Comm No 0044.09 - Testimony - CA-27 - PONC fund - Easements - Eminent Domain

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6- Allow officers, board members and employees to be paid by the non-profit for their work with fiscal oversight by the designated Finance Department staff. We OPPOSE Comm. CA -27 - Initial Approval; Proposal to amend Section 10-15, Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund, to add language to place an emphasis on the acquisition of Easements and that the County may exercise eminent domain to acquire Properties and easements for the purposes of this fund; as submitted by Commissioner Roehrig. Proposed Section g) would be duplicative; Conservation easements are a regular part of the acquisition process currently, and added language to the charter is not needed. Proposed Section h) would introduce a threat to landowners that would not reflect the need to acquire land strictly for public health and welfare. Eminent domain actions would open the County to lawsuits, and the PONC funds should not be used to defend the County in such litigation. We should be making a maximum effort to obtain matching funds to purchase the lands at a negotiated price, rather than extracting the resource by "taking" it. Eminent domain is highly unpopular and might cause more harm than any possible benefit. Please support our proposed language in CA -9, support CA -18 as proposed by Commissioner Rice, and do not approve CA -27. Thank you!