Do you want to pay a property tax to fund a new City?

I attended the 6/8/10 meeting of City Council. Here's what I saw:

Short version - not much

Detailed version:

The work session began at 6 p.m. with a Council training session. Members of Council shared that they felt uncomfortable and threatened by the way the public behaved during the recent URP hearing. So, measures were reviewed on how to vote citizens out of a meeting if they sassed Council too much. The City's attorney opined that the decisions were controversial and complex, and that elected officials deserve to be treated better. (There was no discussion of how council's decisions may have been ill advised, and how that could have promulgated citizen and elected official outrage. I imagine the truth lies somewhere in between, and we should all treat one another with more respect - City Council members, and citizens. You attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. After all, we're neighbors. We should act like it.)

Next up was medical marijuana. The city's attorney suggested the moratorium be extended for another year. Doug Gilbert suggested people be allowed to vote on what they want to do with medical marijuana. The moratorium can be extended, pending outcome of a vote by citizens in November.

Next up was adult oriented businesses. The land use planner form CH2MHill/OMI explained how to zone them out of existence in Castle Pines North. The City will pretty much use the language of the County for this issue.

The regular meeting began with appointment of city council members to the committees of council. We've got a new city manager, who actually works for the city, a huge improvement in things. He's just getting his feet on the ground. No one could remember what had been voted on before, so everyone got out their cell phones and tried to look up the old ordinances on a website somewhere. Eventually Doug's phone worked. Doug didn't want to be on finance, so John said he'd do it. Tara needed a committee to be on, so John said she could be on the finance committee too, if she could count. Jeff suggested everybody be appointed to every committee, and then just show up when they wanted. It was sort of a cluster. Maureen and Tara didn't know that CP Green, which has an anti-growth slant (at least for the Highlands Ranch area north of CPN) right in the middle of annexation and URPs and such, is no longer a committee, nor a sub-committee, but a "public interest group" which is no longer affiliated with the City in any way. The new city manager gets to tell the CP Green folks about this, as well as similar news for the Safety Committee and the Youth Initiative. Maureen didn't like the news, as these were some of her interests when she was Mayor. The change in status for these groups came after she got voted out, and before her friends appointed her to council. But, she only found out tonight.

Kim asked that the Connection ad thank the safety committee for their efforts.

Shelley waited for the meeting to tell that the emergency operations plan wasn't ready, and then asked that presentation be postponed until another meeting.

IGAs were considered with the fire departments and Parker Water and Sanitation. The agreements would make these other entities whole if there are negative tax revenue implications from the URA. The IGA was to be signed by the Mayor, as well as the chair of the Urban Renewal Authority. There was some discussion as to whether the Mayor was the chair of the Authority or not, and the cell phones came back out to try to contact the website somewhere to figure out what had been voted on before. It was sort of a cluster. It was then determined that the Authority members haven't been appointed yet, so there was not a chair to sign the agreement. Maureen suggested council appoint the authority, but she was told that has to be noticed first. Shelly said let's have special meeting. So, the City approved for the City to sign the IGAs, and then the Authority will have to approve and sign, once they are appointed and a chair of the Authority is named. (If IGAs are formed with most of the objecting entities, those left standing with objections will essentially be isolated. There are now law suits filed against the City in conjunction with the URA/URP actions. I guess citizens aren't the only ones who didn't like these actions of Council.)

Jim McGrady, formed Metro District Manager, and now consultant to the City, reported on a meeting with Metro District President Steve Labossiere and assistant District Manager Dan Schmick. Jim said it went well, and the meeting was the first time the District had been presented with an actual illustration of what consolidation might look like, rather than dissolution. Jim also had a conference call with the Metro District attorney, John Hayes. Jim said things were moving towards the District agreeing to certain things in exchange for the dissolution being withdrawn. It's early in discussions, so details will follow over the next month or two. (The District is fine with giving up the stormwater job to the City. It's low revenue and almost unlimited liability. They're also fine with giving up the parks responsibilities, as that is no revenue, and a chunk of costs. The City would have to have a tax to pay for the parks work. Voters have already said no to the District transferring mil levy to the City. Where the District will likely tell the City to pound sand is on water and wastewater, and especially pursuits for a sustainable water future.) Time will tell.

It was around this time that John had to duck out to head to the airport to make a midnight flight to Costa Rica. His son is working down there, doing Outward Bound and guiding raft trips, and such. And so John's going to get to spend a week going rafting and hiking, and zip lining, and maybe bungee jumping with his son. I asked him to E-mail me a pic. I could tell by the look in his eye he's really excited to get to go. What fun!

