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Home My WebLink Aboutresolution.council.139-14 RESOLUTION # 139 (Series of 2014) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING AN INTERIM MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE COZY POINT RANCH AND EQUESTRIAN CENTER. WHEREAS, there has been submitted to the City Council a proposed interim management plan for the Cozy Point Ranch and Equestrian Center; and, WHEREAS, the City staff requests that City Council formally adopt the interim management plan submitted with the Memorandum dated November 19, 2014, regarding the interim management of the Cozy Point Ranch and Equestrian Center necessitated by the death of Monroe Summers. The interim management plan includes the adoption of separate resolutions regarding the purchase of ranch assets and hay and the amendment of the current lease with the Cozy Point Ranch, LLC. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, That the City Council of the City of Aspen hereby approves the proposed interim management plan as set forth in the Memorandum dated November 19, 2014. INTRODUCED, READ AND ADOPTS by ity Council of the City of Aspen on the 24th day of November 2014. L SteveK Skad on, Mayor I, Linda Manning, duly appointed and acting City C erk do certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of that resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Aspen, Colorado, at a meeting held, November 24, 2014. rv'�'f(IkL ' A"' (7 Linda Manning, City Cle c AEN PAMSCREATION MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Tom Rubel,Parks and Open Space Director THRU: Jeff Woods,Parks and Recreation Manager THRU: Jim True, City Attorney DATE OF MEMO: November 19,2014 MEETING DATE: November 24,2014 RE: Cozy Point Ranch Interim Management Plan CC: Steve Barwick, City Manager Randy Ready,Asst. City Manager REQUEST OF COUNCIL: Staff is seeking approval of a Contract for Purchase of assets from Glenda Summers, owner of Cozy Point Ranch, LLC and a re-structured Lease Agreement with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC. The passing of Monroe Summers has required Parks Department staff to develop a strategy to insure the continued successful operations of the ranch. A portion of this strategy involves a change of ownership of the current lease holder, Cozy Point Ranch LLC and a restructuring of that lease itself. BACKGROUND: Parks Department staff led City Council on a site visit to Cozy Point Ranch July 22, 2014 to acquaint Council with all the different aspects of Cozy Point Ranch and the unique operation that Monroe Summers has created on the property. With the passing of Monroe Summers, the management of Cozy Point Ranch is in transition. As managing partner of Cozy Point LLC, Monroe coordinated all aspects of the ranch including the stable, haying operations and property management. The surviving partner, Monroe's widow Glenda, has indicated her desire to discontinue with the ownership of Cozy Point LLC. As a result, Parks Department staff have been working closely with the remaining staff of Cozy Point Ranch to insure that the day to day operations of the ranch are not affected by this change in management. 1 The Parks Department also has plans, and approved budget authority, to undertake a comprehensive Master Plan for the Cozy Point Ranch property in 2015. Staff feels it is important to maintain current operations as they now exist until the completion of the master plan. DISCUSSION: The City of Aspen currently has a lease with Cozy Point Ranch LLC to manage Cozy Point Ranch. Monroe Summers, the managing partner of Cozy Point Ranch LLC, passed away in August of this year. Monroe over-saw all aspects of the ranch with help from several key individuals who are responsible for managing specific areas of the operations. Since his passing, the ranch is missing that key aspect of overall management. Parks Department staff has developed a strategy to insure the continued successful operation of the ranch and feels it is important to utilize the existing Cozy Point team in order to keep the ranch operations running smoothly. This includes all the other team members such as the Children's Horse Camp, the ASPENTREE program,the Fruit Stand and the Colorado Soil Systems operations. Parks staff have been working closely with Patti Watson, acting interim ranch manager, on this management transition since Monroe's death. Patti has run the barn operations at the ranch for over 14 years and knows the intricacies of the day to day operations better than anyone else. Patti is in the process of purchasing Cozy Point Ranch LLC and is anticipated to take ownership prior to the November 24h Council meeting. The first step in this restructuring has been to re-assign Rob Covington, Water Department staff, to take on the day to day property management of the ranch. Rob has extensive experience in ranch management and is able to insure that all the operational and infrastructure needs of the ranch are being met. Rob's time will be split 50 -50 between the Water Department and the management of the ranch through next spring. In addition to the Resolutions discussed below, staff request approval of the