[0:01] Held in virtual hybrid format via Zoom webinar. I'm going
[0:05] to start the webinar now. And please note that it
[0:07] takes about 30 seconds for Zoom to bring members of
[0:10] the public into the session as attendees. Just a friendly
[0:14] reminder to all postac members, presenters, public speakers, please make
[0:19] sure you're within two inches of the microphone when speaking.
[0:23] This helps ensure we maintain an accurate public record. Members
[0:27] of the committee. Are you ready? Recording in progress. All
[0:32] right. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to the Boulder County Parks and
[0:38] Open Space Advisory committee meeting. For Thursday, August 28. And
[0:46] we'll start with the roll call. First agenda item. Trace
[0:49] Baker. Present. Carol Byerly. Present. Me. Present. Christine Johnson. Here.
[0:56] Vicky Lawrence. Present joan lewis. Here. Whoops. Joan lutz. Tony
[1:03] lewis. Is excused. Derek Turner. Excuse and John White. Here.
[1:12] All right, next agenda item is approval of last month's
[1:16] minutes. Postac. Do we have any discussion or questions about
[1:21] it? I didn't see any. Okay. Carol Byrly I thought
[1:26] they were exceptionally written because. there was a lot of
[1:31] discussion that was captured very well I agree. Very good.
[1:33] I agree. I do have one question, though. Unless somebody
[1:37] else wants to speak. Is. I noticed the very last
[1:43] one. For the direct. Director's update, and it says that.
[1:50] The extension of the zero point 15. Open space sales
[1:54] tax will be on the November ballot, which is true.
[1:58] But that didn't happen until into August. So I guess
[2:03] my question is, should the minutes actually reflect that or
[2:06] should it reflect that we were advised that it may
[2:09] get on. Yeah, at the meeting, because it hadn't been
[2:12] on. So not a big deal, but just. Kind of
[2:15] a semantics thing. Timeline. You go, Janet. All right, so
[2:22] anyway, I think that's it. For discussion on that. And
[2:29] do I have a motion to approve? Trace Baker. I
[2:33] moved it. We approve. On july. minutes july 24
[2:43] I second Carol Byerly. All right, we have the motion
[2:46] in the second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? All
[2:52] right. The minutes pass. Thank you. So we'll move on
[2:56] to the presentations. And I just want to say one
[3:01] thing in preference to this. There's multiple places in the
[3:05] agenda coming up for public comment, both from online and
[3:09] from in person. And what I would request is that
[3:15] for each of the agenda items, if you want to
[3:19] have public comments, stick to that agenda item. And then
[3:22] after the agenda items that we have as far as
[3:25] the presentations, there'll be a chance for any kinds of
[3:28] comments for things not on the agenda. And that would
[3:31] be? The appropriate time for other kinds of comments. And
[3:35] so with that, We have Melissa Arnold here to present
[3:40] another property, the Creekside property. And I'm looking forward to
[3:44] this one hearing about it. Great. Well, I'm looking forward
[3:47] to presenting on this. It's a really interesting property. Melissa
[3:51] Arnold, land officer in the real estate division, parks and
[3:54] open space, and I'd like to begin my presentation by
[3:57] reading. The real estate land commitment statement. For much longer
[4:02] than parks and open spaces. History of stewarding open space,
[4:05] the land and this community has been important to american
[4:09] indian, urban, native, indigenous, and other cultural communities that continue
[4:14] to live here. We are making meaningful changes to how
[4:18] we do our work that include them, incorporate the perspectives
[4:22] and honor their land stewardship legacy. Parks and open space
[4:25] operates within modern legal constructs of land ownership. To steward
[4:29] Boulder county open space and accomplish these efforts on behalf
[4:33] of our community. So I present to you tonight the
[4:36] Creekside property. The Creekside property is located.
[4:46] In the sort of north area of the county here,
[4:50] just southwest of the town of lions near the intersection
[4:54] of State highway seven, also known as Southeast Rain Drive
[4:58] and Old St. Rain Road. We're just going to keep
[5:02] zooming in here. I have a lot of maps to
[5:04] orient you. There's a vicinity map of the property in
[5:09] red and it shows its proximity to the town of
[5:11] lions and the surrounding open space. Hall Ranch, Highle Valley
[5:16] Ranch and Olsen Open space, and the Lions Park Estate
[5:20] Subdivision borders the property to the south and the east.
