Travis County Commissioners Court
January 27, 2009
Item 21
21. Consider and take? Consider and take appropriate action regarding the transfer of 826.546 acre volente mitigation tract from grason volente investments, ltd. To Travis County and acceptance of operation and maintenance responsibility to be managed as part of the balcones canyonlands preserve.
>> thank you, judge, kevin connally with Travis County natural resources, we've been in discussions with the landowners of this tract for some number of years and are happy to -- to bring a proposal to have this property actually deeded to Travis County. This will -- this property is already managed under a u.s. Fish and wildlife service federal endangered species permit. The landowner wishes to transfer the land to the county for management in perpetuity. There have been a number of small legal issues the county and landowner have resolved. The staff feels like we have negotiated a reasonable accommodation for operations and management funding for short term until the county's tax benefit financing will generate adequate funding to take care of those needs in the future. The county attorney's office has worked diligently these last number of weeks on a fairly complex transaction. We think that we have resolved all of those outstanding issues and staff recommends acceptance. I will be happy to take any questions.
>> I just had a comment in regard to the license for resident access and o and m, I thought that was a really innovative way to skin that cat. I wanted to applaud you all on figuring that out. Very nice way for us to have our cake and eat it, too. Both us and the residents in a responsible way.
>> we were actually excited about that approach, we think that it provided certainty for the county and for the developer so if in the future they decide to exercise that option, it provides them an opportunity without having to come back and amend the contract downstream. So we're happy we were able to make that work out.
>> okay.
>> second.
>> motion and second to approve. I have a couple of questions.
>> sorry.
>> > no problem.
>> there's a
>> [indiscernible] state that expires, grason volente is required to remove the house.
>> that's correct.
>> so is that requirement contained in some agreement? Is it in our agreement?
>> it is. John, would you like to speak to that?
>> it is in the purchase agreement and it survives the closing. It's assignable as well. That if this current developer sells all of the property and moves on to -- on to property owners association or whoever owns the property at the time or has control of that obligation at the time, we'll still have something that we can enforce. Travis County will never have to tear down that house.
>> if things go according to plan.
>> uh-huh.
>> okay. Why is the -- why is the $18 million the magic number for the total improvement value?
>> we actually calculate the amount of staff time that we believe it will take to actually manage the property to the terms and conditions of our federal permit, the bccp. Given the amount of funds that are generated by the tax benefit financing program, that is the amount that will generate the funding necessary to provide adequate staff and the resources we need to manage that property. So in this particular property, we -- every time that we consider one of these deals for the county, we back that number out and that just happens to be where it is for a property of this size.
>> okay. Any other questions, comments? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. Thank you for your patience.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 2:03 PM