To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Gini Pingenot, Open Spaces Director
Prepared By:
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Michele Frishman, Grants and Acquisitions Manager, Open Spaces
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Subject:
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Proposed Addition to Bijou Basin Open Space
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) authorize the Open Spaces Director to execute a purchase and sale agreement for $900,000, contingent on approval as to form by the County Attorney's Office, to purchase 362 acres from the Colorado State University Research Foundation (CSURF) to expand Bijou Basin Open Space. Open Spaces will incur additional due diligence and closing costs not to exceed $15,000.
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Background and Discussion: Open Spaces staff have been in communication with CSURF about a potential acquisition of four parcels totaling 362 acres. The parcels are located northwest of Arapahoe County's Bijou Basin Open Space, and each of the four parcels shares a boundary with the open space.
A title search for the parcels found no concerning encumbrances or liens on the property. CSURF owns the mineral rights and the groundwater rights in the Denver Basin aquifer, which would transfer to Arapahoe County with the ownership of the property. There are no leases to develop the mineral rights and no permanent structures on the property.
The property was appraised at $900,000, or approximately $2,500/acre, including the water and mineral rights; CSURF is willing to sell it to the County for that price.
If the County and CSURF enter into a purchase and sale agreement, County staff would obtain a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment to determine whether any apparent environmental risks exist on the property. We also would obtain more information on the property's water rights and the existing grazing lease.
Considerations for this potential open space acquisition include the following:
Connectivity to County Open Space and Other Protected Lands: ...
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