Members Present: Don Brown, City of Louisville; Carolyn Cutler, City of Lafayette; Bette Erickson, City and County of Broomfield;Ken Lenarcic, Town of Jamestown; Ben Pearlman, Boulder County; Mark Ruzzin, City of Boulder; Valeria Skitt, City of Longmont; Lisa Skumatz and Karen Imbierowicz, Town of Superior; and Staff Dickey Lee Hullinghorst and Sheree Stroud

Carolyn Cutler, City of Lafayette, reported they have four new council members. The new members are very excited and will also be doing a lot of training.

Bette Erickson, City and County of Broomfield, said the Council will hold their Annual Focus Session in January. Many council members attended the National Cities Conference. They will be making appointments to boards and commissions. Santa is due to arrive by helicopter in Broomfield.

Mark Ruzzin, City of Boulder, said they have one new council member, Richard Polk. The city is still trying to find an appropriate location for the regional fire training center. They hoped to site it at Valmont Butte but now they are looking at another possibility off of the Diagonal Highway and east of the Boulder Reservoir. This will be funded from a ballot issue passed a few years ago. He told the group they may be hearing from residents regarding Boulder’s new open space policies, especially those related to dog control. The council agreed to proceed to a second phase of study in creating a municipal energy system. They hope to reach a decision on whether to pursue this by the end of 2006. The system would then involve a ballot issue. Boulder is also moving forward on greenhouse gas emission reduction work. Mayor Ruzzin encouraged the other municipalities to review and adopt the Mayor’s Resolution called the "Climate Protection Agreement". They hope to adopt a Waste Reduction Master Plan and hope to raise target goals of waste diversion to 60% by 200y. The City has not yet agreed to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility outline, but is trying to work out the details with the county. There is the potential that the CU President will move from the Boulder campus to the Denver campus. The council does not endorse this move.

Lisa Skumatz, Town of Superior, said that their open space bond initiative passed and hthey have purchased two properties. They welcome communities who would like to work on joint purchases. The Comprehensive Plan is going through a public process. They are also doing vision work for the Town Center. They also have a new board member, Joe Cirelli, after John Oster resigned.

Don Brown, City of Louisville, reported they have three new council members. They have finished their Comp Plan and it was rather contentious. The downtown continues to be vibrant and library should be completed by April. WinterSkate is also open. They are also making efforts toward energy reduction and trying to be more responsive to citizens. They are under negotiation with a cable franchise and will look for cooperative opportunities with other cities. In conjunction with Superior, they have finished two new bridges over US 36. The pedestrian bridge is nicknamed "Archie".

Valeria Skitt, City of Longmont, told members that Mayor Pirnack was re-elected for a third term. There is one new council member, Mary Blue. The voterse extened the ¾ cent sales tax for streets and roads. They are looking at the Development Code again. They plan to establish an Urban Renewal Authority that could extend into Weld County at the southeast part of town, encompassing the old sugar mill. They may do some annexing. The authority could extend are far as lower downtown. There will be a series of public meetings and a decision may be made in February.

Ken Lenarcic, Town of Jamestown, said they have not had elections nor any new Board of Trustees. He told members that with the help of the Consortium and DOLA, they received a grant for a new fire tanker plus another four-wheel drive vehicle from a FEMA grant.

Ben Pearlman, Boulder County, reported that Ballot Issue 1A passed in the recent election. This is a county-wide De-Brucing of property tax. This made the budget preparation easier although it is still under the shadown of federal and state government cuts. There have been strides in a county-wide effort to deal with the methamphetamine problem. A recent summit was held in Boulder County to get the effort underway. The county has passed two resolutions regarding Sustainability and Zero Waste. Commissioner Toor was present and explained that the Sustainability Resolution is in accordance with the Kyoto Plan to set an Emissions Target and then develop an action plan. Such actions may include measures relating to the internal fleets and facilities and will also be broader such as regulatory, education and incentive programs. The Zero Waste Resoltuion directs the county to develop an action plan in next year and again it will involve both internal and broader community goals. These resolutions will comprise a cohesive plan. Part of the 1A proceeds are targeted toward sustainability efforts so there needs to be a strategic plan in place. The county is very interested in joint planning in these efforts county-wide.

Mark Ruzzin moved to approve the minutes from the October 5, 2005, meeting. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously with one abstention.

Don Brown moved that the Consortium should provide a letter of support. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. (Please note that no letter was necessary; the Parks and Open Space Department had asked for verbal support only.)

Clark Misner, Boulder County Transportation Department, told members that the Regional Transit Committee reviewed proposals and chose David Evans and Associates to develop the Transit Enhancement Plan. The hope is to have them start immediately with a draft and report to the Consortium in February. A final report would be presented to the Consortium in April.

