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EUGENE CITY COUNCIL <br /> AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY EUGENE <br /> Acquisition Update: East Fork Amazon Headwaters — Dillard Road <br /> Meeting Date: June 8, 2005 Agenda Item Number: [Agenda Item Number] <br /> Department: Public Works Staff Contact: Johnny Medlin <br /> www.ci.eugene.or.us Contact Telephone Number: 682 -4930 <br /> ISSUE STATEMENT <br /> • <br /> This is a work session to update Council on the status of negotiations for the purchase of the South Hills <br /> property abutting Dillard Road. <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> City of Eugene Public Works staff have negotiated to acquire portions of a 90- plus -acre parcel on <br /> Dillard Road since summer 2000. Early negotiations, targeted to meet the needs of the Ridgeline Trail <br /> and Stream Corridor acquisition programs, resulted in a 54 -acre acquisition in October 2001. <br /> Since October 2001, we have placed a high priority on acquiring an additional 8.5-10-acre portion which <br /> contained important stream corridors estimated to cost $150,000. This area is shown in the attached <br /> Exhibit `C' outlined in red. In 2004 this acquisition strategy shifted to a possible purchase of the entire <br /> 39 remaining acres based on the property owner indicating that a price of $300,000 might be acceptable. <br /> This area is shown in the attached Exhibit `B'. The area in yellow is subject property and areas in green <br /> are existing parklands. Initially, acquisition of the total parcel was not considered a high priority for the <br /> Ridgeline Trail Program because the City had already acquired a connecting corridor for the trail in this <br /> geographic area and lacks such in others. However, it was decided that is was worth pursuing if the <br /> acquisition of 20 acres for the stormwater corridor and Ridgeline Trail programs would leverage the <br /> donation of the additional 19 -plus acres. <br /> Our offer of $300,000 for 39 acres was accepted by the property owner in an e -mail on March 22, 2004 <br /> but later retracted on April 5, 2004. Our understanding was that this retraction was based on the <br /> property owner needing to honor a previous purchase agreement with another party. The property was <br /> subsequently sold in May 2004 for $325,000 without further involvement of the City. <br /> Staff contacted the new owner in June 2004 to determine his willingness to continue negotiations with <br /> the city regarding this property. The response was a reluctant willingness to sell for $600,000 if the sale <br /> could close by October 1, 2004. Staff informed the property owner that it would likely be impossible to <br /> meet this deadline but that a good faith effort would be made in the hope the closing date might be <br /> extended. City staff initiated the necessary appraisal work and applied for and received a State Parks <br /> matching grant for $300,000. The appraiser worked with a local engineering firm to analyze the <br /> development potential of the property. This analysis was necessary to determine if the development <br />