Section 67-4248 - MANAGEMENT OF FUNDED PROJECTS AND LANDS(1) Grant recipients must enter into a contract with the park and recreation board which specifies that all property acquired, developed, repaired, renovated or improved with grant funds from the STORE shall be held in perpetuity for outdoor recreation by the grant recipient.(a) Upon approval from the park and recreation board, trails acquired, developed, repaired, renovated or improved through STORE grant funds may be exempted from this requirement.(b) Property acquired, developed, repaired, renovated or improved with STORE grant funds, and all recreation incentive programs funded by moneys from the STORE, shall be operated and maintained as being open and available for public use.(2) Upon approval from the park and recreation board, property acquired, developed, renovated or improved through STORE may be converted to non-recreation purposes when, in the board's opinion, all practical alternatives to the conversion have been evaluated and rejected on a sound basis, there is not irreparable damage caused to the state's recreation infrastructure as a result of the proposed action, the grant recipient has provided for ample public involvement in the conversion, and the recreation utility lost is mitigated by the grant recipient. (a) Conversions generally occur when property interests are conveyed for nonpublic outdoor recreation use, nonoutdoor recreation uses (public or private) are made of the project area or a portion thereof, noneligible outdoor recreation facilities are developed within the project area, or public outdoor recreation use is terminated.(b) The following are not considered conversions but require the approval of the park and recreation board: (i) granting underground utility easements which do not have significant impact upon the recreation utility of the facility; and (ii) constructing public indoor recreation facilities where it can be demonstrated that there is an increased benefit to public recreational opportunities without a decrease in the outdoor recreation utility of the STORE assisted area.(c) The project sponsor may mitigate the conversion by replacing the loss of recreation utility caused by the conversion or by reimbursing the STORE the fair market value of converted property as developed. The reimbursement shall be returned to the STORE fund for redistribution.(d) Recreation utility shall be established by the fair market value of the property to be converted, the type and amount of use occurring on the property, equivalent usefulness and location of converted property and other factors the park and recreation board may consider relevant and may be mitigated by placing land previously not in recreation use into recreation use or by improving recreation opportunities on previously developed land commensurate to the loss of recreation utility caused by the conversion.(3) The department may, by rule, impose a fee to defray the department's cost of administration and management of this replacement process.[67-4248, added 1995, ch. 332, sec. 1, p. 1105.]