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City Council - 06/17/1997 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP CONSERVATION EASEMENTS & VALUE STATEMENTS TUESDAY, DUNE 17, 1997 6:30 PM, HERITAGE ROOM IV 8080 Mitchell Road COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Jean Harris, Sherry Butcher- Younghans, Ronald Case, Ross Thorfinnson, Jr. and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie, Assistant City Manager Chris Enger, Director of Public Works Gene Dietz, Chief of Police Jim Clark, Director of Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Bob Lambert, Director of Human Resources, Community Information & Services Natalie Swaggert, and Recording Secretary Jan Nelson I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. Councilmember Thorfinnson was absent. H. PRESENTATION BY THE NIINNESOTA LAND TRUST Jeff Strate, Board Member of the Minnesota Land Trust, reviewed their history. He said they are a public charity whose goal is to help put land into permanent conservation easements. He introduced Renay Leone, Executive Director of the Minnesota Land Trust. Ms Leone reviewed the structure and activities of the land trust, noting that they work with private land owners who approach them with a desire to preserve their land. She reviewed the concept of a conservation easement, and noted they make flexible agreements to meet the needs of individual landowners who have concerns about the future of their property. Dietz asked if the land trust is the grantee. Leone said it is. Lambert asked where they get the funds for monitoring and enforcing the terms of the agreement. Leone said they have been building an endowment fund and expect that, at some point, they will be able to use the interest only for those activities. Right now they rely a lot on volunteers for monitoring. They also have received pro bono legal help for one case. Strate said they expect that challenges to the easements will become more prevalent. They are setting up strategies to track land ownership changes. Leone noted the easement is on the title, and they do try to stay in touch with the landowners on a regular basis. COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP MINUTES June 17, 1997 Page 2 Case asked what type of parcels they are not interested in considering. Leone said it will vary quite a bit. They do have some minimum acreage (ten acres in the metropolitan area) but they look at a number of factors. She said they are currently working with the City of Lake Elmo on a conservation easement involving a cluster development. Strate said they would also confer an easement on land that includes important historical development and those would probably involve less than ten acres. Harris asked if they have had an instance where an owner changed his mind. Leone said they have not yet had such a case because, if they sense that people are unsure as they proceed, they stop the process. It is not in their best interests to have disgruntled landowners. Strate noted they insist the owner hire his or her own legal counsel before beginning the process. Harris asked if the easement is a definitive document that cannot be broken. Leone said it can be amended in order to enhance the easement. Dietz asked if other governmental agencies have the right of eminent domain over the easements. Leone said they do; however, they might have to pay damages to the land trust as well as to the landowner, which sometimes causes them to reconsider their decision to develop in that area. Strate noted that eminent domain issues generally play out in favor of the easement. Lambert asked if all their money comes from donations. Leone said it does. Lambert then asked what happens if the land trust goes bankrupt and who controls this if no one inspects the easement. Leone said since they are a state-wide organization, there is a greater chance of sustaining the organization in the long run. In case of bankruptcy, the conservation easement statute implies the DNR would have the authority and possibly the obligation to step in. Practically speaking, Leone thought they would go around and look at each of the easements to see who would be the best body to take it over. Butcher-Younghans asked if, as a 501.0 organization, the Attorney General would be the one who polices. Leone said it is the Attorney General and the IRS. Butcher-Younghans asked if they are a membership organization. Leone said they are, and they receive 70% of their funding from private organizations. They are rapidly diversifying their funding base. They have 66 conservation easements in 28 counties, most of which they have obtained by word of mouth. Case asked what is the applicability to us as a city government. He was concerned about Leone's comment that thus far they haven't taken over the oversight if there is not a willing seller or giver. Leone said that is the kind of situation they are dealing with in Lake Elmo. She said they would adapt to each city. They charge a fee for the easement that goes into the endowment fund, and there is an insurance premium covering the monitoring. They have worked on the language with the city attorney in Lake Elmo, and, in this case, the city became a back-up grantee. COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP MINUTES June 17, 1997 Page 3 Fox asked who takes care of the property if a natural disaster such as a tornado in woodlands occurs. Leone said they would work with the owner on what is appropriate to restore the easement area. Leone reviewed the handout that provided examples of conservation easements on public and private lands. Strate thanked the Council for giving them the opportunity to make a presentation. He thought this is an option the city might be able to use in the future in order to protect certain areas. Tyra-Lukens asked if we have had instances of developers coming to the city wanting to buy city land. Lambert said it has happened two times in the last 20 years. Leone thought those types of things will increase as development pressures increase. Mayor Harris thanked Strate and Leone for the useful information they provided. III. REVIEW AND CONFIRMATION OF VALUE STATEMENTS Harris said she likes the statements and would like to adopt them and put them on the Consent Calendar at tonight's Council meeting. Butcher-Younghans noted she was part of the previous workshop group on professionalism and communications, and they did not get to the communications portion. She asked that the first statement be amended to read: "We will actively seek information, through an open process, and make decisions only after carefully considering all of the facts." Harris asked if we could include that in our norms of behavior. Swaggert thought the commitment in the value statement is to the public and she thought that is where we want to include the open process. Tyra-Lukens said she was concerned about the difficulty of determining "all of the facts." Enger suggested the statement be phrased "We will actively seek information, though an open process, and make decisions only after careful consideration." The consensus was to rephrase the first statement as Enger suggested. Harris said the statements as revised will be included on the Consent Calendar tonight. IV. OTHER BUSINESS IV. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:25 p.m.