Agenda Item Name:
Title
Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods - Colasante Option Contract to Purchase Real Property
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Presenter:
Andi Christman / (352) 264-6803
Description:
Staff Requests the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approve and exercise the attached Option Contract to Purchase the 350-acre Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods - Colasante property from the Colasante family through the Alachua County Forever program.
The execution of this Contract to purchase Real Property, is the final BoCC action on the acquisition of this project.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
1. Approve the exercise of the option to purchase real estate pursuant to the Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods -Colasante Option Contract and direct the Chair to execute the attached Notice of Exercise of Option, subject to the County’s rights to perform due diligence and notify the Seller of Title Defects and Environmental Defects as set forth in the Contract;
2. Approve the acquisition subject to the permitted title exceptions numbers 5 through 8, as listed in the attached Title Commitment and detailed in Exhibit C of the Option Contract; and subject to non-permitted title exceptions #9, #10 and #11, contingent upon payment of the County Code Enforcement lien, and to the subject to the concurrence of the county attorney and of the closing attorney;
3. Authorize staff to execute additional documents as necessary to close the transaction; and
4. Approve the attached budget amendment authorizing the expenditure of funds for due diligence and associated closing costs.
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Prior Board Motions:
On December 8, 2020, the BoCC placed Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods - Colasante property on the Active Acquisition List (Full Price List).
On June 28, 2022, the BoCC adopted Resolution 22-66 amending the process for selecting and acquiring Environmentally Significant Lands purchased using Wild Spaces and Public Places local government infrastructure surtax proceeds. This authorizes the acquisition of lands through fee simple and less-than-fee means, and provides the process for such.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
The amount of the option payment is a non-refundable $1,000.00. However, if the option is exercised, the $1,000.00 will be applied to the final purchase price of the contract.
Total acquisition cost is $1,826,997 for the land plus $78,300 for due diligence and closing services. The basis for these estimates is detailed below.
In order to provide sufficient spending authority to cover an unanticipated change in acquisition costs, staff is requesting authorization to expend an amount equal to the estimated acquisition and due diligence costs, plus 10%.
Summary of Estimated Costs
• Purchase price: $1,826,997 (349.7 ac x $5,224.47/ac)
• Phase I ESA: $5,500
• Boundary Survey: $46,000
• Boundary Posts & Signs: $1,800
• Attorney’s fees and closing costs: $25,000
• 10% contingency on purchase price & due diligence: $190,528
• TOTAL EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY REQUESTED: $2,095,807
WSPP - Land Acquisition (Capital Expense)
Fund#: 021.41.4160.537.61.00 - 6194101 Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods - Colasante
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Fund #: 021.41.4160.537.31.00 6184160: WSPP - Gen. Op. & Due Diligence (Operating Expense)
Annual Tax & Assessment Revenue of the Parcels: $9,821.40 (total)
1. $1,754.32 (20167-002-000) Colasante, Ona
2. $6,979.48 (20127-000-000) Colasante, Ona
3. $1,087.60 (20127-001-001) Colasante, Ona
A large portion of these taxes will still be paid by the Colasante family after the acquisition, due to the two parcel splits that will happen and the family retaining approximately 75 acres with several homes on this land.
There are no structures included in this acquisition that would become a County asset.
Estimated Annual Alachua County Forever Management Costs: $1,905
Estimated Alachua County Initial Improvements: $4,815
(Exhibit 6 & 7)
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
Environment
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Background:
Staff has negotiated the attached Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods - Colasante Option Contract to Purchase Real Property (Option), Exhibit 1, and it was executed by the Manager on September 9, 2022. The Option requires transmittal of a signed Notice of Exercise of Option by the BoCC Chair, to the Sellers by November 30, 2022, the date the option period ends. (Exhibit 2)
During the Inspection Period, the County shall have 120 days after the BOCC exercises its Option to conduct all due diligence on the property. The County may exercise its rights to resolve any due diligence matters pursuant to the terms of the contract within those 120 days and to extend the closing date if necessary.