David Evans and Associates gave the Consortium an overview of the objectives they plan to meet in creating the plan. After the presentation, Valeria Skitt asked whether Weld County east of Longmont will be considered in the plan as this is poised to be a large growth area. The consultants said it would be.

There was also discussion of Special Transit and other community based services. They want to integrate into overall service plan – perhaps sharing some services.

They summarized that they have a cohesive team with experienced and will take a focused, time-sensitive approach to facilitate collaborative services. The product will highlight new mobility opportunities, benefits, and costs and will define an integrated, practical implementation program, building off previous work.

Mark Ruzzin asked about cost allocation and whether the study will look at alternative funding. The answer was yes. He also asked whether the study will capitalize on cities who already have a Transportation Plan and how will it affect asking citizens for money for a broader regional transit goal. The consultants said they will try to coordinate the plan at both levels. Don Brown echoed Mark Ruzzin’s concerns.

Clark, Misner told the Consortuim that this study outlines future transit development and might set the stage for a ballot issue. They have based the assessment on a pro-rated cost for each city and town. RTD is also donating $10,000; proof that this study is of benefit to them, too. So far, Boulder, Longmont, Boulder County, Louisville, and Broomfield have committed to the project. Karen Imbierowicz stated that Superior was also committed. Carolyn Cutler of Lafayette has no sense of Lafayette’s intention but will speak to the mayor about it. She said a presentation to the council may be useful.

Don Brown moved that the Consortium of Cities approve the chosen consulting team and move forward with the plan and recommend that Boulder County approve an Issue to Proceed. The motion was seconded and passed with Carolyn Cutler abstaining.

Follow-up on Priority Issues for 2005 and Discussion of Priority Agenda Items for 2006

Commissioner Pearlman explained to new members about the goal setting session that was held last spring. The outcome was four issues of imminent interest to the Consortium including Energy, TDM/FasTraks, Revenue Sharing, and Regional Library Authority. The group hasn’t tackled TDM/FasTraks since many other groups are already working on that. There has been talk of working with DOLA on revenue sharing but there hasn’t been much progress yet. Ben said there has been some work on energy/climate change. He futher explained the group may need to complete their other projects such as the Regional Transit Committee and the Affordable Housing Initiative before they tackle these issues.

Dickey Lee Hullinghorst explained that there is a committee studying the library issue. The group needs to look at numbers and and consider the many various ways this can be devloped. The group decided to ask DOLA for technical assistance and recently they began working with Mike Tupa at CSU to help develop various scenarios. Don Brown said Louisville is interested in a Library Authority as are several other municipalities but it would take great political will. He looks forward to the committee’s report.

Commissioner Pearlman asked the group how they want to proceed. Don Brown commended Pearlman’s leadership. He believes the task force model works well with this group. He believes the Consortium is the body to bring up revenue sharing.

Mark Ruzzin asked about the short term projects discussed by the Consortium such as GIS mapping. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst will look into this. Mr. Ruzzin also suggested a West Nile Virus/Avian Flu presentation.

Mr. Ruzzin asked how the group can leverage and capitalize on the Consortium’s unique role by making policy decisions and concrete proposals. He suggested setting goals and breaking into small steps. For instance, staffs from jurisdictions could meet on energy reduction tactics. The City of Boulder is putting in a bio-diesel tank. Maybe there is a way for everyone to join in by getting fleet managers together. Karen Imbierowicz agreed and thinks that the Resource Conservation Advisory Board could help gather information and make a report. Perhaps priorities could be set from that.

She also mentioned several cities are considering urban renewal areas and this could be a platform for revenue sharing.

Commissioner Pearlman said it’s clear that there are different strategies for all of these goals and the Consortium should focus on what it can do best and that already have consensus. He suggested four informal strategy sessions over the next several months to see what the Consortium’s role should be for each goal.

Mark Ruzzin likes the idea of strategy sessions focusing on what’s currently being done, models and what could be done together. Clearly this will need staff support.

Commissioner Pearlman suggested that the first strategy session be held on energy on March 1. The regular meetings will take place in February and April as agenda items are already on the table and further strategy sessions will be planned later. Ms. Hullinghorst updated the group on the Affordable Housing Initiative. They suspended efforts mid-year, but have now prepared a presentation and proposal that they hope to present at the February meeting. They wanted a read of whether the Consortium is still interested in moving forward on this project. Don Brown is very interested in the report and moving forward. The group agreed.

New Business

Don Brown told the group that the DRCOG Urban Growth Boundaries are under attack. Will Toor gave a little background. An Ad Hoc DRCOG Committee was appointed to study how to deal with communities who don’t need the area allocated to them. Their recommendation was to get rid of the urban growth boundaries and just track growth. This was remanded back to the committee with more diverse representation. It’s important to get representatation on this committee so Boulder County can be represented and a more reasonable proposal will come forward.

The next meeting will be at the Boulder County Courthouse on February 1.