The Conservation Oversight and Stewardship Advisory Committee (COSAC) voted unanimously on Dec. 1 to recommend that the county council advance the Vivian Christiansen conservation-easement application to the next phase of review.

Staff reported that eight scoring responses produced an average score of 71.6 out of a possible 100 (573 of 800 raw points). "I have received 8 responses," Speaker 1 said, reporting the average and the breakdown across scoring categories. Committee members noted that public-access scores were the lowest-rated element and that the Christiansen proposal benefits from adjacent trail corridors and a strong local partnership profile.

The committee discussed funding and next steps. Speaker 3 moved to advance the application to the next phase of the application process and Speaker 4 seconded; the motion carried with all members saying "aye." Committee members discussed that round 2 typically specifies recommended dollar amounts and that federal partners such as NRCS could influence final funding need. "If they didn't get NRCS money, they would be asking us for more," Speaker 1 said.

During final business, a committee member reported a funding request detail: "The Christiansen's have asked for 725,000, which is 15% of the easement value," Speaker 3 said. Members compared that request to other recent awards: Elkhorn Ranch and Harris Farms scored highly in committee review and Elkhorn Ranch received more than $1,000,000 under a larger-percentage arrangement.

What the vote means: COSAC's action is a formal, advisory recommendation to the county council; it does not by itself authorize expenditure. Staff will follow up to schedule a COSAC presentation to the council and to gather additional funding details for round 2, including the NRCS timeline and any confirmed co-funding. The committee noted the NRCS decision window could be in February and that round 2 normally addresses the actual dollar award and percentage share.

Next steps and procedural notes: staff said they will request placement of the recommendation on the county council agenda and will provide the full scoring packet and a condensed staff report for council consideration. COSAC set its next regular meeting for Jan. 5 at Beaver Lodge, where members expect to finalize outreach materials and consider additional round-2 recommendations.

Votes at a glance: COSAC recorded a unanimous recommendation to advance the Vivian Christiansen application to the county council for phase/round advancement; the committee did not set a final award amount at this meeting.