[5:25] A closer look at the property in its proximity to
[5:28] open space can be seen here, and I've circled the
[5:31] section of the St. The south St. Rain creek that
[5:35] is on this property. That is not currently, is the
[5:38] one little section not currently protected as open space in
[5:41] this stretch. And I've circled the hall ranch, the main
[5:47] hall ranch trailhead, just so you can get some orientation
[5:50] as to where this property is. It's just to the
[5:52] north on the other side of the road. Can I
[5:56] ask you a question? This is John White. Buzz, can
[5:59] you back up? You said the one section that's not
[6:03] open. No. in this particular stretch is the one section
[6:09] of the creek that is not a part of the
[6:11] county open space Here. I'll go back right there. Okay,
[6:14] so this is going to remain. And I'll get to
[6:17] all of that. Yeah. Thank you. We're going to buy
[6:20] it? Yeah. So then all the green. Rest of the
[6:23] St grain. Okay. Good. Clarifier. I'll clarify that. This is
[6:26] as is. Currently owned privately by the landowners who are
[6:30] looking to sell this to the county as open space.
[6:32] So currently, this section of the sell same frame creek
[6:35] is not. The little piece in this section that is
[6:39] not currently open space. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, no problem.
[6:45] Okay, here is a Google Earth map. And ignore the
[6:50] shading. That's just two different kinds of aerial imagery that
[6:54] are pieced together in the program. But I think it
[6:57] gives you a pretty good perspective on the topography of
[6:59] this property. So we're now turned the other way. We're
[7:01] sort of looking south now. The property is outlined in
[7:04] black. I see. It's not maybe as distinct as it
[7:06] could. Be, but you could make it out on the
[7:08] hill. You can see how that hilltop. Stretches all the
[7:12] way back to the south end of the property. And
[7:13] the lions? State subdivision up to the south there. So
[7:20] now we are doing an even more close up view
[7:22] of the property, and I wanted to provide you with
[7:25] some facts. So the property is owned by Ron Riedmond
[7:34] and Andy Blackwell. Ron's family has owned this property for
[7:38] almost 60 years, and Ron grew up on this land.
[7:43] It is approximately 127 acres and it contains 420ft approximately
[7:49] of the south St. Rain Creek. The property consists of
[7:53] four parcels, and I will get into those in more
[7:56] detail in a minute. And there are some structures on
[7:59] the property. There are two residences. Two detached garage and
[8:03] in total, on the entire four parcels that comprise this
[8:07] creekside property. They're a nine out buildings. And it's a
[8:11] parade outside. So here is a map now showing the
[8:17] four parcels and the four addresses for each of them.
[8:21] Starting left, moving right. 1390 Old St. Vain Road. And
[8:27] I've put a star where the residences and as you
[8:30] can imagine. We're going to zoom in more and I'll
[8:32] give more details. On all of that in a moment,
[8:34] but just to give you the perspective on how these
[8:36] addresses all relate and what's on what? Here's 1015 Old
[8:40] St. Rain road and this has one residence where the
[8:43] star is. A detached garage and four out buildings. This
[8:48] property. Is also addressed 1015 Old St. Vane Road. It
[8:53] does have. A building, a development, right, that has not
[8:56] been exercised. The property contains two outbuildings, but it is
[9:00] vacant of residences. And zero jade way. This is just
[9:06] about a four acre piece that wraps around the edge
[9:08] and it is not buildable and it is vacant. So
[9:13] those are the four parcels that comprise this property. And
[9:19] just back to that Google map so you can have
[9:20] the perspective again of where those houses are. 1015 old,
[9:25] same frame. I've put a circle around both the house
[9:27] with the star. And the outbuildings. And then over on
[9:30] the right hand side of the screen, 1390 Old St.
[9:33] Rain Road, with a star where that residence is. Some
[9:37] pictures. So here is that hillside. Standing on state highway
[9:45] seven, looking south across. The creek. In the midground. There.
[9:50] Foreground. And here is that creek stretch of the cell
[9:55] St. Brain. And a view of old St. Vain Road
[10:01] with the property on either side and the public really
[10:05] enjoys walking this road, birding, making their way to the
[10:09] very far west end of this road. Where it's closed
[10:11] and goes through hall ranch and people walk through there.
[10:15] Ron and Andy. Say that. There are people every day
[10:19] constantly walking down this road on this whole stretch, just
[10:22] enjoying a scenic walk. And there are cliff bands galore
[10:28] on this property. Lots of possibilities for nesting birds and
[10:32] other wildlife. Okay, so let's take a look at these
[10:39] structures. We're going to start with. 1390 Old St. Frain
[10:43] road. And so I have a little close up here
[10:45] of those. Structures on the map, and I'm going to
[10:48] start just with the houses or the house. Excuse me.
[10:54] This house is approximately 1880 sqft. And it's a residence
[11:00] from 1954. And it has a detached garage. And these
[11:06] outbuildings. It has an old cellar, it's partially subterranean, it's
[11:09] sort of a walk out. Stellar. Has a machine shop.
[11:15] That's the photo in the middle and then on the
[11:16] far right. You have your chicken coop. Used to be
[11:20] a horse barn. I understand. And now on the other.
[11:26] Structures. We're at 1015 oak st. Vain road. The top
[11:32] picture is the garage. And a little game room above
[11:38] that. That's what is above there. And then the residents.
