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Committee backs due diligence and forwarding a $6M reimbursable conservation grant request to council for Chelsea project
Summary
The green‑space committee approved adding a reimbursable grant facilitation to due diligence and recommended that county council consider a $6 million reimbursable grant to reduce the Nature Conservancy’s debt on the Chelsea conservation purchase; members cited urgency, potential Department of Defense support and the regional conservation value.
Green Space Advisory Committee members debated a request to add a reimbursable‑grant option to staff due diligence on the Chelsea conservation project, and voted to forward the committee’s recommendation to county council.
Green Space Chair (speaker 13) described a complex transaction in which a private conservation buyer (Nature Conservancy) would assume roughly $28 million in acquisition debt and expected outside partners, including the Department of Defense, state conservation bank and neighboring counties, to contribute. Chair 13 asked the committee to recommend due diligence approval and solicitation of county council authority for a $6,000,000 reimbursable grant to the open‑land trust/applicant to lower the debt burden and accelerate acquisition.
“I'm asking for this committee to recommend to its council to not only approve the due diligence … but to solicit council's approval to make a reimbursable grant to the Nature Conservancy,” the chair said, arguing timeliness because land values are increasing and outside capital may not wait.
Supporters on the committee emphasized the transaction’s urgency and regional benefits, noting the property’s proximity to military installations and potential Department of Defense participation. Staff (speaker 9) confirmed the committee’s role was to add grant facilitation to the due diligence step and that detailed grant documentation would be returned for council review.
The committee voted to send the due diligence and the reimbursable‑grant facilitation to county council for decision; staff said any grant terms and reimbursement pathway would be negotiated and brought back with the due diligence package. No final county disbursement was approved at the committee level; the committee only authorized staff to pursue the added due diligence and to prepare grant documentation for council consideration.
