§ 9-189. Procedures for acquisition.

(a)

Upon approval of the voter referendum and with each update of the target list, county staff will publish a notice requesting all interested land owners who meet the eligibility criteria to submit an application to the county for participation in the program. County staff may also send letters of inquiry to the eligible land owners. Positive responses will reviewed using the initial screening criteria.

(b)

Properties that do not fulfill the purposes of the program, or do not satisfy the initial criteria, will be reported to the LCAB and shall not be evaluated further unless at least five (5) members of the LCAB vote for a complete evaluation.

(c)

Proposals, which satisfy the initial screening, are forwarded to the LCAB and staff for secondary criteria review and ranking. Staff shall include with each proposal; boundary and location maps for each site, descriptions of the biological and hydrological characteristics, a summary of its potential for appropriate use, development potential of the site and adjacent land, an assessment of the management needs and costs, the assessed value, and any potentially available matching funds. This acquisition proposal information shall be the initial criteria screening report ("screening report").

(d)

Upon completion of the screening report, the LCAB shall hold a public hearing to consider the recommendations regarding each site, the applicant and/or landowner's comments, and comments from the public. A courtesy notice shall be provided to the owners of properties, which are the subject of the hearing, and adjacent owners, although failure to notify said owners shall not invalidate these proceedings. The LCAB shall evaluate all qualified proposals using the scoring matrix and propose top-ranked projects for the active acquisition list.

(e)

Upon completion of the screening report, the LCAB shall hold a public hearing to recommend additions to and approve the active properties list for submission to the board.

(f)

The board shall vote on whether to approve all or part of the proposed active acquisition list. Additions may be added but must be subjected to the entire evaluation process.

(g)

After approval of the list, the board will direct the county manager to begin negotiations for property acquisition(s), which may include the use of outside professionals to effect the acquisition.

(h)

The board shall approve the contract terms for each proposed project and shall authorize any and all purchases.

(Ord. No. 04-28, § 9, 7-26-04)