[11:41] You can see that in the bottom right hand corner
[11:43] of the screen. It's about 1300. Square foot house. That
[11:48] part of the house we're looking at with the chimney
[11:50] is the original portion from 1890. It's been added onto.
[11:55] On either side. And so a historic site survey determined
[11:58] that this house, as is right now, is not eligible.
[12:02] For local landmarking because it's been altered a lot. But
[12:04] I like this picture because you can really see that
[12:06] original old house right there. From 1890. And then some
[12:13] of the outbuildings on this property. So, starting in the
[12:18] top, the top left. An old metal shed, and in
[12:23] the middle there we have. An 8844 square foot pole
[12:29] barn that used to be an indoor riding arena. Ron's
[12:33] mother was a dressage instructor. And that whole area in
[12:36] front of these buildings here. Was an outdoor arena, so
[12:41] she used that for her horses, and now it is
[12:44] equipment storage. And then in the far right. We have
[12:49] a lien to. At the bottom left is a log
[12:52] barn, the historic site survey did find this barn eligible
[12:56] for local landmarking and listing on the National Register of
[12:59] Historic Places. And then the last picture here is a
[13:05] stable and hay storage. Just to give you an idea.
[13:07] Of what those look like on 1015. Okay, so that's
[13:11] the structures. Now for the comprehensive plan, the Boulder county
[13:16] comprehensive plan designations. I'm going to show you some maps.
[13:21] That have some resource elements on them potentially. And I
[13:24] just want to make the statement that these maps are
[13:26] intended to be illustrative rather than specific. And the following
[13:31] designations are indicators of importance, but not confirmation that these
[13:34] features exist on the property. And there's quite a few,
[13:38] starting with the view protection corridor. There's two, actually. Then.
[13:44] There's the state highway seven has a view protection cord
[13:46] of 3.21 and the old St. Rain Road scores 2.85
[13:51] on a scale of zero to five. With its scenic
[13:55] views from those roads. Riparian habitat connector. Of the area
[14:03] along the south St. Rain Creek. And critical wildlife habitat.
[14:10] The south St Vane Creek. This is an area of
[14:13] unique habitat with a crucial role in sustaining native wildlife
[14:17] and diversity of native species in the county that are
[14:20] particularly productive along. These corridors. And prebbles. Prebbles. Meadow jumping
[14:29] mouse the area. That this property includes is considered zone
[14:34] one, and that's zone one mouse management area. An area
[14:39] in which the mouse. Is known to occur, including adjacent
[14:44] habitat and patches that are likely to be occupied. Riparian
[14:50] areas. These are unique combinations of terrestrial, terrestrial, plant communities,
[14:55] and aquatic systems associated with flowing water that provides unique
[14:58] habitat. An important movement. Quarters for wildlife. And rare plant
[15:06] area sites recommended for conservation and preservation to retain living
[15:11] examples of natural ecosystems that show the enhance and maintain
[15:16] the biodiversity, biodiversity of the region. Okay, so that's all
[15:20] the background. Now, the deal terms. So the creekside acquisition.
[15:28] This property is 127 acres in size. And the acquisition
[15:34] of this property. It consists of three development rights. One
[15:40] of those is unused, the one on the 1015 parcel.
[15:44] With the arena or pul barn. That will be removed
[15:48] and will not ever be built. If the county acquires
[15:50] this as open space. And then two of those three
[15:53] development rights sit with those existing houses. The total cost
[15:58] of this acquisition is $3,600,000. And just to note that
[16:02] the county has 17 million in its acquisition budget for
[16:05] the year, and there is sufficient funds for this acquisition.
[16:12] As a part of the negotiated deal terms. Immediately upon
[16:17] closing, the sellers will lease from the county the two
[16:21] houses and all of the outbuildings in the immediate surrounding
[16:24] area at no cost until June 30, 2026. So the
[16:31] department would like to have the ability in the future
[16:34] to decide whether to sell the houses and is requesting
[16:37] approval to create two house lots of approximately one to
[16:40] two acres around each house and sell them at a
[16:43] later date, subject to conservation easements. The decision whether to
[16:51] keep them to support the open space program or sell
[16:54] them will be made after closing, after the department has
[16:58] had a chance to fully evaluate the need for keeping
[17:01] them versus the potential costs of doing so. So these
[17:05] lots will not be divided from the property at closing.
[17:10] So that's not currently the plan, but if the department,
[17:12] at a future point in time, determines it's appropriate to
[17:15] sell either of both. Those lots would be divided at
[17:17] that time. And the staff would take these proposed sales
[17:21] to the commissioners to vote on that proposed sale at
[17:24] that time, if that were to occur. A question before
[17:27] you move on. Yeah, this is John White. Posek. Are
[17:32] you talking about two additional or you just carving out?
