Memorandum of Understanding between County Board of Arlington County, Virginia and The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust In consideration of the County Board of Arlington County (the County ) having appropriated the funds specified in the current Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources operating budget, to The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust ( NVCT ), NVCT agrees to provide the following services as outlined in the section of this Memorandum entitled, Scope of Work, and to meet the standards and reporting responsibilities as defined in the sections entitled, Program Standards and Program Monitoring. Description of The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust NVCT is a private, non-profit corporation [Sec. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code] registered to do business in the Commonwealth of Virginia. NVCT is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and is dedicated to protecting and expanding the natural, cultural, and historic resources of Northern Virginia. As part of its mission, NVCT acquires interests in property through the use of conservation easements, options to purchase, fee simple purchases and other methods of acquisition. Scope of Work NVCT shall provide the following programs/services to Arlington County residents, for a period of three years, beginning on July 1, 2004: 1. Facilitate communication among concerned citizens, County government, and the business community regarding the community and private benefits of preserving open space through the donation of land and conservation easements to NVCT by meeting with landowners, direct mail, the publication of a biannual newsletter, telephone response and referrals, and participation in public meetings and community events. 2. Assist the County s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources in its efforts to fulfill the land acquisition goals of Arlington County s Open Space Master Plan. 3. Leverage private sources of support for the work of NVCT by raising significant private funds, sponsoring two events annually in Arlington and obtaining significant volunteer efforts from Arlington residents. 1
Program Standards NVCT shall be evaluated in reference to the performance measures and expected levels of service provision as set forth in Attachment A. Biannual reports submitted by the 10 th day of December and June stating NVCT s progress towards these performance measures shall be submitted by the NVCT Vice President for Arlington to the Arlington County Manager or his designee. Highlights of special activities and projects shall also be included within the biannual report to describe activities not referenced in the performance measures. Program Monitoring The County may evaluate the delivery of services to Arlington County residents and monitor NVCT s expenditures and financial accounting procedures. NVCT shall submit biannual reports, in a form acceptable to the County, for the immediately preceding six months, to the Arlington County Manager or his designee by the tenth day of December and June. If the date for such submission falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, the due date for the Biannual Report shall be the next business day. The County may perform onsite monitoring and, upon notice by the County at least five working days in advance, NVCT shall make available for inspection and examination all documentation, books of account, program records and other pertinent data in the Provider s custody or control in order to verify the reports and to ensure that NVCT is operating according to the Program Standards. Funding Provided that all applicable requirements of this Memorandum of Understanding have been met, transfer of an amount of funds specified in the current Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources operating budget from Arlington County to NVCT will be made on a biannual basis, beginning on July 1, 2004, or after the execution of this Memorandum of Understanding by the parties hereto, whichever occurs last. Each transfer of funds will be equal to one half of the appropriation approved by the County Board. Transfers of funds will follow the timely receipt and approval by the Arlington County Manager or his designee of the NVCT s biannual reports, with the first biannual report due to the County by December 10, 2004. Once each report is reviewed and approved by the County, one-half of the funds will be transferred to NVCT, provided that all other applicable requirements of this Memorandum of Understanding are met. A memorandum requesting funding for FY 2005 and subsequent years, along with a line item budget for this funding, must be received by the Arlington County Manager or his designee no later than October 1 of the prior year. All funds transferred to NVCT pursuant to this Memorandum of Understanding are subject to an appropriation of funds by the Arlington County Board and shall be deposited and held in a separate bank account maintained by NVCT to be used solely for the following purposes: (1) to pay the salary and associated employee benefits of NVCT s Vice President for Arlington; (2) for the acquisition of interests in Arlington 2
