Item 4: Bethel Community Park Deed Transfer

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ECC DR UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Action: Bethel Community Park Deed Transfer Meeting Date: September 27, 2010 Agenda Item Number: 4 Department: Public Works Staff Contact: Neil Björklund www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-4909 ISSUE STATEMENT This item is for the City Council to take action to authorize the City Manager to transfer deeds to land in the Bethel neighborhood to School District 52, in accordance with a prior intergovernmental agreement. BACKGROUND In 1996, the City and School District 52 discussed a joint acquisition of land in the Bethel neighborhood for future use as a school site and a community park. In October of 1996, the City had an appraisal completed, and based on that appraisal, the City and District 52 agreed in principle that it would be mutually beneficial to proceed with a joint acquisition. In December 1996, the City entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with District 52 (attached) stating that all costs were to be shared equally, and that the City would manage the appraisal contracting, appraisal review, acquisition-related wetland and title reports, and would perform the negotiations with the affected property owners. The City and Bethel jointly purchased properties from two property owners – the Kokkeler family and the Brewer family. The Brewer sale closed and the deed was recorded January 6, 1997. The Kokkeler property sale closed and was recorded January 9, 1997. The sale price of the Kokkeler property was $1,438,000 and the Brewer parcel was $140,600, based on appraisals completed by Duncan & Brown. The purchase price and closing costs were shared equally between the jurisdictions at the time of the closings. The entire property has been held in joint-ownership by the City and the district since the acquisition occurred. The total acreage acquired was about 70 acres and was to be divided approximately equally based on what would be most mutually beneficial to the school district, the City, and the public. The ultimate configuration of ownership was to be determined as school and park plans were further designed and determined. The park plan and conditional use permit for Bethel Community Park were completed in 1998. There were numerous benefits of acquiring the land jointly, not only in the efficiency of the appraisal and acquisition processes, but also for future shared use of the grounds, parking, and improvements to be constructed by both jurisdictions. The final partition of the site was completed in March of 2010 to create three parcels – two of which were to be conveyed to District 52 (parcels 1 and 3) and the third, which is the City’s Bethel Community Park site (parcel 2), that was to be conveyed to the City. The city park parcel is approximately equal in size to the combined areas of the two school district parcels. Z:\CMO\2010 Council Agendas\M100927\S1009274.doc