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was retained for a training session to make the members aware of the requirements and <br />intricacies of land trusts. The Trust has been formally incorporated as a non-profit organization <br />and has adopted bylaws. The first task was to prepare a map of the area covered by the land <br />trust. The Trust prepared the most accurate inventory of the area that anyone has ever done and <br />even the City of Livermore has purchased the map and is using it. The Trust developed and <br />adopted a model conservation easement and submitted it to public agencies and land attorneys <br />in the area for comment. After reviewing the comments, the Trust incorporated many in the <br />final document. It is hoped that this easement will be used by municipalities and private land <br />owners when they make transfers of conservation easements. It is significant to note that to <br />meet the requirements of federal and state non-profit and state conservation, them is a <br />monitoring and stewardship program which is fairly significant and must take place on an annual <br />basis. That means we must get landowners' approval to enter property and to reinventory <br />homesites and other buildings along with the uses. The Land Trust is not involved in <br />enforcement or the planning process for the property. That is the purview of the agency that <br />controls the property. The Trust has also developed and adopted acquisition criteria. This is <br />a point system given to parcels of land based on how significant the land is to the success of <br />achieving the Trust's goal of 5,000 acres of agricultural and conservation easements, consistent <br />with the cities' and county's plan of development and the urban lines the agencies are in the <br />process of drawing. Las~y, the Land Trust held an open house and invited members of other <br />Trusts to speak to people in the South Livermore Valley area about the success or failures of <br />selling or granting conservation easements. There were also staff members from major Trusts, <br />such as the American Farm Land Trusts who spoke about the successes of starting farmland <br />trusts in the Central Valley. <br /> <br /> He continued, the major goals in 1996 are to expand awareness and dispel some of the <br />Trust fears held by some people in the valley, through seminars and publications. A significant <br />outreach program has begun which includes quarterly mailings of newsletters and seminars. <br />Some proposed speakers include a specialist in tax laws. We hope in the immediate future to <br />transfer existing easements from various agencies to the Land Trust. The Land Trust will be <br />transferring funds from the County fund to an investment fund after the first of the year and will <br />have total control of funds at that time. This could not be done before because the proper <br />accounting procedures were not in place. By the middle of next year, the Land Trust hopes to <br />complete acquisition of conservation in the South Valley area. <br /> <br /> He concluded, the income to date is approximately $1 million. The interest accrued from <br /> the County funds was a little over $18,000. Expenses for the nine-month period was $23,388. <br /> The report includes a needs analysis, which explains the goal to reach 5,000 acres of land in <br /> conservation easements. The revenue for doing that will come from Ruby Hill ($11.6 million), <br /> the Livermore transition area ($2.5 million), the Pleasanton transition area ff it elects to build <br /> in the area ($1.2 million), and interest over the eleven year period ($1.25 million), for a total <br /> income of $16,590,000. Those fees and their uses are based on fairly significant assumptions. <br /> It will take a period of three to five years before we know if our model for acquisition of land <br /> is valid in order to prove if the assumptions are valid. For example, we use in the assumptions <br /> an acquisition figure of $10,000 per acre. That came from the economic study done in 1992. <br /> <br /> 12/05/95 -5- <br /> <br /> <br />