properties, such as options to purchase, easements and associated expenses, such as Arlington s share of staff costs incurred in the preparation of Baseline Studies and taxes incurred due to NVCT s ownership of preserved properties in Arlington; (3) to fund Arlington s contribution to the NVCT Stewardship Fund and associated stewardship expenses, such as Arlington s share of staff costs incurred in the monitoring of conserved properties; and (4) to fund outreach expenses, such as Arlington s share of staff costs incurred in the production of printed materials, community presentations and other outreach activities. The appropriation will be allocated in a 10:10:2:1 ratio among the four purposes, with a minimum of $60,000 to be used to pay the salary and associated employee benefits of the NVCT s Vice President for Arlington. If the annual appropriation is in excess of the $138,000 allocated in the FY2005 budget, the excess amount shall be allocated to the above four purposes in such a way to maintain the same 10:10:2:1 ratio, however, the NVCT s Vice President s salary shall not increase by more than five (5) percent per year and any resultant excess funds shall be applied to the acquisition of interests in Arlington properties. If the annual appropriation is less than $60,000, this Memorandum of Understanding shall be deemed to be null and void. A report of this account status and activity shall be transmitted with the biannual report to the County Manager or his designee and shall be an additional performance evaluation criteria under this agreement. The biannual report shall also include a breakdown of approximate expenses by broad category for the use of funds for outreach, stewardship, and employee benefits. Membership The Arlington County Board may nominate three Arlington residents to be members of the NVCT Board of Directors. In the event one or more such nominees of the Arlington County Board are not selected as members of the NVCT Board of Directors, then the Arlington County Board may promptly nominate additional person(s) for election to replace the previous nominee(s) who were not selected. Such process shall be repeated until such time as at least three Arlington residents nominated by the Arlington County Board have been selected as members of the NVCT Board. At least one NVCT Board member nominated by the Arlington County Board shall be appointed to the Land Stewardship Committee. Coordination Upon reasonable notice, NVCT agrees to meet with Arlington County Staff as requested in order to coordinate NVCT s activities in the implementation of County policy, including, but not limited to, the Open Space Master Plan or its successor, the Watershed Management Plan and the Chesapeake Bay Ordinance. Termination of Memorandum of Understanding NVCT s failure to comply with the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding or any federal, state or local law or regulation, as determined by the County, shall be cause for termination of this Memorandum of Understanding. Termination shall be effective 30 3
(thirty) days after the County gives written notice of termination to NVCT or if the Arlington County Board does not allocate funds to implement this Memorandum of Understanding. The notice shall be mailed to NVCT via registered mail, at the following address: Northern Virginia Conservation Trust 4022 Hummer Road Annandale, Va. 22003 If neither party notifies the other party of its intention to terminate this Memorandum of Understanding 30 (thirty) days prior to the end of the three year term, this agreement shall be automatically renewed on the same terms and conditions for an additional three years. Indemnification NVCT covenants to save, defend, hold harmless, and indemnify the County, and all of its officers, officials, departments, agencies, agents, and employees (collectively, the County ) from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, injuries, fines, penalties, costs (including court costs and attorney s fees), charges, liability, or exposure, however caused, resulting from, arising out of, or in any way connected with NVCT s acts or omissions in performance or nonperformance of its obligations under this Memorandum of Understanding. Miscellaneous This Memorandum of Understanding represents the entire agreement between The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust and the County Board of Arlington County and supersedes all prior negotiations, representations or agreements, either written or oral. The Arlington County Manager may agree on behalf of the County Board to modifications to this memorandum which do not substantially change NVCT s obligations here under. Such changes must be approved by the Arlington County Attorney and such changes shall be made only on July 1st of each year this agreement is in effect and only after prior consultation with NVCT. This Memorandum of Understanding shall be governed by, and interpreted in accordance with, the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 4
WITNESS these signatures: THE COUNTY BOARD OF ARLINGTON ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: NAME AND TITLE: THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA CONSERVATION TRUST AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: NAME AND TITLE: DATE: ATTEST: DATE: ATTEST: 5
ATTACHMENT A ARLINGTON-ONLY PERFORMANCE TARGETS, FY05-FY07 THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA CONSERVATION TRUST OBJECTIVES EXPECTED ANNUAL Program Goal 1: Facilitate Communication Re: land conservation 1. Issues of Newsletter 2 2. Distribution, mail, each issue 250 3. Distribution, other, each issue 250 4. Events NVCT info distributed 5 Program Goal 2: Assist Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Re: implementation of Open Space Master Plan or its successor 1. Minimum Meetings with staff 2 Program Goal 3: Leverage Private Resources (Arlington-only) 1. Individuals volunteering for NVCT 10 2. Hours worked by NVCT volunteers, non-board 50 3. Hours volunteered by NVCT Board 150 4. Total volunteer hours 200 5. NVCT sponsored events 2 6. Supporters (Base 150) 15 7. Board Meetings in Arlington 1 6