Members Present: Amy Bayless, Town of Nederland; Chris Berry, City of Lafayette; Paul Carter, Town of Erie; Clark Griep, City and County of Broomfield; Mark Hamilton, Town of Superior; Tom McCoy, City of Longmont; Don Mock, City of Boulder; Charles Sisk, City of Louisville; Ron Stewart, County of Boulder; and Staff Dickey Lee Hullinghorst

Mark Hamilton, Town of Superior, reported that it has been quiet. They survived the snow relatively easily. The town has closed on more water agreements with Louisville and Erie which are to everyone’s benefit. The big news is the restructuring of town government which includes dissolving the metropolitan districts. Superior signed an IGA with these districts to agree on procedures. They plan to get this issue on the November ballot and get mill levies in place to make it work.

Don Mock welcomed everyone to Boulder. Their council has been trying to deal with water pricing issues and adjusted rates based on average winter consumption as a baseline. Additional usage would incur surcharges which are adjusted according to drought conditions being Stage 1, 2, 3 or 4. They anticipate a Stage 1 or 2 summe season, not the Stage 4 they were worried about earlier. The Council intends to hire a consultant to study the Irvine Ranch Water Budget method where every household get individualized water budget and exceeding one’s budget would result in steep financial consequences. Such a system would require a massive overhaul of the city’s billing system. The City is looking at severe budget cuts and this issue will be controversial and painful, but is necessary. They will break ground on the 9^th and Canyon underground parking structure and hotel in April.

Tom McCoy, City of Longmont, said their sales tax is also down. They placed a hiring freeze and wage freeze on city employees this year and it will probably continue next year. The Council is working on a Comp Plan update that has included meetings with the Planning Commission and some public forums. The 18-month process will be completed in August and will include some innovative approaches to the planning process. They are even looking north of Hwy 66 for some development. Super Wal-Mart still wants to come in, but the Council is unsure about that issue.

Chuck Sisk, City of Louisville, agreed that sales tax revenue issues are confronting everyone. The city signed a few leases in the old K-Mark site, so that will help Louisville’s situation, especially since those dollars are not already budgeted for 2003. The hottest topic involves Storage Tek who wants to develop 480 acres. There is discussion on whether to amend the Comp Plan to allow them to proceed or if they will allow Storage Tek to come forward to present a plan. A major issue is the residential development they want as part of their site. There is no question Storage Tek needs new facilities and Louisville wants to retain Storage Tek but it’s a matter of a delicate balance. Another issue is that 80 acres of their land is county property. The City is approaching this challenge as an opportunity and wants to avoid confrontation. The Council approved a polling to see if citizens want a new library. A recent rec/senior/library/pool ballot was defeated so this poll will help the Council determine what the public truly wants. The Council had a good discussion and dinner with Superior and they hope to see some progress at McCaslin intersection.

Amy Bayless, Town of Nederland, said they received nearly 6 feet of snow. It took quite a few days to dig out, but it showed who were truly the mountain people. Part of the community center roof collapsed and Public works is still trying to widen some of the roadways. Neerland will be offering 1.5 million in bonds for sale on Friday morning for building renovation. The sales tax is relatively flat but the town is managing. Frozen Dead Guys Days was a big hit with good crowds. Since finances are stable, the town has released retroactive wage increases to employees and tentatively released the hiring freeze. They are working with Boulder County Housing on a project in town and are getting close to finalizing approvals for the RTD parking lot.

Paul Carter, Town of Erie, reports they are trying to reduce friction after the recall election. They had the first reading on a new water conservation plan and believe the supply is probably in as good shape as last year. The Board is working on budget revisions to bring their process in line with standard budgeting procedures. Another major effort is the development of a Unified Development Code and they will contract a consultant to help with that work. The sales tax revenue went up this year but it doesn’t represent much of the budget as most of Erie’s money comes from building permits. They are working towards a transition to more sales tax revenue. There was a serious problem with the sewer treatment plant and that curtailed building permits but expansion of that plant is on schedule and should be completed by July.

Clark Griep, City and County of Broomfield, told members they had 30.8 inches of snow and a few building collapses. Their drought water restriction plan is coming up for second reading and they are considering the overall picture and pricing. They are also revising their Master Plan. The last plan was completed in 1995 and they try to revise it every 5 years or so. They are proud that many of the items from the last plan have actually been accomplished. These plans have helped manage growth and direct development. They received 3.75 million on Omnibus Transportation Bill to help out with engineering costs at the US 36/287 Highway Interchange. That money won’t solve the problem, but every little piece helps.

