DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Homer Garcia III, Interim Director
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: District 8
SUBJECT:
Edwards Aquifer Protection Program - Fee Simple Acquisition of Eisenhower Tract
SUMMARY:
Consideration of an Ordinance authorizing payment in the amount of $2,824,169.94 to First American Title Insurance Company as escrow agent for fee simple acquisition, due diligence, closing costs and conveyance of a conservation easement on a 102.28-acre tract of land known as the Eisenhower Tract located in Bexar County, Texas. Funding for this ordinance is available from the 2015 Sales Tax Venue Fund included in the FY 2020 - FY 2025 Capital Improvement Program.
This action also authorizes the execution of necessary documents to accomplish said acquisition.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The purpose of the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program (EAPP) is to obtain property rights by fee simple purchase, conservation easements or donations of land over the sensitive zones of the Edwards Aquifer. This program was initiated in May 2000 when voters approved Proposition 3, a 1/8-cent sales tax venue up to $45 million for the acquisition of lands over the Edwards Aquifer for parks and watershed protection. Proposition 3 ran from 2000 through 2005 and was limited to Bexar County.
The 2005 Proposition 1 program was an extension of the initial voter-approved Edwards Aquifer protection endeavor and was extended by voters in 2010 and renewed again in 2015. Changes in state legislation allowed watershed protection activities to expand outside of Bexar County.
The proposed fee simple purchase of the Eisenhower Tract, which is located directly adjacent to Eisenhower Park in Council District 8 as well as Joint Base San Antonio - Camp Bullis, is located over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge and Contributing Zones in Bexar County. The EAPP, which is seeking to protect the Edwards Aquifer recharge quality and quantity benefits for the City of San Antonio...
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