Assistant County Attorney Joseph DiNovo prepared a report for the BOCC to help determine whether using Environmentally Sensitive Lands (ESL) funds for Hunter’s Lake meets the guidelines of the program. The detailed report and supporting documents explained the program beginning with the BOCC Resolution 88-103 and its proposal to the voters to collect a tax for 30 years for the purpose of purchasing, preserving, and maintaining ESL. This was placed on the ballot later that year and approved by the voters.
DiNovo outlined how the program was implemented over the years, including the criteria used to determine which properties qualified for purchase under the program using a Land Acquisition Manual (LAM), the committee formed to review recommendations, and whether the money could be used for personnel/administrative costs for the management of the ESL.
Examples were provided of properties that did not meet the criteria, and denials of proposals to use the funding to maintain county parks during a time when there were budget constraints, or for promotional expenses.
In 2011 the BOCC voted to approve the use of funds for Linda Pederson/Jenkins Creek and Lake Townsen/Nobelton Wayside parks. (Bayport Park had previously been approved.) The BOCC also suspended the collection of the tax, and when brought to the voters the next year to extend the program to 2021 and authorize the tax again, the voters did not approve the referendum.
Chinsegut Hill was approved as a preserve in 2013, but only the natural areas and not the Manor House or Conference Center. In 2015, the ESL Committee was dissolved. In 2015, the BOCC asked for clarification on the use of ESL funds. There are three ways the funds can be used: acquire sensitive lands, maintain and preserve sensitive lands, and pay expenditures needed to manage the lands.
In applying the guidelines to the proposed use at Hunter’s Lake, removal of tussocks (an invasive species) could be considered appropriate to preserve and maintain the lake. However, dredging the lake would change the natural environment of the lake and could be detrimental to the wildlife, and therefore is not allowable under the guidelines.
The report also stated removing invasive species from a right-of-way would be considered an inappropriate allocation of the funds, since the building of the road has already altered the wild, or natural, state of the land and it does not qualify as an environmentally sensitive land.