Yolo alliance formed to buy, preserve land

By Pamela Martineau -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, June 17, 2004

A powerful new land buyer soon will enter the local real estate market.

Less than two months after Yolo County leaders announced their intention to form a public alliance to buy the 17,300-acre Conaway Ranch, the partnership is officially formed and preparing to bid on the land.

"This is our last chance to make sure this treasure remains in the public interest," said Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada, a member of the newly formed Joint Powers Authority.

Yolo County, its four cities, UC Davis and the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District have all agreed to join the Joint Powers Authority that will soon bid on the sprawling property in the Yolo Bypass. The land holds critical water rights and includes large swaths of farmland as well as open space for rural recreation. It is also viewed as a key component of the area's flood control plan.

According to Yolo leaders, the land is being eyed by developers - some as far away as Las Vegas - for its water and development potential. Other developers are rumored to want to use the land as mitigation for development projects they've built elsewhere, officials said.

"It could be neon lights along I-5 to the (Sacramento) river," Yolo County Supervisor Helen Thomson said of the land's potential for development near Woodland.

Developers' rumored interest in the property has pushed Yolo leaders to move quickly to acquire the land. The property's owner - the National Energy and Gas Transmission Properties, formerly known as PG&E Properties - has advertised for bidders but has not yet released the paperwork for parties to formerly bid on the land.

Since rumors of the potential sale of the property surfaced several months ago, Yolo leaders have been working behind the scenes to come up with the money and the political will to acquire the land.

The notion of a JPA was announced about two months ago, but the details of the proposal needed to be formalized. Controversy about the JPA surfaced when Yolo County supervisors decided that all five of the board's elected leaders should sit on the newly formed JPA. Officials from other cities in the county said they feared that structure ceded too much authority to the county, taking voting strength from the cities.

Under that structure - which was ultimately adopted - Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento and Winters as well as UC Davis and the flood control district have two seats on the JPA, while supervisors fill five seats. In all the JPA has 17 seats.

Ultimately, concessions were made, such as allowing JPA meetings to be held at night and creating elected chairperson and vice-chairperson positions. That convinced city leaders who were critical of the governance structure to join.

"I would have preferred that it be different," Woodland Mayor Matt Rexroad said of the JPA structure, "but in the end it is more important that we acquire the asset."

Vic Singh, chief administrative officer for Yolo County, said appraisers hired by the county are surveying the land to come up with a competitive offer for the property.

The ranch extends between Interstate 5 and Interstate 80 along the Yolo Bypass. Some 15,900 acres are farmed, producing rice, safflower, alfalfa, sugar beets and other commodities. The land also is treasured by environmentalists for its wildlife, which include Swainson's hawk and egret. Some of the land is used for hunting.

The land also holds claim to 50,000 acre-feet of water, enough to provide water to 200,000 families a year. The property contains a producing natural gas field and 2,100 acres of developable land near Woodland.

Eight years ago, Yolo public officials talked about forming a partnership to purchase the land when the property came on the market in March 1996. PG&E Properties asked $68.5 million for the land at the time.

A deal never materialized, and PG&E later filed for bankruptcy. PG&E paid $35 million for the land in 1990, officials said at the time.

Singh said the JPA partners would avoid using general fund money from the participating public entities to acquire the land. County staff is researching whether the JPA is eligible for state Proposition 50 funds. The $3.4 billion water bond, passed by state voters in 1992, is intended to be used to secure safe drinking water and to develop integrated regional water management plans. Singh and others believe the public purchase and preservation of the Conaway Ranch falls under the guidelines of Proposition 50.

Yolo leaders say they will keep the land in its current uses of agriculture, open space, wildlife habitat and flood control. The water may be sold to the university and Yolo cities, which are trying to find new sources of water.

Mike Eaton, a senior project director with the Nature Conservancy, said he and other members of his environmental group believe that acquiring the Conaway land for public use will help protect threatened species and enhance wildlife habitat.

The newly formed JPA is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. today in the Yolo County administrative office building, at 625 Court St., Room 202, in Woodland.