interim management by Resolution#139, attached hereto as Exhibit "A„ The second step is for the City of Aspen to purchase certain assets of Cozy Point Ranch LLC. Staff proposes to purchase from the company numerous pieces of ranch equipment including tractors, trailers haying equipment, etc., as well as the entire inventory of hay that is on the premises. A supplemental request for the purchase of this equipment is being reviewed by City Council in Ordinance 35, Series 2014. The total purchase price that has been agreed to by the parties is $119,392.74. This includes a credit given to the City for past due rent through September. Rent for October and November is being waived. The Contract for Purchase of the equipment and inventory from Cozy Point Ranch, LLC, and a resolution approving such contract are attached as Exhibit B. The last step would be to have the City of Aspen take over many of the property management aspects of the ranch with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC responsible for the equestrian operation. This will require an amendment of the existing Lease Agreement that Cozy Point Ranch, LLC has with the City of Aspen. The amendment will reflect the responsibilities and expectations of Cozy Point Ranch, LLC, and it new owner Patti Watson, related to the operation of the 2 equestrian facilities. Under the amended lease, Cozy Point Ranch, LLC will not have responsibility for the overall management of the property. This proposed Amended Lease Agreement and a Resolution approving the lease amendment are attached as Exhibit C. It is important to keep Cozy Point operating efficiently in the short term as the City of Aspen Parks Department staff will be undertaking a master planning effort for the Cozy Point Ranch area in 2015. The scope of this plan includes the entire Cozy Point Ranch, the leased ranch property, the City managed Cozy Point Open Space, City and County owned Cozy Point South, the Aspen Mass Open Space and the City and County owned Mills Open Space. The goal of the planning effort will be to look at the long term vision for the properties. The team will explore potential uses of the properties and how they connect and interact with adjacent publicly owned properties. This will be a very important process to insure that this significant City owned asset becomes an incredibly vibrant and relevant property for this community while continuing the agricultural heritage which Monroe Summers initiated. Parks staff has already begun discussions regarding this Master Plan for the ranch and have met with Pitkin County Open Space, Brush Creek Metro District Board and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: If City Council approves the Contract for Purchase and the re-structured Lease Agreement with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC, then the financial impact would be approximately $119,000 in 2014. This includes the cost of buying the assets from Cozy Point LLC, $77,248.50 for equipment and $72,000 in needed hay minus the rental revenue owed to the City through September 2014, totaling approximately $30,000. Additional funds will be collected in 2015 based on the restructured lease agreement calculations which will include as part of that agreement the lessee paying one half of net profits to the City. If the City of Aspen takes the alternate direction of taking over the entire operation and management of Cozy Point Ranch including the stables, then the financial implications would be much greater which would possibly including the submission of RFP's to obtain a new lease agreement with an outside party. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff recommends approval of the Contract for Purchase of assets with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC along with the re-structured Lease Agreement with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC. ALTERNATIVES: City Council could choose not to approve the suggested interim management plan and re-structured Lease Agreement with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC. However, this action could possibly result in reduced services and/or a deterioration in operations at Cozy Point Ranch. It also doesn't make sense to change the way the ranch is currently operating since staff will be undertaking a comprehensive Master Plan study in 2015. PROPOSED MOTIONS: I move to approve Resolution #139, Series 2014, approving the interim management plan. I move to approve Resolution #140, approving the Contract for Purchase with Cozy Point Ranch LLC, for the purchase of ranching assets for the amount of One Hundred Nineteen Thousand Three Hundred Ninety Two Dollars and Seventy Four Cents ($119,392.74). I move to approve Resolution #141, Series 2014, approving the Amended Lease 3 Agreement between the City of Aspen and Cozy Point Ranch, LLC for operational management of Cozy Point Ranch equestrian facility. ATTACHMENTS: Exhibit A— Resolution#139 approving interim management plan Exhibit B— Contract for Purchase with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC and Resolution of Approval Exhibit C - Amended Lease Agreement with Cozy Point Ranch, LLC and Resolution of Approval 4