[17:35] Those two. Yeah. It's the existing ones. Yeah. Okay. The
[17:40] town of Lions. The Creekside property is within the town
[17:44] of Lions planning area. And according to the Lions Comprehensive
[17:51] Development Plan and intergovernmental agreement, the intergovernmental agreement IgA that's
[17:56] between the town of Lions and the county of Boulder.
[17:59] The property is designated as a rural preservation area, and
[18:03] by the terms of that Iga, the county agreed not
[18:06] to acquire any properties within the town planning area. Without
[18:10] first getting permission from the town. Acquire properties as open
[18:14] space. So in the creekside, landowners approached the county earlier
[18:18] this year about purchasing the properties for the property for
[18:21] open space. The county asked lions for permission to pursue
[18:25] this possibility. And at a public meeting on May 19
[18:29] of this year, the Town of Lions Board of trustees
[18:32] voted to allow Boulder county to acquire the Creekside property
[18:35] as open space. And the town board asked that parks
[18:40] and open space include them in discussions about future property
[18:43] uses. And the department will aim to do so. Having
[18:47] the property within the lion's planning area and in the
[18:50] Iga is an expression of the town's interest in this
[18:52] area and the county's agreement to continue conversations with the
[18:56] town in regards to that property. And the county will
[18:59] honor that. So upon acquisition of the property. It will
[19:07] be closed for management review and not open to the
[19:10] public. After closing, staff will determine whether the closure will
[19:14] continue or whether other open space uses of the property
[19:17] may be suitable, such as public access trails, other passive
[19:21] recreational uses, et cetera. This entails and involved planning process
[19:25] that can only be done after the acquisition of purchasing
[19:28] and protecting the property. And staff needs ample time after
[19:31] acquisition to evaluate the property, and so no evaluations about
[19:36] other potential future uses have been made at this time.
[19:40] So before I take questions, I just want to close
[19:42] by saying that Ron and Andy have been great stewards
[19:46] of this land, and Ron's family has cared for it
[19:48] since he was three years old, and we're extremely grateful
[19:51] and humbled that they were open to working. With the
[19:55] county to place the land in open space protection and
[19:57] thank. Thankful that the town of Lions agreed to allow
[20:02] the county to pursue this possibility. Creekside. It's a very
[20:07] unique property. And protection of this land will greatly assist
[20:11] Boulder County's efforts and managing the surrounding hall ranch open
[20:15] space, connecting together the natural habitats of the steep slopes
[20:19] and cliffs and protecting that significant stretch of the South
[20:22] St. Vane Creek and riparian habitat. So staff supports this
[20:27] acquisition, and we request that POSAC recommend approval to the
[20:30] board of county commissioners. So thank you for your time,
[20:33] and I would be happy to take any questions you
[20:35] have. All right. We'll start right here and just go
[20:41] down the line. How's that? Vicky, hi. Melissa, Vicky Lawrence
[20:44] with posac. I have a couple of questions. One. Is
[20:47] just a curiosity of why there's that funny little shaped
[20:49] piece that wraps around. That was the fourth piece of
[20:52] the property. You had the three big ones, but they're.
[20:55] All owned by the same people, even though there's this
[20:58] funny little shape. Yeah, I can't speak to the exact
[21:03] history of. Why the family acquire that piece. Except to
[21:07] say that when the landowners came to the county to
[21:11] offer that we work with them to protect it as
[21:13] open space. We determined that it was good. To acquire
[21:16] it, because the way it wraps around that entire piece.
[21:20] It is plotted as a part of the subdivision, the
[21:22] Lions Park Estate subdivision to the south and east. And
[21:26] for whatever reason, I would have to have the landowner
[21:29] speak to that. Exactly. They got it. Okay, so it's
[21:32] somehow platted into that. Is there of a couple of
[21:36] questions? One, is there any possibility of this? Being. Included
[21:42] into the town of Lions and being developed if it's
[21:45] not bought. Currently. It is in the IGA, designated as
[21:52] real preservation. At the moment, no. But the Iga has
[21:59] a termination, and right now, the town of lions. And
[22:02] the county of Boulder, the long range planner, are working
[22:06] to create. A new draft and it will be voted
[22:09] on. So there are always opportunities that during that time,
[22:13] property will be reevaluated and boundaries could be drawn in.
[22:16] Properties could be reestablished. That's not a permanent protection within
[22:20] the IGA. And one further question. So one of the
[22:24] residences was right along the St. Frane river. And one
[22:27] of the advantages. Of this property is having that. Quarter.
[22:31] So if that residence were pulled out as a separate.
[22:36] Sale to sell as a private property? Would there be?
