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CCLAAC Minutes 10/26/2017 October 26, 2017 MINUTES OF THE CONSERVATION COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Naples, Florida, October 26, 2017 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 1:30P.M. for a SPECIAL SESSION at North Collier Regional Park, 15000 Livingston Rd, Naples, Florida with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Bill Poteet VICE CHAIRMAN: Pat Sherry Tracey Dewrell (Excused) Susan Calkins (Excused) Michael Seef John Psaras (Excused) Jacob Winge Carol Pratt (Vacancy) ALSO PRESENT: Alexandra Sulecki, Conservation Collier Coordinator, Program Manager October 26, 2017 I. Roll Call Chairman Poteet called the meeting to order at 1:30PM. Roll call was taken and a quorum was established. II. Approval of Agenda Ms. Sherry moved to approve the Agenda. Second by Mr. Winge. Carried unanimously S—0. III. New Business A. Conservation Collier Criteria 1. Current Acquisition Cycle Ms. Sulecki presented the Resolution titled "A Resolution of the Collier County Board of County Commissioners Approving a Criteria Weighting Strategy for the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program's Ninth Property Selection Cycle; Providing for and Effective Date"for consideration. She noted: • The County Manager's Office requested the Committee provide direction to the Board of County Commissioners on the strategy for this and future years land acquisition cycles. • The Subcommittee met on the issue and requested Staff to draft a resolution for consideration by the full Committee with the intent of prioritizing criteria and the identifying types of properties to be targeted for acquisition. • Staff developed a resolution to address this years acquisition cycle for consideration by the Committee. • The Resolution is intended to be used as a guide, while still retaining the ability to nominate any parcel for acquisition.. • The ranking process usually occurs at the December meeting,however given recent events,has been extended until no later than April of 2018 Chairman Poteet reported he met individually with Commissioner's Saunders and McDaniel who indicated they favored targeting urban area properties and environmentally sensitive lands. Speaker Meredith Barnard,Conservancy of Southwest Florida they are opposed on introducing the ability to"weight"properties as the process is not provided for in the existing Ordinance. She favors the current process whereby the individual properties are evaluated on their own merits. Brad Cornell,Audubon of the Western Everglades agreed with Ms. Barnard expressing concern the process will become more objective and the Committee may"box themselves in" when evaluating properties for potential acquisition. The existing process has an inherent weighting process given the Committee evaluate parcels on a case by case basis with ability to selectively choose the parcels they wish to acquire. He recommended they wait until after the referendum vote to consider any changes to the process. The Committee noted: • It is not the intent to propose major changes to the process as the Resolution will not be incorporated into the existing Ordinance governing the Committee. • The Resolution would be utilized in the existing process as additional guidance when evaluating properties proposed for acquisition. • The proposed acquisitions are prioritized in an A, B, and C list at the end of the cycle allowing further discretion by the Committee when selecting properties. 2 October 26, 2017 The Committee reviewed the proposed Resolution while soliciting comments from the speakers in an attempt to address any concerns. Staff incorporated"real time" changes to the document. Mr. Winge move to recommend the following changes to the proposed Resolution presented by Staff 1. Addition of"Whereas #6"- "The Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee uses various tools to evaluate properties, including a scoring format." 2. Addition of language to"Whereas#7"— "However, the goals and primary criteria of Conservation Collier may not be modified except by countywide referendum vote." 3. Section 1.A, line 3 from"...cycles to provide a more targeted focus within the Program for meeting..."to "...cycles to provide a more targeted focus within the Program scoring format for meeting..." 4. Section 1.B, line 1 -2 from"...recommends giving additional weight to certain existing criteria..."to "...recommends adjusting the scoring format used in evaluation of the qualified proposals to certain existing criteria..." 5. Section 1.B, line 4, addition of the sentence- "The scoring sheet is only one tool used in the evaluation of a qualified proposal." Second by Ms. Sherry. Carried unanimously 5—0. Ms. Sherry moved to forward the proposed Resolution to the Board of County for their consideration. Second by Mr. Winge. Carried unanimously 5—0. 2. Future Acquisition Cycle Speaker Brad Cornell,Audubon of the Western Everglades noted the Committee should ensure they are using the best available environmental data when evaluating properties and should target parcels which contain rare species or environmentally unique lands. Ms. Sulecki noted the FLUCCS (Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System) and the FNAI (Florida Natural Areas Inventory) are utilized when evaluating parcels. The Committee noted the criteria utilized for land acquisition in future cycles should be reviewed by the Subcommittee. Any changes proposed should be forwarded to the full Committee for consideration. The review should include an evaluation of the land management fee structure. Mr. Winge moved to recommend the County continue to use the existing acquisition criteria with minor changes. Prior to the 2018 voter referendum on the program, the Committee will be reviewing the Program's requirements for land management fees to identify any deficiencies and recommend changes as necessary. Second by Mr. Seef. Carried unanimously 5—0. IV. Chair Committee Member Comments None V. Public General Comments Speaker Joe Popp reported he has contracted to purchase a 20 acre property adjacent to Rivers Road Preserve and may be developing the parcel. He queried if Cycle 9, which is now closed for applications could 3 October 26,2017 be re-opened and the deadline extended so he may offer the County the opportunity to acquire the property. Ms. Sulecki noted she has had requests from other owners wishing to propose properties for acquisition after the deadline passed and she has notified them the applications will not be accepted. The Committee discussed the request with some Members favoring extending the Cycle given opportunities to acquire properties shouldn't be discouraged, especially if they are strategically located in the County. Others noted the deadline has passed and expressed concern on increasing Staff's workload by introducing new parcels into the Cycle. Mr. Winge moved to not extend the application deadline for Cycle 9. Second by Ms. Sherry. Motion carried 3 "yes"and 2 "no." Chairman Poteet and Mr. Seef voted "no." VI. Staff Comments None There being no further business for the good of the County,the meeting was adjourned by order of the chair at 2:50P.M. Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee Bill Poteet, Chairm These minutes approved by the :oard/Committee on // 13/1 7 as presented Lor as amended / vs. 4