Shelley talked about how we only have two hours a week worth of website time and two more hours a week of other communications stuff time, and that's why our communications efforts are just awful. (It takes me fifteen minutes a week to post this blog, including the band videos! I think the City communications are bad because they try to massage and rehabilitate a process that is not in my view in good shape.) She asked if a City communicator could be hired, on top of the $31,000 URA/anti-Metro District messaging contract, and the communications plan CH2MHill is trying to put forward, as she has a day job. The CH2MHill/OMI communications director clarified his remark at the lat meeting that they were likely over-communicating, and said it would probably be cheaper to hire an independent person to do the work. Jeff asked with all the spending the City has been doing if there's any money left in the budget to pay for this. Bless his heart for trying! The new manager replied that the new HOA accountant is taking June to learn how to do our accounting, and we may have some financial reports again sometime in July.

Kim thanked the manager for including Council goals in his report of upcoming matters to put on the agenda.

It was announced that the audit has been completed, but I've not seen it. They want to get someone from the auditing firm to come out on June 22nd to make a presentation. The Council would then have some time to negotiate with the auditor over anything in the audit they didn't like. It's possible the audit could be filed on time by June 30th this year. Stand by for news!

The public works director from CH2MHill/OMI said the sink hole on the Parkway would cost $7,857 to fix. The City will pay 60% of that, and the Metro District will pay 40% because the hole was around a Metro District sewer pipe. The most interesting news of the meeting came at this late hour. There was recently a survey done to determine the condition of pavement in the City. The main priority is to fix stumbling hazards on the sidewalks, and there is enough money to do most of that work. Now hear this - the concrete needed to affect the currently needed repairs identified by the study is four to five times the amount of concrete budgeted for 2010. (Does this mean we could have the current cracks fixed by 2015, and if there are no more cracks between now and then, we're in good shape?) Of course the suggestion then came that we spend more money in 2010. The money to do this additional needed work is not part of the budget. Do you want to do the work that's needed, or not? The question is the same as it's always been: Do you want to pay a property tax to fund a new City? Yes or no.

There was then an executive session to talk about the citizen petition for voters to decide whether or not to disavow the URA, Metro District goings on, and other stuff.

Metro District Follows County, HOA, Files Suit Against City URA Blight Designation

June 4, 2010
CPN Metro District Board Files Lawsuit Against City's Urban Renewal Authority "Blight" Designations Raise Concern

With unanimous support of its five-member publicly elected Board of Directors, Metro District President Steve Labossiere downplayed the lawsuit's significance and expressed the Board's willingness to work directly with the Mayor and City Council to resolve issues without litigation.

Citing several well-established legal processes and public procedures that the City Council failed to follow in forming its Urban Renewal Authority (URA), the Metro District filed the lawsuit in District Court challenging the City's legal formation of the URA. The Metro District Board believes the lawsuit is a positive, temporary placeholder that will lead the Metro District and the City to negotiate with one another in good faith to secure a win/win solution the people of Castle Pines North expect and deserve.

"While City Council's actions raise substantive legal and financial questions for the Metro District and the people we serve, I think it's fair to say the Board views its decision to file a legal protest as very low-key," said Labossiere. "The URA approved its final Urban Renewal Plan (URP), including final URP boundaries, just last week. Our staff needs time to identify and analyze the legal and financial consequences of the URA and its URP on the Metro District. In the event we unsuccessfully negotiate with the City, this lawsuit merely preserves our ability to protect our public interest."

On April 27, 2010, City Council members voted to appoint themselves as URA Commissioners. They also voted to approve a URP, the boundaries of which include the Metro District's headquarters, the CPN Community Center and the surrounding park/open space parcels.

Mayor Jeffrey Huff was the lone dissenting vote against both the URA and its URP.

State law allows the Metro District, and other parties with vested interests, a 30-day legal protest period in which to contest the URA and any associated "blight" designations imbedded in the URA's final URP.

Even as the Metro District Board expressed its willingness to work with the City, it requested that City Council members be prepared to answer questions during a proposed meeting involving Metro District Board and City Council representatives. For example:

 Why did City Council members intentionally include the Metro District's headquarters, the CPN Community Center and the surrounding park/open space parcels in its final URP?

 What are the City's specific proposed development plans for each "blighted area" within the Metro District’s service area?

" Frankly, we are somewhat puzzled that the City's approval of the URA fails to publicly disclose its specific development plans and goals for our headquarters and the CPN Community Center, as well as the adjacent park/open space parcels," said Metro District Vice President Dwight Zemp. "We intend to respectfully ask the City to publicly disclose its plans for these assets. Obviously, our parks and open spaces do not constitute 'blighted areas.' That term inaccurately and irresponsibly describes Metro District assets. However, until we learn otherwise, we must assume the City made an unfortunate, but easily rectifiable mistake."

Separate and apart from the Metro District's lawsuit, Douglas County and Happy Canyon Homeowner's Association each filed a lawsuit in District Court challenging the City's formation of the URA.

For more information on the Metro District's lawsuit, please contact Metro District Board President Steve Labossiere at steve@cpnmd.org.

It's No Plan For World Domination....

But it's fun.... Here's a link to a video of me and the band playing a high school graduation party for the drummer's daughter on 5/30. With all apologies to Taylor Swift fans everywhere, You Belong to Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBLjlOquliQ