Agenda Item Name:
Title
Addition of a certain land conservation project to the Alachua County Forever Active Acquisition List.
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Presenter:
Charlie Houder / (352) 264-6804
Description:
Request the Board of County Commissioners approve the addition of Mill Creek - Rembert land conservation project to the Alachua County Forever Active Acquisition List (Full Price List).
Addition of this project to the Active Acquisition List, authorizes staff to: obtain title work and appraisals, negotiate price and terms with the owner, and execute an option contract.
Any commitment to purchase a conservation easement, such as exercising an option, will be brought back to the Board for consideration.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approve the addition of Mill Creek - Rembert property on the Active Acquisition List as a Conservation Easement. (Full Price List)
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Prior Board Motions:
N/A
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
Rembert - Cost Estimates:
• $115,200 :Acquisition Pre-Contract & Due Diligence
• $5,500 :Stewardship -initial 10yrs.
$120,700 :Total Cost Estimates for Pre-Contract / Due Diligence Acquisition & Stewardship
Due Diligence - Operation: 021.41.4160.537.31.00 - 6184160
(Exhibit 2)End
Background:
On September 2, 2020, Mr. Davis Rembert nominated the subject property to the Alachua County Forever Program. On October 22, 2020, the Land Conservation Board placed the 718-acre Mill Creek - Rembert property on the Priority Pool as a conservation easement.
The Rembert family project includes twelve parcels under two ownerships (03000-001-001, 03000-000-000, 03000-005-000, 03000-005-001, 02971-000-000, 02977-000-000, 02975-004-000, 02975-003-004, 02972-001-000, 02978-000-000, 02981-000-000 and 02980-003-000). The property is located within the northern city limits of Alachua, in north-central Alachua County. About 238 acres of the land fall within the Mill Creek Strategic Ecosystem.
The property is a mosaic of natural communities in excellent - good condition mixed with hay pasture/row crops and pine plantation. The most outstanding natural feature of the property is the over three miles of winding blackwater stream and seepage stream with the surrounding high quality slope forests which traverse the property. Nine of the twelve nominated parcels contain portions of this creek system, which are tributaries of Mill Creek and feed into the Mill Creek Sink, approximately 2 miles downstream from the Rembert property. In the 1938 aerial imagery, the slope forests along this creek system are intact and have remained so until present. The majority of the uplands above the slope forests were converted to pasture prior to the 1938 aerial imagery. In the 1990’s some of this pasture was planted in longleaf pine. Today, the pasture utilized for hay production.
Active gopher tortoise borrows were observed as well as State Threatened and commercially exploited plants. The landowner has previously seen Sherman’s fox squirrel, Florida sandhill cranes and canebrake rattlesnakes on the property. Overall, invasive plant density was low in the natural areas, but pasture grass was abundant in the historically cleared areas. (Exhibit 1)
Acquisition of a conservation easement on this property would further protect the Mill Creek Sink stream to sink system, and add a key piece of protection in the Springs Protection Zone in this area. Dye tracing studies have shown that Mill Creek Sink is hydrologically connected to Hornsby Springs, which then feeds into the Santa Fe River, an Outstanding Florida Waterway. Protection of the Santa Fe River is one of the highest priorities of the Alachua County Forever Program. In addition, protecting water entering Mill Creek Sinkhole contributes to public drinking water quality, since water from the sinkhole has been found in the Santa Fe Hills Water Association (formerly: Santa Fe Hills Public Water System). This drinking water supply facility serves approximately 73 homes, or 200 inhabitants, in the Alachua Hills Subdivision in the City of Alachua.
Staff has submitted a grant request to Suwannee River Water Management District for springs protection funding to cover half of the cost of the conservation easement.
Comp Plan Reference:
Policy 6.0 Land Conservation Program within the Conservation and Open Space Element, states “Establish and maintain a land conservation program for the purchase, preservation, and management of natural areas and open space to complement the regulatory approaches identified in other section of this element.”