[22:39] What would happen with that riverfront? Would that be kept
[22:43] in the county somehow. So they would be like, That's
[22:47] going to be a close line to draw there. Yes,
[22:48] it is. And we've already determined it will be a
[22:50] very reasonable line tune, an area that the landowners currently
[22:53] use. And mow around the outbuildings. It gives plenty of
[22:56] space between the edge of that. House lot and the
[23:00] creek, and the significant part of the creek in the
[23:01] repair and area would in fact, stay with the county
[23:04] so the house lot would be tight. Thank you. Go
[23:07] ahead, trace. Baker, Posack, Melissa. Thank you. That was very
[23:14] comprehensive presentation, and I very much like the way the
[23:18] pictures and the graphics. Help to tell the story. Thank
[23:21] you. That was very important. And you may have already
[23:26] answered this question, but with a lot of these acquisition
[23:29] presentations, we hear. I'd very much like to. Have maybe
[23:35] a simple one statement or one sentence statement about why
[23:40] the county needs to acquire a particular property. And if
[23:46] I remember what you said you were talking about. The
[23:50] proximity to other pieces of open space. In the contiguity.
[23:59] Is that a sufficient statement? Yes. That was my closing
[24:02] statement. It's also at the end of my Poseac memo
[24:06] and the contiguity of being able to manage this together,
[24:10] having that piece of the creek. Be sort of puzzle
[24:14] piece back in there with that whole stretch of the
[24:16] cell st brain, so. That our staff can manage that
[24:18] stretch of the riparian that's been difficult for them. To
[24:20] have to work around that privately owned piece, considering it's
[24:23] prebble's habitat. And more. And also it opens up a
[24:27] lot of opportunity. I think there are people really enjoy
[24:31] walking down that road, and they enjoy the solitude of
[24:33] this area, and it gives a little bit more assurance.
[24:37] That this whole area will remain very rural. There's a
[24:41] lot more detail, but I think that probably. From a
[24:45] highlight. Yeah. Perfect. And in the future, I would love
[24:47] to see that kind of a. Statement right at the
[24:50] start of each presentation. Thank you, Trace. Janice Whistman, real
[24:55] estate division manager. I think what I'm hearing is that
[25:00] and what we often have is more than a sentence.
[25:04] So it's the whole packaged presentation. And so I hope
[25:06] that. You can take away the whole package and do
[25:10] that rather than ask us to do a one. Sentence
[25:12] statement because we don't want to simplify. Or. Understate the
[25:17] various reasons that we have for acquiring a piece of
[25:20] property, and it really is a variety of reasons, as
[25:22] you've seen in this presentation. Okay, thank you. And going
[25:27] on to the question about. That piece of unbuildable land.
[25:34] Is that unbuildable simply because the geometry is so peculiar?
[25:38] Or is there something else? That prevents. It's because of
[25:44] how it was plotted in the lion's estate subdivision. It
[25:47] was not plotted as a buildable lot. It's sort of
[25:50] an outlaw that borders the edge. Of the property. And
[25:53] so because the subdivision process did not assign it a
[25:56] development, right. It doesn't have one. Okay. Thank you. Finally.
[26:00] With the town of Lions wanting to be included in
[26:03] future discussions. Is there any way that the town of
[26:09] lions could influence. What the county does with that property,
[26:15] or is that simply a courtesy to include them in
[26:18] discussions? It is under the intergovernmental agreement. It's already something
[26:25] that has been established. That the county will honor that
[26:27] this is an interest area that they would like to
[26:29] have input. On through the planning process. Our staff will
[26:34] normally reach out to its neighbors in that area. The
[26:37] local municipalities anyway, and this is sort of. an extra
[26:46] nod toward doing that with the town of lions and
[26:48] then any communications and conversations beyond that i can't comment
[26:52] on what will happen with that except that they will
[26:53] be a participant at the table And reminded and asked,
[26:52] come sit at the table, because we've promised in the
[26:54] IGA. That we are absolutely going to be doing this
[26:57] and talking together. Okay? But. They could not change what
[27:01] the county does. As far as the conservation easements. The
[27:08] conservation. On the house lots. On the house lots, yes.
[27:13] That would be a part of this deal, and they're
[27:15] not a party to this deal. Okay. Thank you. Okay,
[27:20] that's it. Thank you very much. Joan, let's with. And
[27:29] this is just a beautiful piece of property. Walking along
[27:33] that road. Like you say, there's so many different kinds
[27:37] of birds, and I'm hoping that it's deep enough that
[27:42] perhaps there's a good mix of need of plant diversity.
[27:47] On the really steep sections because. Too difficult to graze,
[27:51] perhaps. And all the birds. The cliffs are just stunning.
[27:59] And I'm just really pleased. That Boulder county is looking
[28:06] to purchase this. There's signs of bear all along the
[28:10] road. Maybe because of the apple trees. I don't know.
[28:14] And I kind of like the connection to Jade. Because
[28:19] it just seems like it might be useful for something
[28:21] in the future that I can't. Imagine right now. But
[28:26] my only question is. These buildings look like they could
[28:31] be in the floodplain. And are they in the 100?
