Form revised: December 6, 2011

 

 

 

FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS

 

Department:

Contact Person/Phone:

CBO Analyst/Phone:

Seattle Public Utilities

Amy LaBarge/ 3-9777

Karl Stickel/ 4-8085

 

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE relating to the Cedar River Watershed; authorizing five years of ecological thinning, in accordance with the Cedar River Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan, in Sections 8, 9, 13, 21, 22, 23, and 28, Township 22, North, Range 7, East, W.M., Sections 26, 27, 34, and 35, Township 22, North, Range 8, East, W.M., Sections 29, 30, 31, and 32, Township 22, North, Range 9, East, W.M., and Sections 10, 11, 14, and 15, Township 21, North, Range 10, East, W.M.; declaring the logs resulting from ecological thinning to be surplus to the City’s needs; authorizing the sale of such logs pursuant to applicable City contracting and surplus property sale procedures; and directing deposit of the proceeds therefrom to the Water Fund for the purposes of the Habitat Conservation Plan implementation.

 

 

Summary of the Legislation:

This ordinance authorizes the sale of surplus timber from ecological thinning conducted under the Cedar River Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The ecological thinning would occur from 2012-2016, involving approximately 500 acres, within a larger planning area of 2800 acres of second-growth forest.  Up to 6,000,000 board feet of merchantable logs are expected to be among the vegetation that would be cut.  The ordinance declares these logs to be surplus, authorizes their sale, and directs the deposit of the sale proceeds to the Water Fund for the purpose of offsetting costs of the HCP.

 
 
 


Background:  

In December of 2002, the City adopted Ordinance 121040, to reflect the HCP decision prohibiting commercial timber harvest in the watershed and authorizing limited non-commercial timber harvesting, including ecological thinning.  The ordinance allows for the sale of merchantable logs up to 250,000 board feet without additional ordinance authority, provided the proceeds be deposited in the Water Fund and dedicated for the exclusive purpose of offsetting the costs of implementing the HCP.  Subsequently, two ordinances 121039 and 121793, authorized two ecological thinning projects, which were completed in 2003 and 2008, respectively.  This ordinance seeks authority for five additional years (2012-2016) of ecological thinning and associated sale of surplus timber, to increase efficiency in project planning and implementation to meet ecological objectives and HCP commitments.

 

Please check one of the following:

 

____    This legislation does not have any financial implications.

 

X         This legislation has financial implications.

 

Appropriations: 

 

Fund Name and Number

Department

Budget Control Level*

2012

Appropriation

2013 Anticipated Appropriation

 

 

 

None

None

TOTAL

 

 

 

 

*See budget book to obtain the appropriate Budget Control Level for your department.

 

Appropriations Notes: 

Ecological thinning conducted pursuant to this ordinance would begin in the fall of 2012 and continue through the fall of 2016. Because of the seasonal nature of the work due to winter weather conditions in the watershed, activities must be confined to relatively short operating seasons. Planning will occur in winter and spring, with implementation in summer and fall.  Existing appropriations in the 2012-2016 budget and spending plan will cover planning costs, including staff time for administering the ecological thinning contracts.  The specific activity is C100027, in the Water Fund’s Habitat Conservation Plan sub-BCL (C160).

 

Anticipated Revenue/Reimbursement Resulting from this Legislation:

 

Fund Name and Number

Department

Revenue Source

2012

Revenue

2013

Revenue

Water Fund (43000)

Seattle Public Utilities

Sale of surplus logs from ecological thinning

 

TBD -- See below

TOTAL

 

 

 

TBD

 

Revenue/Reimbursement Notes:

SPU estimates up to 6,000,000 board feet of merchantable logs will be declared surplus and sold as a result of ecological thinning from 2012-2016.  Proceeds from the sales will depend on timber quality and volume at each site; bids received and market conditions at the time of implementation.  Proceeds from the sale of these logs could range from $10,000 to over $100,000 per year, after logging costs, depending on the factors just mentioned.

 

Other Implications: 

 

a)      Does the legislation have indirect financial implications, or long-term implications?

No

 

b)     What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation?  

Not implementing the legislation would impair multi-year plans for ecological thinning, which is an important element of the forest restoration commitments the City made in the HCP.  Multi-party agreements associated with the HCP provide the City with certainty on a number of key issues related to its water supply operations on the Cedar River. Failure to meet HCP commitments, such as ecological thinning, would put us out of compliance with the permit conditions and may have ecological and financial costs. Finally, without this legislation SPU would lose the opportunity to receive potential revenue from sale of surplus logs to offset HCP costs.

 

c)      Does this legislation affect any departments besides the originating department? 

No

 

d)     What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives?  

One option would be to request ordinance authority for each ecological thinning project over the next several years.  This option would impede SPU’s ability to meet HCP commitments.  A second option would be to conduct small ecological thinning projects under Ordinance 121040, which limits annual sale of timber to 250,000 board feet.  This option would not allow SPU to meet its HCP commitments.  A third option could be to fall the trees but not remove them from the site.  This alternative would meet only a limited array of ecological objectives and would increase financial costs for subsequent thinning, potentially increase the likelihood of forest insect outbreaks, and impede movement of certain wildlife species.  

 

e)      Is a public hearing required for this legislation? 

Yes, a public hearing is required to authorize sale of surplus property over $50,000 in value and is proposed to be held in conjunction with City Council committee consideration of this ordinance.

 

f)       Is publication of notice with The Daily Journal of Commerce and/or The Seattle Times required for this legislation?

No, not for this legislation, but a public notice would be required for contract advertisements to implement ecological thinning if the legislation is approved.

 

g)      Does this legislation affect a piece of property?

Yes.  See attached map.

 

h)     Other Issues:

Ecological thinning is intended to improve habitat conditions for species listed in the HCP and is designed to meet those objectives.  Additional benefits of ecological thinning is the maintenance and improvement of forest health such that the forests are resilient to climate change and continue to protect the high quality drinking water supply function of the Cedar River Watershed.

 

List attachments to the fiscal note below:

Exhibit A - Map of potential ecological thinning areas 2012-2016.