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16 Desk Item - Sale of 13-Acre Parcel in Vasona ParkSj N.~F lps=~-Aj05 COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: 6/4/2007 ITEM NO: 16 DESK ITEM DATE: JUNE 4, 2007 TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL _00L~~ FROM: DEBRA J. FIGONE, TOWN MANAGER ~ SUBJECT: DIRECTION REGARDING THE SALE OF I3-ACRE TOWN-OWNED PARCEL IN VASONA PARK TO COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA FOR CONTINUED USE AS PARKLAND A. AUTHORIZE THE TOWN ATTORNEY TO DEVELOP AN AGREEMENT FOR COUN'CIL'S APPROVAL FOR THE SALE OF A 13-ACRE TOWN-OWNED PARCEL IN VASONA PARK TO THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA FOR $6 MILLION AND THE TRANSFER OF A.66 ACRE COUNTY-OWNED PARCEL ADJACENT TO OAK MEADOW PARK, WITH BOTH PROPERTIES REMAINING IN PARK USE IN PERPETUITY AND WITH A GUARANTEE THAT THE COUNTY WILL ALLOW BILLY JONES RAILROAD TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE ON COUNTY PROPERTY --OR B. PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE DIRECTION TO TOWN STAFF REGARDING THE TOWN-OWNED PROPERTY Attached are several e-mails that were received after preparation of final report on this matter. Attachments: 1. 6/6/07 e-mail from Frank and Terri Bergandi 2. 6/2/07 e-mail from Phil Knopf 3. 6/4/07 e-mail from Joe Carroll PREPARED BY: PAMELA S. JACOBS Assistant Town Manager PSJ:pg N:AMGR\AdminWorkFi1es\2007 Council Reports\6-4-07 Vasona Desk Item.doc Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager "Town Attorney Clerk Administrator Finance Community Development -----Original Message----- From: Frank & Terri Bergandi [mailto:fbergandi@comcast.net] Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:36 AM To: 'Mike Wasserman'; 'Diane McNutt' Subject: Oak Meadow land Mike and Diane, I will not be able to attend Monday's meeting since we have a game that evening. I anticipate that the Baseball and Soccer Leagues will be well represented but I wanted just to voice my personal position relative to this issue. What is at the heart of the matter is how woefully inadequate Los Gatos is in providing field space for its youth sports. I have the opportunity to travel around to a number of cities and towns in our area to play baseball and frankly the Los Gatos facilities do not stack up well in comparison. We have a quality and quantity issue. I also recognize that youth sports is not the only issue you two have in front of you, but I also know that it is an important issue on your agendas. I personally do not view the 13 acres in Oak Meadow as a viable venue for a sports core. I do see it as currency that can be used to acquire suitable land. Whether this currency monetizes through a sale, or through a swap, there must be intentionally toward youth sports fields to this transaction. We have a number of real estate professionals in youth sports in Los Gatos. It might be very beneficial to form a group and to involve them in the process. The concerns most share is that the cash proceeds from this transaction would not be enough to buy a suitable field in the future or that a cash transaction could be diverted into another use. Frank Page 1 of 2 Patsy Garcia - Fwd: Vasona property sale From: <MWasserman@aol.com> To: <dfigone@losgatosca.gov>, Date: 6/2/2007 10:44 AM Subject: Fwd: Vasona property sale Attachments: Vasona property sale <PGARCIA@losgatosca.gov> Hi Mike, I was hoping to be home for the Monday Council meeting to speak. It now appears that we will not be leaving Phoenix until Monday, so I will miss the meeting. Please share this with other Council members and if you want to read it at the meeting please do so. Although I am currently a board member of the Los Gatos Little League, and have been for the past 26 years, I am sending this as a life long resident of Los Gatos/Monte Sereno and parent of 2 that participated in youth sports(son now 37 and daughter 30); Little League, Pony and Colt baseball, girls softball, girls and boys soccer and Pop Warner football. Since I was involved with my children, the soccer program has grown greatly as has Little League and now another sport that is getting very popular is lacrosse. When my children were involved there was a shortage of practice fields, we were doing soccer practice at Howes school, Union school district, and some little league practices were at Carlton school. When I heard of the 13+ acre parcel of land the Town owns in the center of Vasona park I was hopeful that it would be able to be used for some practice fields. Currently LGLL only has 2 fields available for practice, they are the 2 at Van Meter. All the rest of the fields we use are game fields, Baggerly, Blossom Hill, JCC and Balzer. Before the season starts these fields are