[28:34] Or 500 year floodplain. And if they are. could some
[28:39] of them perhaps be removed That's a great question. That
[28:43] will be part of the evaluation. After acquisition, I will
[28:46] say. That some of the property is in the floodplain
[28:49] with the buildings, and during the 2013 flood. They did
[28:54] not get. I know. The 1390 parcel in the far
[28:58] west did not receive any. Flood damage, believe it or
[29:01] not. It sits just high enough. And, yeah, any water
[29:05] damage, or I should say, excuse me, any water that
[29:07] came along did not. Damage these buildings. But. It is
[29:12] in the footplane, technically, and. That's something. An evaluation and
[29:16] future use of the buildings will occur after the acquisition.
[29:19] Yeah. Because sometimes the river decides to re. Reorient itself.
[29:24] Yeah. And our plans might not agree with the river.
[29:26] Right. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. So. Someone down here. Christine,
[29:31] did you have a question? Go for it. Christine Johnson.
[29:33] Poseack. So I'm wondering. Are the two houses to be?
[29:40] Two house lots to be dealt with separately. So upon
[29:43] closing the plan right now is it's all going to
[29:46] be owned together. At whatever point in the future. Let's
[29:51] say the staff determines one of them is better for
[29:53] sale and the other one. Is better for keeping. They
[29:55] could just sell that one, and then at a future
[29:57] date, they could. Do the other one. Maybe they decide
[29:58] altogether so they have that option to do them together,
[30:01] separately. Or maybe the county decides to keep them forever.
[30:04] Thanks. And what is the timeline for making that decision?
[30:09] Is it indefinite, or do you guys have something in
[30:12] mind. No, don't have anything in mind. It's just to
[30:15] have the option. In the future should as we go
[30:18] along and gather data and the management evolves, we have
[30:21] that option, and it still will ensure, because the conservation
[30:24] easements will be on those parcels. It'll still ensure protection.
[30:28] So with someone walking by won't necessarily know any difference,
[30:31] except. That it's going to be privately owned, managed by
[30:33] somebody else, and so we don't. Have any plans for.
[30:37] That it just gives us that flexibility tool to decide
[30:39] that in the future once we have new information. Thank
[30:43] you. And then I'm wondering, it sounds like the road
[30:47] is currently being used and that the property would not
[30:51] be immediately open to the public. But will the road.
[30:55] Will still be absolutely. That's a public road, still very
[30:59] open to the public. And then both of these properties
[31:03] have wells, right? Correct. And they don't have water rights.
[31:08] How do wells work if you don't have water rights.
[31:11] They're fed by groundwater and registered with the state of
[31:14] Colorado. Division of Water. Resources and they're permitted through them,
[31:18] and so they refill through groundwater, and so they don't
[31:21] have water rights in the sense of having a surface
[31:24] ditch owned by a ditch. Company. That feed into it.
[31:26] So it's purely fed by underground sources and dealt with,
[31:30] administered to. The state of Colorado, even though. It's likely
[31:35] the same brain river that's. Anyway. JAnice whistle and I
[31:41] just like to add, well, is a type of water,
[31:44] right? They've been filed. Great. Fantastic. And then one last
[31:49] question. The section. i had Of the St. Frain that
[31:54] the county has worked so hard. To restore is just
[31:58] north of there, isn't it? I think it's on both
[32:02] sides in particular, but maybe the south, isn't it? The
[32:05] south. Yeah, both sides. Okay, but yes. I was looking
[32:10] at that shape and thinking, oh, this would be. Really
[32:15] critical for that. That's it. Thank you. No questions. All
[32:22] right, so I'll just make. Go ahead. Okay. Yeah. Oh,
[32:28] you do have one. I do. Why don't you go
[32:29] ahead, then? Go ahead. Now. Sorry, Melissa. Vicky Lawrence with
[32:34] Kosak again. So Joan brought up an interesting question. If
[32:40] these houses were determined to be in the floodplain, would
[32:43] the county. Sell them. Do they have a philosophy on
[32:48] that? That property on the floodplain maybe shouldn't. Be residential.
[32:52] You mean parks and open space? Yeah. Go for it.
[32:58] Good question. Vicky. Janice Wisman again. So parks and open
[33:02] space is not in the business of determining where housing
[33:05] should go in the county. That's a feature of the
[33:07] community planning and permitting department. And then there's. Also an
[33:11] aspect of our public works department that deals with stormwater
[33:14] and flood water, et cetera. So the county does have
[33:17] regulations about where new homes would go and what has
[33:21] to be done. To build in the floodplain, but for
[33:23] existing homes. As long as they're in the current state
[33:27] that they're in, they don't. Need to be improved in
[33:30] any way. There is no trigger that says you have
[33:33] to elevate it or you have to move. It or
[33:35] something like that, but if. The county were to decide
[33:38] to do something with these homes, then it's possible that
[33:42] the land use regulations would require us to address that
[33:45] if we were to sell these properties without doing any
[33:48] work ourselves, then a new buyer would be on the
[33:50] hook for making sure that the county land use regulations
[33:53] are met. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thanks.
