3/9/2009 10:14:00 AM Village of Cottage Grove purchases 59 acres of The Farm
Craig Corsten Herald-Independent Reporter
The Village of Cottage Grove has purchased 59 acres of the former golf course The Farm at a cost of $2.065 million using a mix of grant money, village tax money, and an estate donation, Village Administrator Kim Manley confirmed Monday morning.
The property, roughly speaking, is divided into two areas, a 59-acre area which has been the target of discussions for use as a passive recreation area - and an additional 43 acres, which are largely developable and have been discussed as a possible home to a government campus area.
The purchase only covers the 59-acre area, which Manley said would be turned into a passive recreational area.
Payment in the amount of $1.292 million is due at closing and that amount comes from grant money awarded for the purchase. The remaining $772,408.67 will be paid to the owners of the property, Jim and Doug Bradt, in five installments beginning one year after the closing. Some of the money for future payments will come from a donation from the Phoebe Bakken estate, the remaining amount will come from future village budgets.
Village President Ken Dahl and Clerk/Treasurer Deb Winter signed the purchase agreement on February 19, with the Bradt's signing papers the following day. The village also paid $5,000 in earnest money within 10 days of acceptance.
The village was seeking ways to partner with the Town of Cottage Grove on all or parts of the former golf course, but chose to move forward independently when Manley said the village board had decided that the town board was not interested in pursuing just the 59 acres.
"The reason the board decided to move ahead was that the town said they had issues with only the 59 (acres) being addressed," Manley said.
Town Supervisor and Ad hoc land conservancy committee member Karen Kessenich disagreed with the village's conclusion that the town was not interested.
"I was shell shocked," Kessenich said about finding out last Thursday that the village had chosen to purchase the land without town cooperation. "We were so close to having this ready to go to referenda for the village and town residents to vote on."
Kessenich maintains that despite the misgivings town board members had about the project - Supervisor Mike Kindschi and Town Chair Kris Hampton both expressed various degrees of misgiving about the potential purchase at joint board meetings - the town board would have gone to referendum regardless.
Hampton agreed that the town likely would have gone to referendum on the entire 103-acre purchase.
"I think if they presented us an option on the 103 acres I would have gone to referendum," said Hampton.
The village discussed going to referendum on The Farm last fall, but backed away in September when grant money status was uncertain at the deadline for putting the question on the ballot. The village and town again discussed going to referendum earlier this winter, but the village said it would be imprudent to go ahead with a referendum until a certified value was secured for the land.
Manley asserted that the plan was only to go to referendum if purchasing the entire property jointly with the town, but since the village only purchased a part of the property a referendum was not needed.
Kessenich also disagreed with that, and said that the plan was always to seek community input before any purchase was made.
"This was for the voters to decide if they wanted to spend money on this subject," Kessenich said. "I feel like the community was robbed ... of the potential of purchasing the property jointly."
The village and town jointly applied for grant money for the project, and it was jointly awarded, however either entity had the option to walk away but the grant money would still remain on the table for use by the other entity if they chose to use it. In this case, the town had not officially walked away from it, but the village moved forward nonetheless.
Manley said the sources of the grant money didn't care who used the grant money, as long as it was used for the purpose it was allotted for.
"It doesn't matter in Dane County's eyes as long as it's being used for the intended use," she said.
Manley said the village was of the belief the town was no longer interested and the village did not want to lose out on the grants currently on the table or their ability to win future grants.
"To not take action in some timely manner would jeopardize the grants," Manley said.
Muddying the water further was the recent announcement by the land conservancy committee that grant money for the 43 acres would not be available until the 59 acres was purchased.
At this point, Manley said there are no plans to purchase the other 43 acres, however the land conservancy committee had been tasked with finding grant money for those acres. Whether or not that work continues is up to the discrepancy of the town and village boards.
Manley acknowledged that such a purchase may be unpopular amongst residents in light of economy and the failure of two spending referendums last fall, but said that the value of the move would be realized in the future as green space becomes scarce in the area.
"Initially, people might not see the value in taking the grants," Manley said. "In several generations, people will really see the value."
Legality of Closed Sessions?
Several in the community, including former Village Trustee Mike Mikalsen, have taken issue with the process in which the village board made this purchase.
In an email to the village board and staff, Mikalsen said closed sessions held on February 23 and March 6 that discussed the deal were "highly questionable considering the requirements of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law," since the village had already made and had accepted an offer on the land.
But Village Attorney Lee Boushea disagreed with allegations the closed sessions were illegal.
"I respectfully disagree," Boushea said. "I feel that the village was in compliance with the open meetings laws in both instances."
What comes next?
An offer was made and accepted on the property, but the sale is not complete until the grant money comes through for the initial payment.
Manley foresees the park being open to the public sometime in 2010. Since the park is being intended for passive recreation, no major work is needed to prepare the space for public use. The 59 acres of land features old oak trees, drumlin, wetlands and a small pond.
Maintenance of the park will come from $200,000 of money the Bradt family is paying back to the village, which will be used as an endowment fund, according to Manley.
The village board is expected to release the minutes detailing their closed sessions dealing with the purchase at their meeting on Monday, March 16.
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, March 16, 2009
Article comment by:
Brian Thorson
I am writing to thank the Village Board, Jim and Doug Bradt, Dane County, the Phoebe Bakken estate, the Ad Hoc Land Conservancy Committee, and everyone else that has played a role in purchasing and preserving 59 acres of The Farm golf course as conservancy. Literally hundreds of people helped make this happen over the past 4 years.
Greenspace is a precious resource that is part of Cottage Grove's character. The conservancy will be enjoyed and treasured by the people of this community forever just like the Glacial Drumlin Bike Trail, the Arboretum, Olbrich Park, Governor Nelson State Park and other greenspaces which have been preserved and add to the quality of life that we enjoy in Dane County. All for less than it would cost to install a 4-way stoplight at an intersection. (Of which one or more would have had to be installed if this land was developed.) I feel that purchasing The Farm will actually save The Village money if you calculate the residual costs the Village would incur if this land was developed as residential. Residual costs would include improvements to Vilas and Cottage Grove Road, installation of stop lights, increased demand for police, fire, sewer, and street services, and an additional burden on our crowded schools.
I have been told the purchase of the 59 acres will cost the Village approx. $470,000 payable to the current owners over 5 years, starting a year from closing, at 3% interest. This is about $8,000 per acre which I think is less than the Village paid for the land for the Fireman's Park addition. The current owners would also give the Village an endowment fund of $200,000 to maintain the property so that there are no future costs to the tax payer. The cost of a park in Cottage Grove will never be any less expensive than this!
The Village is receiving $1.3 million in grants to purchase The Farm. The applications scored the highest of grants submitted for Dane County and received the largest percentage of DNR funding which demonstrates the value of preserving this property. One of the $1.3 million dollar grants was going to expire in May so a decision had to be made fast.
There has been some discussion that this purchase decision should have been made a referendum. Almost all decisions the Village Board makes are not put to a referendum. Four years ago when the current owners of The Farm closed the golf course and asked for the designation of the property to be changed from greenspace to residential, we asked for a referendum then on this decision. Almost 300 residents signed a petition to keep The Farm as greenspace and I feel a referendum would have passed favoring this at that time. Eventually the designation of The Farm was changed to residential without a referendum by the Village Board.
I have lived in Cottage Grove for over 4 years and have always felt that the Village Board made tough decisions with the best interests of the community at heart.
Thank you again for making this happen! Now its time to continue the work on the preserving the remaining 43 acres.
