By Al Everson
posted Jun 29, 2008 - 8:41:56am
With help from a state agency, Volusia County is buy almost 2 square miles of meadows, woods and wetlands north of DeLeon Springs, to safeguard the land from development.
For a grand total of $5 million, the county and its partner, the St. Johns River Water Management District, are buying 1,207 acres owned by the David Strawn family.
Under a 75/25 arrangement, the county will pay $3.75 million from Volusia Forever funds, and the Water Management District will pay $1.25 million, for a grand total of $5 million.
The partnership stretches the county's preservation budget.
"We are interested in purchasing the most property at the best deal," County Land Acquisition and Management Director Doug Weaver said.
The deal, ratified by the County Council June 19, is to be closed before the end of this year.
Volusia Forever is a county program for preserving endangered lands. The program is funded by an add-on property tax of one-fifth of a mill, or 20 cents per thousand dollars of taxable property.
Volusia Forever was created by the county's voters in the Nov. 7, 2000, general election, and began operation in 2001. It has a 20-year lifespan.
The Strawn property is inside the Volusia-Flagler Conservation Corridor.
The Conservation Corridor is a swath of environmentally sensitive and water-recharge lands extending from Flagler County southward through the center of Volusia County to the St. Johns River.
About 50,000 acres are within the Conservation Corridor, and much of the land is already in public ownership.
The Strawn property has two parts: a very large tract on the west side of Lake Winona Road and a smaller piece along the east side of U.S. Highway 17. The two parcels are not connected.
The Strawn land's northern boundary is adjacent to the Heart Island Conservation Area, which is owned and managed by the St. Johns River Water Management District.
County officials have eyed the Strawn property for acquisition for some time. The land was on the Volusia Forever "A" list, meaning it was a prime candidate for acquisition by the county.
Many of the other properties on the "A" list are in the Conservation Corridor, but Weaver said the latest deal pending may be one of the county's last such purchases, both in terms of size and the price.
"The fact is, the big ones like this are going to be few and far between," Weaver told The DeLand-Deltona Beacon.
Volusia County accelerated its land-acquisition efforts beginning in 2005, when the County Council floated a $40 million bond issue for Volusia Forever. The bonds are repaid with revenues from the voter-approved ad valorem tax.
The Volusia Forever bond monies are going rather fast, Weaver said. Of the original $40 million borrowed, the county now has approximately $8 million left to spend, after subtracting the purchase of the Strawn land.
"Looking out a couple of years, we're going to have to be more selective," Weaver said.
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