[33:59] Great questions, everyone. I have a comment and a question
[34:04] is this is an awesome property, and Melissa, you did
[34:06] a great job describing it. I've walked the road for
[34:09] decades. In fact, Tuesday I took another drive by and
[34:13] I saw two burners and someone was photographing birds on
[34:17] a Tuesday morning. Just in five minutes. Driving by. So
[34:22] kudos to everybody for getting this one to this point.
[34:27] My only. Question is as far as the house lots
[34:32] and the potential to sell them in the future. Has
[34:36] that been done before with open space purchases? It's not
[34:40] a new precedent setter, is it? Janice whispering again? Thank
[34:43] you for that. Question. Absolutely. We've done it many times
[34:46] because in times like situations just like this, the seller
[34:50] is ready to move on and go elsewhere, and they
[34:53] want to sell everything that they have. One other really
[34:58] good example is the Ahi property that had two homes,
[35:02] one on 75th, one on 63rd. Those were smaller homes
[35:05] and then also the ranch complex. We had to buy
[35:08] the whole thing. And then we turned around and sold
[35:10] the three homes. So that's a good. Example, but we've
[35:13] done it many times over the years. It's a standard
[35:16] part. Of our. Program when we buy a property to
[35:18] evaluate whether or not we need that home for agricultural
[35:21] housing. And if we don't, we often turn around and
[35:25] sell it, because we don't. Want to have the upkeep
[35:28] of that, and we're not in the business of renting
[35:31] houses per se. Okay, great. And Melissa Arnold again. And
[35:35] they're all subject to conservation easements, and they get monitored
[35:37] by our conservation eastern program staff, so they still stay
[35:40] in a protection. Okay. All right. Thank you. So let's
[35:44] move on to public comment. We'll go with public comment
[35:48] in the room. And limit it to the creekside property
[35:52] exposition. Do we have anybody in the room that signed
[35:55] up. Anybody that's not signed up wants to speak. I
[35:59] don't see anyone. And so, Nick, do we have anybody
[36:03] online that wants to speak? Yeah. Those on the zoom
[36:07] call. If you would like to make comments on this
[36:09] agenda item, please. Use the raised hand feature so we
[36:12] can call on you. I don't see any raised hands.
[36:18] All right. So one last chance. For any comments or
[36:23] discussion with POsac. I think it looks good. Anyone want
[36:27] to make a motion to recommend to the Boulder County
[36:29] Commissioners for approval of this project as described above in
[36:34] the written documentation and is further described by staff at
[36:38] this meeting. Carol Byerly, so move. All right, a second.
[36:43] Vicky Lawrence. I'll second. All right, we got a motion
[36:46] and a second. Let's go vote. All those in favor?
[36:51] Anybody opposed? Passed unanimously. Thank you. Thank you very much.
[36:58] Yeah. Now we need a tour of the property. I
[37:04] would volunteer to stay in house, sit. By one of
[37:09] those properties. All right. So the next agenda item presentation
[37:17] will be the 50th birthday party and fundraiser. Sponsored by
[37:22] the Boulder County Parks and Open Space foundation. And we'll
[37:25] have Tina Nielsen present. I mean, who doesn't like a
[37:28] birthday party? Good deal. Okay, let's see. If this. Looks.
[37:37] Hang on. Okay. All right. Yay. Good evening. My name
[37:44] is Tina Nielsen, and I am on staff with open.
[37:48] Space department as a special projects coordinator in the planning
[37:51] division. But tonight I'm coming to you with a different
[37:54] hat on. I'm one of the ex Fisio members of
[38:02] the Parks and Open Space foundation board. The board consists
[38:08] of people who are three staff who are ex officio,
[38:11] which means that. We can serve on the board as
[38:14] part of our job duties, and then we have six
[38:17] additional board members. Three of which are at large and
[38:21] three of which are either current or former postac members.
[38:24] Or HPAP members. HPAd stands for Historic Preservation advisory board.
[38:29] So Trace Baker is a current foundation board member Jim
[38:33] Krug, who was previously on Postac, is also on the
[38:37] board. And then Marissa Ferreira, who. Is on Hpab recently
[38:44] off of. I'm not sure if she's still on. Or
[38:46] not. But anyway, when she got on, she was part
[38:48] of Hpath. So just a little bit of background there
[38:52] in terms of our governance. With this special year of
[38:57] our 50th birthday. As you know, because I've come to
[39:01] you before to kind of give you an idea. Of
[39:05] all the things that we've been doing this year to
[39:07] celebrate. The foundation has been involved, and they have supported
[39:13] us in various ways and. They've also joined some of
[39:18] the activities the parks and open space tables at in
[39:22] order to. Raise. The awareness of the birthday and also
[39:27] of the foundation as a supporting nonprofit. So I just
[39:30] want to. Take a minute to explain that. We are
[39:34] a 501 C three, but we're a subcategory of a
[39:38] 501. C three. That means that all of our donations.
