Members Present: Bette Erickson, City and County of Broomfield; Doug Brown, City of Longmont; Ken Lenarcic, Town of Jamestown; Ben Pearlman, Boulder County; Mark Ruzzin, City of Boulder; Lisa Skumatz, Town of Superior; David Strungis, City of Lafayette; and Staff Dickey Lee Hullinghorst and Sheree Stroud

Bette Erickson, City and County of Broomfield, said the new event center will hold a topping off ceremony soon. The mayor and some council members traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept a Sustainable Communities award with Anthem/Pulte.

Mark Ruzzin, City of Boulder, reported that Boulder adopted a long term West Nile Virus Management Plan. They are proud of their program that focuses on larvacide and addressing risk on the front-side. They try to avoid adult spraying. He hopes this can be a model for the rest of the county. The council made changes to the Transit Village Plan and the project is back on track. The Farmers’ Market is open. Mark Ruzzin went to Washington, D.C. to visit with our congressional delegation and other administrators.

Doug Brown, City of Longmont, told members that council did not pass a breed restrictive dog ban. They hired a new Economic Coordinator. Council has re-activated the Urban Renewal Authority. They plan to hold an education summit this year. The Harvest Junction Mall is open and the new Super Wal-Mart opened, too. Longmont supported the county in their potential purchase of a conservation easement on the Williams property in Weld County.

David Strungis, City of Lafayette, reported that they completed their goal setting. A few months ago, the city completed a Latino Needs Assessment and this provided a lot of good information to build on.

Ken Lenarcic, Town of Jamestown, told members about environmental issues in the James Creek and Lefthand watersheds. Several sites were noted as potential Superfund sites. Four years later there is progress. The Honeywell Corporation did a voluntary clean up of the Burlington site. This won a mining award and it diverts water flow away from tailings and contamination. The Little James and Bueno mines will be capped. Next year, the forest services has plans to isolate at the Golden Age mine.

Lisa Skumatz, Town of Superior, told members that their Comp Plan was adopted and it includes less aggressive growth than the previous plan. It allows for more open space and less density. The purchased their first open space and thank Boulder County for their participation. They are in negotiation for additional parcels. Lisa Skumatz was re-elected and several new board members elected. The new board will hold a retreat.

David Strungis moved to approve the February 1, 2006, minutes. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Doug Brown nominated Lisa Skumatz as Vice-Chair. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Commissioner Will Toor addressed the group and said that the consultant did an incredible amount of work on this plan. Ed Schumm from David Evans & Associates and

Brendon Harrington from UrbanTrans Consulting, Inc. presented the final draft to the Consortium (attached).

Lisa Skumatz wondered about ridership numbers. There are numbers for current routes but for new routes, numbers are based on land use density projections. Numbers will be included in the final report. Tim Swope, Boulder County Transportation, told the group that the plan looked at a range of scenarios and how they could be funded. Once a route is in the implementation process, this becomes more detailed and intensive. This assessment is on a broad level.

Lisa Skumatz thought it was important to include numbers that reflect the "bang for the buck" in the final report.

Will Toor explained that in the prioritization process, they considered a variety of factors, including productivity and cost of services per rider. Ms. Skumatz was interested in seeing a benefits/costs ratio.

Doug Brown asked if they looked at additional partners and wondered if this should be even more regional. Will Toor believes it is simpler to implement in Boulder County and if it reaches beyond the county, there is a need to create an RTA. If Broomfield joined, the best scenario may be an IGA. The Highway 119 and Colorado 7 routes would need additional work to see if communities are willing to pitch in or else look at funding mechanisms such as ride and park pay areas. It is unlikely Weld would take part in an RTA but other mechanisms could be put in place to help with funding.

Mark Ruzzin discussed the next steps and wondered how to build consensus. Will Toor suggested that the Consortium convene a small task force of a handful of elected officials to explore what funding options could be supported. Then this information could be taken to the various cities and towns to gain a broader understanding of the plan.

The Consortium discussed whether there is value in tying in trails with transit. Will Toor said they could look at trail elements and possibly incorporate and prioritize the unfunded trail segments.

Mark Ruzzin wants to be sure the plan meshes with anything individual municipalities have for transportation plans or ballot issues. If the county can tailor a survey to individual communities, it might be a way to explore any potential conflicts. He thanked the county for their leadership role in this and thanked the RTC members and technical staff.

Will explained that the plan looks at routes that are unlikely to be funded by RTD.

There was further discussion re: benefit/cost numbers. Lisa Skumatz thinks this will be really important at the polls.

The group agreed to convene the elected officials group soon. Members are to go back and request that someone be appointed to serve on this committee. Doug Brown moved that the Consortuim move forward with a small group to work on a total package and bring back to the Consortium of Cities and jurisdictions. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

The group discussed the proposed charge and goals. Some felt the charge was too narrow and suggested adding the language "or other areas that might be identified by the task force" to broaden it. Lisa Skumatz moved to adopt the charge and goals as amended. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Dickey Lee Hullinghorst told members that staff would send out a memo asking them to designate an elected official to serve on the committee and staff person to serve on the technical committee.

DeAnne Butterfield told the group that the good news is that the councils and Boulder County have agreed to create a HOME Consortium. That entails an IGA and they are working on that right now. They must also create a "Consolidated Plan" which is due November 15. Due to timing, the local governments will assemble this. Ms. Butterfield would have liked to see a more inclusive and participatory approach but she is thrilled that the four local governments were able to agree to work together and sees many future opportunities to collaborate and solicit public input. Mark Ruzzin thanked DeAnne for her work as she has laid the groundwork and set a precedent that can be built on. Ben Pearlman pointed out that he does not see this as the end of the Regional Housing Initiative.

7. Scheduling of Meeting re: Revenue Stability/Revenue Sharing

Ben Pearlman believes this subject has many interesting challenges and so much potential. He thinks it would be a good conversation for the Consortium to have – to study the issue and see what might make sense for collaboration. Lisa Skumatz thinks it deserves a separate session. Mark Ruzzin agreed that an informal session would be useful. The group agreed to set up a work session on May 3.

Dickey Lee Hullinghorst told the group that Boulder County and the City of Boulder will hold a flash flood exercise on April 18 to enhance public awareness and set some planning for county-wide emergency preparedness.

The next regular Consortium meeting will be June 7 at 7:00 p.m. at the Boulder County Courthouse.