Tendering for municipal land licensing
Strathcona County is now tendering for the 2012 municipal lands available for license. The County may consider other lands owned by the County which are not listed however, these will be evaluated on an individual basis. List and maps of available properties can be viewed below:
Maps of Municipal Lands available for 2012
Sealed bids for the licensing of Municipal Lands are to be submitted to:
Land Management Services
Main Floor - County Hall
2001 Sherwood Drive
Sherwood Park, AB, T8A 3W7up to 2 p.m. on Friday, November 18, 2011.
Bids will not be accepted after this time.
The minimum bid is $75.00 per year, excluding taxes.
Bids are to be placed in a sealed envelope with the following clearly identified on the outside of the envelope.
MUNICIPAL LAND LICENSE TENDER NUMBER 11.0391
CLOSING: NOVEMBER 18, 2011
Printable tender and licensing procedures
Deposits
Each bid must be accompanied by a cheque payable to Strathcona County in the amount equivalent to the bidder's proposed first-year license fee. All bids shall be irrevocably open for acceptance by the County for a period of thirty (30) days from the tender closing date as specified in these procedures.
License agreement
The successful bidder shall enter into a Municipal Land License with the County attached as Schedule "A" (see sample License).
In the event the successful bidder does not enter into a Municipal Land License Agreement, the tender deposit will be forfeited to Strathcona County.
Terms of license
The term of the Municipal Land License Agreement shall be for three (3) years unless otherwise stated.
Utilization of Municipal Land by subdivision residents
Notwithstanding that a property is up for tender, if the County receives a petition signed by one half (1/2) of the owners within a quarter section advising that they wish to (as a group) license the Municipal Land for pasture or hay land, then the County may in its discretion license to that group. This preferential treatment shall only be given in a year that a parcel comes up for re-licensing and will not affect the term of any license.
The Municipal Land license fee for the group must equal the highest bid received on that property. The minimum fee is $75.00 per year if no other bids are received.
Each owner within the quarter section who has signed a petition shall be required to execute the license agreement and as a group they will jointly be responsible for the maintenance and taxes of the Municipal Land as provided for in the Municipal Land License Agreement.
Taxes
The Licensee will be issued a tax notice on the municipal reserve land and will be responsible to pay the annual taxes directly to the Taxation Department of Strathcona County on or before June 30th of each and every year of the license term.
Noxious weeds
If a noxious weed, as designated under the Weed Control Act, is found on a licensed Municipal Land parcel, Environmental Operations will notify the licensee by a letter sent by regular mail requesting that the weed be controlled in 10 (ten) days by an appropriate method as designated by Environmental Operations.
The Municipal Land will be re-inspected after the 10 (ten) days by a County Weed Inspector. If the noxious weed is not controlled under reinspection the license will be terminated immediately. There will be no return of license fees or any other form of compensation to the licensee.
Fencing of Municipal Land for pasture
Should a licensee desire to fence for pasture any Municipal Land on which a license has been granted which, prior to 2012 had not been fenced, then that licensee prior to the County granting permission, shall provide a petition signed by two thirds (2/3) of the owners of the property located within that quarter section that they have no objection.
The County, prior to the granting of permission to fence, shall notify the other one-third (1/3) property owners within that quarter section that a petition has been received by the County signed by two-thirds (2/3) of the owners within the quarter section and that if no appeal is received within seven (7) days from date of the notice, then the County shall issue the permission to fence.
Should the County at any time receive a petition from one-third (1/3) of the owners of property within a quarter section that they are not in support of the fenced Municipal Land, notwithstanding permission was granted, the matter shall be referred to Council.
The licensee of any fenced Municipal Land shall be required to:
A. Construct the fence to a standard, which is acceptable to the County.
- fencing within a Country Residential subdivision must be with smooth wire, either high tensile or page wire is required
- fencing outside of a Country Residential subdivision, barbed wire is acceptable however, smooth wire is preferred
- no electrical fencing is permitted on Municipal Lands
B. Place survey ribbon on the fence at intervals of not less than 10 feet to ensure that public utilizing the Municipal Land are aware of the fence.
C. Open the gates to Municipal Land at the end of each pasture season in order that the public may have unrestricted access for winter activities.
D. Remove any fence constructed by the licensee at the end of the term as provided in the License, failing which the fence shall become the property of the County.
E. Carry public liability insurance in the amount of $2,000,000 to be shown on demand.
F. Take such other precautions as may be required by the County to ensure public safety.
Pasture land
Prior to the awarding of any tenders for pasture land, the Management Plan for each bid will be reviewed. Any tenders for pasture land not containing a Management Plan will not be considered.
Cultivation of Municipal Land
The cultivation of Municipal Land shall only be to the extent necessary to break and re-seed the Municipal Land down to a hay mixture. The continuous cropping of Municipal Land shall not be permitted; however, a nurse crop during the re-seeding process will be permitted.
Should the licensee desire to break and cultivate any Municipal Land on which a license has been granted, then that licensee prior to the County granting consent, shall provide a petition signed by two-thirds (2/3) of the owners of property within that quarter section that they have no objection.
The County, prior to the granting of permission to cultivate, shall notify the other one-third (1/3) property owners within that quarter section that a petition has been received by the County signed by two-thirds (2/3) of the owners within the quarter section and that if no appeal is received within seven (7) days of date of the notice, then the County shall issue permission to cultivate.
Other information
Strathcona County reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids and to waive irregularities and informalities at its discretion. The County reserves the right to accept a bid other than the highest bid without stating reasons. By the act of submitting its bid, the Bidder waives any right to contest in any proceedings or action the right of the County to award a License of Municipal Lands to any party in its sole and unfettered discretion. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the County may consider any other factor besides price that it deems in its sole discretion to be relevant to its decision including, but not limited to, the Bidder's past experience in managing a licensed area, including overgrazing, number of animal units, length of grazing period, subleasing, manner of weed control, tree cutting, improper use and past payment of annual licensing fees.
NOTE: All license agreements are subject to the standard 7-days termination notice, with no compensation due or payable by the County. However, every effort will be made to provide as much notification as possible.
All tender bids must include the following information
- Legal name, full address and telephone number(s) of bidder.
- Tender number and legal description of property or properties to be licensed and the property number.
- Total tender bid amount broken down in a yearly amount proposed for license.
- Date and authorized signature.
- Separate cheque for each property tendered.
- The tender number shall be clearly indicated on the outside of the tender bid envelope.
- Management plan for pasture land.
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Last updated: Friday, October 28, 2011
Page ID: 2946