Ron Stewart, Boulder County, reported the County has been working with a committee to determine how to allocate the proceeds dedicated to trails from transportation tax that passed 1 ½ years ago. Most communities are involved with the committee and they came up with with recommendations to prioritize regional trail connectors. One of those trails is the St. Vrain Corridor Trail between Longmont and Lyons and the County will undertake a public process to identify several alternatives for that trail. This has been one year where it is a blessing to have most tax revenues coming from property tax instead of sales tax, so the County has not experienced the dreary fiscal times that municipalities have experienced. The County is particularly pleased that voters passed the "Ballot Initative 1A" as those revenues give the County an ability to make up some of the significant state budget cuts in the human services areas. Commissioner Stewart welcomed Mayor Toor from Boulder, Mayor Pirnack from Longmont Don Sandoval from the Department of Local Affairs.

Don Sandoval told the group that 22 counties were affected by big snowstorm. The Governor has submitted a request to the President to declare a snow emergency. DOLA deals with all types of disasters. The declaration might just be for a 48 hour period but DOLA is negotiating to get 72 hours. Communities should keep track of overtime costs, snow removal costs, etc. for those time periods. They are also requesting a SBA declaration which helps with uninsured costs for residential and business structures. They have a tight criteria but DOLA is working with them to see if there is an ability to get some assistance.

Amy Bayless moved to approve minutes. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

A copy of RTD’s response to the staff who met with them regarding discrepancies in numbers was handed out to Consortium members. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst pointed out some inaccuracies in the letter. Although she believes staff has a better understanding of how RTD arrived at their costs, she doesn’t believe staff agrees with their criteria. Clark Misner, Boulder County Interim Transportation Director, explained that proposed service cuts in Boulder County appear to be about 14% which is disproportionate compared to the rest of the district. According to RTD figures, the Jump and the Bound account for about 10% of the cuts in Boulder County and they are considered "experimental routes". The numbers are somewhat misleading in that RTD is not using the full allocation of costs on their light rail system. This is problematic if planners use incremental costs up front and then later switch to fully allocated costs which results in showing the route is not cost effective. It would help to know when new services change to fully allocated costs calculations. It is also a problem to try to meet a target cost in that staff is unsure of what the target cost is. Another issue is that different RTD departments look at different figures and it may be difficult to make sense of it. Other issues involve boardings between two jurisdictions and how those are accounted for. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst doesn’t think further discussion would help clarify these numbers; if the Consortium wants additional information, it may be best to determine exactly what is needed and have the Consortium officially request it. Ron Stewart suggested that the Transit Task Force may want to hire a consultant to help collect and interpret information. The group believes that any proposals submitted to RTD will need to be backed up statistically with figures RTD can relate to.

There was discussion on the Consortium’s approach. The group believes an immediate reaction is necessary, but long-term issues also need to be addressed, probably through transition it to the Regional Transit Committee. Commissioner Stewart stated that the group does have to recognize that RTD obviously has to make some cuts.

Chuck Sisk suggested that two Consortium members, along with staff, visit with Dick McClean, Mary Blue and others from RTD to start the process of discussion. The group agreed that Chris Berry, Don Mock and staff from Boulder, Longmont and Boulder County will comprise this committee. Cal Marsella has committed to working with the Consortium to come up with an understanding on numbers that everyone can live with.

The group discussed the draft structure for the proposed transit committee. The group amended the draft structure memo to state that Staff would have an advisory role and the committee itself would not be a "stand-alone" committee but will make recommendations to the Consortium. The group also agreed to include RTD and DRCOG as ex-officio representatives. They also wanted to work in coordination with RTD and include the City and County of Broomfield. Chris Berry moved to create the transit committee according to the structure laid out in memo and amended by the above disucsssion. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. A copy of the structure, as amended by the Consortium, is attached.

The group discussed various topics to address in 2003, including:

West Nile Virus and mosquito control

Coordination of emergency preparedness and security

Formation of a Library Authority

Coordinated approach to water conservation

Regional sales tax cooperation/revenue sharing and

Jobs/housing

Coordination between cities and school districts

Better communication between law enforcement agencies

Chris Berry was nominated to serve as Vice-Chair of the Consortium. Tom McCoy moved Chris Berry be elected as Vice-Chair. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.