Title
Ordinance No. 20-11 Amending Ordinance No. 19-87 (2020 Appropriation Ordinance) for a Supplemental Appropriation to the Trails, Open Space and Parks Fund in the Amount of $3,362,600 for Acquisition of Approximately 335 Acres of Property for the Purpose of Public Open Space and Trails
Presenter:
Britt I. Haley, Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department
Body
Summary:
A supplemental appropriation to the Trails, Open Space and Parks Fund in the amount of $3,362,600 for acquisition of approximately 335 acres of property.
Background:
One of the identified priorities of the TOPS Working Committee has been to focus on candidate open space parcels that would link the Corral Bluffs Open Space to the Jimmy Camp Creek Regional Park located on the east side of the City of Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs Utilities (Utilities) has begun the process to dispose of properties it acquired in the early 2000s for a reservoir project but which were no longer needed by Utilities for that purpose. This proposal involves an intra city transfer for appraised value of twelve (12) of those properties to make this vital connection and secure habitat and open space conservation across this remarkable landscape.
As a result of extreme drought conditions and watering restrictions from 2002-2004 indicating that additional water storage was needed to ensure sufficient supply for customers, City Council directed Utilities to acquire property for a future terminal storage reservoir for the Southern Delivery System (SDS) project. City Council authorized the purchase of fifteen (15) properties east of Colorado Springs to build the SDS terminal storage near Jimmy Camp Creek in conjunction with SDS. Ten (10) of the fifteen (15) properties were purchased subject to rights of first refusal (ROFR) granting the prior property owners the ability to re-purchase the properties if Utilities did not construct the reservoir project or had no use for the properties. In its 2017 ...
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