available for practice, it is difficult to get a practice in before a game once the season starts. Play on Sunday is contrary to Little League National policy, but in order to get all of our games in, it is necessary for us to play games on Sunday. So you can see the great need for practice fields as far as baseball is concerned. Athletes can not develop their skills without an area to practice. After walking the subject area this is not the area that would be desirable for practice fields. The ideal scenario would be to swap this land for an area that would be more desirable for practices. If a land swap can not be accomplished, then a sale of the land would make sense only if the proceeds from the sale will be put in an special account for the purpose of acquiring property for practice fields. This account should be interest bearing with the interest accruing to help the account appreciate in value My other area of concern is: according to the general plan this area was designated for open space and recreation. I think recreation needs to be defined. I have always felt that recreation was activity but the county's interpretation is passive. I wonder, when the general plan was drafted, what was the intent of recreation? Active or passive? Perhaps in the terms of the sale some active recreation could be allowed for the youth sports programs during the week when there is very little use of Vasona Park. Thank you for your time and concern in this community issue. Phil Knopf file://C:ADocuments and Settings\pgarcia.LOSGATOSCA\Local Settings\Temp\XPgrpwise\... 6/4/2007 Page 2 of 2 17400 E. Vineland Ave Monte Sereno 354-1046 Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos netit~ Car Finder tool. file://C:ADocuments and Settings\pgarcia.LOSGATOSCA\Local Settings\Temp\XPgrpwise\... 6/4/2007 (6/4/2007) Patsy Garcia - June 4 Council Meeting Page 1 From: "Joe Carroll" <joe@quintex.com> To: <manager@losgatosca.gov> Date: 6/4/2007 11:53 AM Subject: June 4 Council Meeting Attachments: June 4 meeting.doc Please copy all Council members on this and make it available for the public. I believe I was told to make this a "Desk Item". Also, please confirm your receipt by call me at cell: 408-314-7262. Thank you. Joe Carroll Cash or Land? From Joe Carroll What is the Town's main objective in dealing with the 13.5 acres in Vasona? Do we need cash or do we need land? The County wants our land, so we need to provide them options that allow for this transfer of ownership, but also address the Town's long-term needs. To date, I don't believe this process has been managed effectively. I propose four options be presented to the County, and let THEM come back to US with a workable solution. A. Call the County and thank them for their S6M offer. Like any prudent Seller would do, we will accept their offer orally (not in writing!) and go out in good faith, and find out exactly what we can purchase with their S6M. The minute we have a satisfactory property tied up, we will call them back and get the deal done. B. Reassure the County that we would like to see them own this 13.5 acres, and that we are willing to trade our 13.5 acres for the roughly 9 acres that sit at the back left (underutilized) corner of Vasona. This trade of land will keep Vasona at 90% its current size, and 100% its current "passive use" feel. The Town's entrance and exit to our "new" 9 acres only be from University Avenue. With this deal, the County has added 4.5 acres to their Park's System, and we have created an ideal sports facility for the Town of LG. NOTE: If either the County of Town wishes to "try out" this new arrangement first, we will agree to a 10 year lease to each party on these lands, with the mutual option to sell in year 7. Or we can transfer title right now. C. The Town will go out and locate four (4) privately owned parcels in Los Gatos, each of which the Town is willing to trade for our 13.5 acres. (Oka Road, Lark Ave etc.). We will submit these sites to the County. The County may now negotiate to trade any property in their thousands of acres of surplus land, with that property owner, for the Los Gatos property. In essence, we have now "partnered up" with the County, and we have the County's assets now working for our Town, in locating a suitable site. Also, the County's ability to grant land entitlement rights will be key to this transaction. D. The Town will design two (2) multi use sporting fields, a beautiful town garden, a skate park and any other logical uses that will support the needs/desires of our town folk. Any of the above work for Los Gatos, and we are willing to be more than reasonable. We need the County to get to work on this if they wish to own and control 100% of all activities that occurs in Vasona Park.