Consortium of Cities

August 6, 2003

Louisville Art Center

Members Present: Amy Bayless, Town of Nederland; Paul Carter, Town of Erie; Valeria Skitt, City of Longmont; Ron Stewart, Boulder County; Staff Dickey Lee Hullinghorst and Sheree Stroud

1. Introductions and Reports from Cities and Towns

Chair Ron Stewart announced that the attendance was one member short of a quorum. The group decided to proceed with the meeting and the Consortium members can be polled later to obtain en absentia votes on the topics before the group.

Amy Bayless, Town of Nederland, reported that they instituted a 60-day moratorium on land use applications that include increased density while the Board considers code changes. They are a month away from starting up a new bio-mars system at the community center that uses woodchips to provide power. Nederland is encouraging CDOT to deal with dead trees and that will provide additional woodchips.

Valeria Skitt, City of Longmont, said the Council has been working on a Comp Plan Update for the past 18 months and the first reading is scheduled for next week. The plan includes some controversial issues. They are gearing up for the election as there are four seats open on the Council. They are also working on the budget but are in a pretty good position so they don’t expect many layoffs.

Paul Carter, Town of Erie, reported that a proposed annexation along I-25 will have a first reading next week and go before the voters in November. They are also working on their budget. Erie took stringent action last year so their budget is looking better now. They are using a cash basis budget for 2004 and are considering breaking down some budgets to determine if developers are really paying appropriately. Erie is also beginning the process of updating their Comp Plan. They will need to expand capacity for water and sewer soon.

Ron Stewart, Boulder County, told the group the County is building a complex in Longmont for Transportation and Parks and Open Space. It will include a bio-energy facility, too. The County has three issues on the ballot: a tax to add to jail capacity and fund alternative programs, an extension of the Worthy Cause Tax to fund capital expenses for clinics and transitional housing, and a De-Brucing issue. The Super IGA is nearing completion and only two communities – Lyons and Layfayette – haven’t voted on it yet. The County is optimistic it will receive their support and if so, the County will host a Signing Ceremony.

2. Approval of Minutes

Paul Carter moved to approve the minutes of June 4, 2003. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

3. Request for support by Boulder Housing Partners for application to the State of Colorado for Funding to purchase 56 Affordable Dwelling Units at the Holiday Neighborhood

Stuart Grogan of BHP presented the Consortium with their plans for purchasing units at the Holiday Neighborhood which is bordered by Broadway, Lee Hill Road, US 36 and Yarmouth in Boulder and is a mixed use project with about 47% of the project will be affordable housing. They plan to purchase 56 units as permanently affordable housing rental units targeted at families income range of 20% to 50% of AMI. Valeria Skitt moved to support the application. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

4. Request for support of application by City of Louisville to GOCo for Louisville Community Park

Chuck Reno told the Consortium that Louisville plans to develop 2,000 acres south of Main Street as a community park. The park will be enhanced by a connector road the City intends to build in 2004. This road will open up the parcel to many park amenities. Up to 25% of Louisville’s Open Space Tax will be used for the construction and maintenance of park projects. They are applying for funds to begin the first phase contruction of the park. Park plans include a park plaza and internal parking area, a pet exercise area, picnic tables and grills, a small pavilion, landscaped areas to provide buffers, sports activities area and athletic fields. Amy Bayless moved to support the application. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

5. Presentation by Larry Stern, Director, Boulder County Office of Emergency Management – Emergency Preparedness/Countywide Collaboration

Larry Stern outlined some of the programs in place to deal with emergencies. He explained that the Office of Emergency Management coordinates with the state and the various cities and towns. They can forecast floods through the emergency operations center. They have a Wildfire Task Force and have mutual aid agreements among all the fire departments. All dispatch units are hooked together in case of failure during an emergency. There are Weapon of Mass Destruction grant funds available for Region 7. The county maintains fire training centers that are available to everyone and the county oversees the ambulance service. There are monthly meetings with all three hospitals to discuss treatment plans and compare drug inventories in case of a biological or other type of attack. They performed an exercise at CU to simulate smallpox inoculation of 8,000 people to help prepare for that type of attack. Security at utility plans is much tighter. Boulder County is very fortunate in that all of our entities work very well together.

6. Regional Transit Committee Update and Additional Appointments

Chair Ron Stewart said there were some additional appointments to the Regional Transit Committee for the Consortium to consider. Lyons would like a citizen, Ben Pearlman, to represent their town on the committee. He also told the group civic and environmental groups throughout the county were asked to nominate appointees from their group and give geographical consideration to their nominations. All of the nominees were from the Boulder area. Initial appointments included David Cook, Sue Anderson, Keith Simpson from Longmont and Lenna Kottke. Bill Roettke, the nominee from the Sierra Club, was not appointed since he was also from Boulder. Ron believes it is important to include the Sierra Club n the RTC and asked the Consortium to approve this additional appointment. He also told the group that Debra Basket from the US 36 TMO would like to be an ex officio member. He also reported that Roger Cornell, the original member from Nederland, will be replaced by Amy Bayless. Valeria Skitt moved to approve the changes in the membership as outlined. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Clark Misner reported that the RTC held their first meeting in July and it included a presentation on the state of the transit system and local funding. They also discussed the Eco-Pass. The next step is to gather research and determine what external forces create transit needs and pinpoint potential revenues. There isn’t a lot of information available about Weld County which contributes significantly to Boulder County traffic. Valeria Skitt asked if perhaps ex-officio members from Southwest Weld and South Larimer Counties should be included in the membership. Don Sandoval mentioned the I-25 Corridor Group who could make a presentation and provide information.

7. Other Business

Don Sandoval, Department of Local Affairs, said that DOLA has a new Executive Director named Mike Beasley. He also updated the group on some programs. The Gaming Impact funds have been restored and they will hold hearings in September for 2004 funding. The Community Development Block Grant deadline is December 1. The Town of Lyons will be submitting an Energy Impact application and that deadline is also December 1.

Clark Misner said that the County Commisioners and DRCOG are hosting a MetroVision workshop on September 25 from 2-4 p.m. to create a 2030 Transportation Plan.

The meeting was adjourned.

Staff Sheree Stroud followed up on an absentia votes on August 7 and e-mailed Consortium members who were absent from August 6 meeting regarding the items that considered. She asked for votes on 1) the letter of support for Boulder Housing Partners to the State Division of Housing, 2) the letter of support for Louisville Community Park project to GOCo, and 3) the changes proposed by Chair Ron Stewart regarding the Regional Task Force. "Yes" votes on all three topics were received from Chris Berry, City of Lafayette, Mark Ruzzin, City of Boulder, and Mark Hamilton, Town of Superior. There were not any "no" votes received, thus a quorum vote on the issues before the Consortium was obtained.