The Colasante property is approximately 6 miles south of the City of Hawthorne and across from the St. John’s River Water Management District’s Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area in unincorporated Alachua County. The complete ownership consists of three parcels (ACPA Tax Parcels: 20127-001-001, 20127-000-000 and 20167-002-000) totaling 424.7 acres. Alachua County’s Option Contract has removed approximately 75 acres of this land from the purchase since this area is more developed and has several residential structures and a pole barn on it. The remaining 350-acres of the Colasante property considered in the fee simple Contract is in a much more natural state and contains the last privately held portion of the Lochloosa Slough waterway in Alachua County. The property is adjacent to Alachua County’s Lochloosa Slough Preserve (purchased in 2020) to the east and south. In addition, U.S. Route 301 is along the western boundary of the Colasante property.
The Slough is part of an important wildlife corridor from Ocala National Forest into the southeastern Alachua County. The 1996 KBN Study found that this area provides one of the “highest quality and most important wetland connections in Alachua County” which connects Lochloosa Lake to Orange Creek, the Oklawaha River, and the St. John’s River. In addition, the Property is within the Florida Wildlife Corridor, the highest priority area of the Florida Ecological Greenways Network in Alachua County, which helps identify the best opportunities to protect ecological connectivity statewide. These parcels are entirely within the ACF Lochloosa Slough project area and are keystone parcels. Additionally, 56% of the property is within the Lochloosa Slough Strategic Ecosystem.
The primary goal of the Colasante acquisition is to acquire the remaining portion of Lochloosa Slough and the upland buffer around it. Adding this 350-acre footprint to the Lochloosa Slough Preserve will facilitate the land management activities within the Preserve.
Nearly 40% of the property is wetlands, and the natural community types include slough, strand swamp, blackwater stream, bottomland forest, basin swamp, baygall, upland mixed hardwoods, mesic flatwoods, wet flatwoods, and depression marsh, mainly in excellent to good condition. The flatwoods have been converted to pine plantation, but these areas would be restored through thinning the pine stand density and with use of prescribed fire. Very few non-native exotic plants were found on the property. (Exhibit 3 & 4)
The Permitted Exceptions in the Colasante Option Contract consist of (#5, #6, #7, #8):
(# 5) Terms and Conditions of the Easement recorded in O.R. Book 1741, Page 1590 of the Public Records of Alachua County, FL
(# 6) Right of Way easement recorded in O.R. Book 4107, Page 1400 of the Public Records of Alachua County, FL
(# 7) Deed Restriction Recorded in Official Records of Alachua County, Book 4156, Page 2093.
(# 8) Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Mineral Rights, including active right of access in favor of the State of Florida, set forth in Deed from Trustees of The Internal Improvement Trust Fund of State of Florida recorded in Deed Book 206, Page 338 (as to Parcel 3) referenced in Alachua County’s Title Commitment issued March 6,2021.
Some of these title exceptions are expected to be deleted prior to closing based on additional title examination or the survey. (Exhibit 5)
The Title Exception Memo, Exhibit 8, from Salter Feiber explains each exception and provides an opinion for each.
Closing is contingent upon payment of the County Code Enforcement lien as per Alachua County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Consent Order, payment of which may be taken from the Seller’s proceeds at time of closing.
Legal access to the Colasante Tract is along U.S. Route 301.
Access to the Triple T Farms LLC property (parcel 20169-000-000) which will become an inholding, exists to the south, through the Lochloosa Slough Preserve.
A boundary survey and phase I environmental assessment are the next steps of due diligence that will be initiated after the Option is Exercised by Alachua County. Closing transactions would occur once there has been a determination by the County Manager that there are no title, survey, or environmental defects.
Comp Plan Reference:
Acquiring the Lochloosa Slough Flatwoods - Colasante fulfills multiple objectives endorsed within the Alachua County Comprehensive Plan. Specifically, 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.”