, including both real and personal property, used from time to time in the conduct of the functions of collecting and processing County Recyclables, reducing solid waste, disposing of Solid Waste and mulching, composting and re-using Solid Waste, and includes both (a) the Existing System Assets and (b) all moneys and investments related to such functions. "System Debt" means all obligations for payments of principal and. interest with respect to borrowed money incurred or assumed by the County in connection with the ownership or operation of the System, without regard to the form of the transaction, and specifically including leases or similar financing agreements which are required to be capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. System Aebt is "Outstanding" at all times after it is issued or contracted until it is paid. 18 Prepared 04/18/06 II ESTIMATED GREENE TRACT REIMBURSEMENT AMOUNTS Under the interlocal "Agreement for Solid Waste Management", the term "Reimbursement Amount" is defined as follows: "(1) in the case of disposition to a North Carolina local government that is also a Party, so long as that government devotes the transferred por-lion to public purposes, (a) $608,823, being the original purchase price of the Greene Tract, multiplied (b) b,y a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of whole acres of the Greene Tract being disposed and the denominator of which is 169, plus (c) uncompounded interest on the product of (a) and (b) at the annual rate of 6 00% from March 30, 1984 to the effective date of any disposition, and (2) in the case of any other disposition, the greater of either (a) the Reimbursement Amount to a North Carolina local government that is also a Party, or (b) the net proceeds of a sale after the costs of the sale are paid " If one were to assume that the June 2002 recommendations of the Greene Tract Work Group were implemented, with conservation easements recorded sometime during FY 2006-07 on both jointly owned property and on the County's 60 acres, and with alump- sum payment due date of July 1, 2007, the total reimbursement amount would be approximately, Ori final Purchase Price $608,823 Annual Interest at 6%uncompounded 36,530 Total Interest (23 years 3 months) 849,322 Total Reimbursement Amount $1,458,145 The respective shares of the local governments in making reimbursements to the Solid Waste/Landfill Operations Enterprise Fund would be approximately (based on the actual surveyed acreage of 164, rather than the 109 acres cited in the interlocal agreement): Principal Interest Total Entire Greene Tract 164 acres $608,823 $849,322 $'1,458,145 Orange County deeded 60 acres 222,741 310,727 533,468 portion Orange County interest 43% of 104 acres 166,015 231,596 397,611 in remainder Chapel Hill interest in 43% of 104 acres 166,015 231,596 397,611 remainder Carrboro interest in 14% of 104 acres 54,052 75,403 129,455 remainder If the local governments were to agree that reimbursement payments should be spread out over a period of several years, that might make annual budget planning easier than having to budget for one large reimbursement payment Spreading payments could be structured to provide necessary cash to the enterprise fund for future major capital expenditures (e g. a transfer station), while easing the burden on Town and County General Funds. The County and Town Managers and staffs can collaborate to produce a recommendation for payback over amulti-year period, for future Board discussion