[39:44] Only go to supporting. The department, parks and space departments.
[39:49] So everything that we fund. Is in support of our
[39:53] mission. And in the early years, We did a lot
[39:57] of projects that were staff projects staff led and staff
[40:01] proposed. Because of the evolution, the evolutionary stage the department
[40:08] was in. Where? Management and maintenance budgets or budgets for
[40:15] doing things hadn't really caught up to all the acquisitions
[40:18] and all the work that we were trying to accomplish,
[40:21] so. We were able to fund some things that didn't
[40:24] get funded through our regular budget process. And kind of
[40:28] a stop gap or kind of as an add on
[40:30] to do some. More fun and special things over the
[40:35] years. More and more we still do a little bit
[40:39] of that, but more and more we've been able to
[40:41] fund partners with other nonprofit organizations as collaborators whose. Work
[40:48] is in the communities where we don't necessarily have established
[40:52] relationships or the expertise in house to be able to
[40:55] serve those populations. And as I know you're aware, that
[40:58] is. Really important to us right now. It's kind of
[41:00] the moment that we're in. Today. Is to really establish
[41:05] kind of relationships with many communities that don't necessarily have
[41:08] representation on our parks, nephew. Space land. We've realized a
[41:15] while back that our user, our visitor youth statistics show
[41:19] a certain pattern. Of use. That doesn't exactly reflect the
[41:23] population in the county. So that's an area that the
[41:27] foundation has been very successful. In funding and working with
[41:32] some collaborations, which is really exciting. So with that. This
[41:40] opportunity this year for the birthday party. The foundation board
[41:43] decided that this is a really great opportunity. To really
[41:48] get our name out there a little bit more. And
[41:51] one way that we're doing that is by hosting this
[41:54] party. And so the party. Is. Well, let me just
[42:00] tell you the details first. It's scheduled for Thursday, October
[42:05] 9, from five to 08:00 p.m. Is kind of the
[42:08] happy hour. Affair. There will be drinks and appetizers. Really
[42:12] heavy appetites. You can get enough food. For dinner? Because
[42:16] it does go over the dinner hour. We are going
[42:19] to have some partners that we funded. Will be present
[42:24] and hosting tables to talk about the work that they
[42:28] do. and highlight some of the ways the foundation is
[42:34] supporting them we are planning A silent auction with open
[42:38] space themed items, and we're working hard on getting some
[42:42] artwork. And photography and some special behind the scenes experiences
[42:46] that people can bid on. And have some fun with.
[42:52] We have some special guests, including the Bruce of Prey
[42:55] foundation, which they are housed on one of our properties
[42:59] out at the Carolyn Homeburg. Preserve at Rock Creek Farm.
[43:04] And they will have one of their teaching birds there,
[43:08] probably Charlie. My mind swim blank. Help me out, somebody.
[43:17] No, not a bald eagle. Anybody will come to me
[43:21] anyway. The raptor with the white feather is at the
[43:27] bottom. Osprey. Not osprey. Hawk. Turkey vulture. Thank you.
[43:39] Takes a village. Obviously, at that stage of life, my
[43:45] memory sometimes just goes blank anyway. So the burnts of
[43:49] Prey and then ranger Kevin, Kevin Grady, who has a
[43:52] search and rescue. Dog. The foundation funded part of his
[43:56] training for that. So Dottie and Kevin will be there.
[44:01] There will be a short program where we'll honor founders
[44:05] and. Say a few words. To commemorate this amazing anniversary
[44:12] that we're able to celebrate. Chitako. Of course I'll go
[44:16] back here. Is. A natural place to hold this, even
[44:23] though it's not county open space. It is historic park.
[44:26] It is surrounded by city open space. And. Just the
[44:31] connection to nature and everything, I think. Will be. Make
[44:34] it a very special, very special evening. So our goals.
[44:40] For the party? Of course. Celebrate the 50th anniversary. From
[44:45] the founding and even before the founding up to the
[44:47] present day. And even as part of our celebration, we're
[44:51] taking a look forward to sort of envision hopes and
[44:54] dreams about the next 50 years and onward, but also
[44:58] for the found. Foundation. As I mentioned earlier, it's an
[45:03] opportunity for the foundation to increase awareness about the foundation.
[45:08] We've been pretty below the radar for many years. And
[45:12] we've been lucky that we've gotten some very generous bequests
[45:16] and donations. So we've been able to do millions of
[45:20] dollars of work, really. But we're getting down. We're scraping
[45:23] the bottom of our barrel, so we're. Kind of trying
[45:25] to use this as a way to. Raise the profile
[45:29] and jump start some fundraising going forward. And then the
[45:35] way that we would like to do that is not
[45:36] so much fundraise. At this particular event, but. To start
[45:40] to do some fundraising. So to start getting names and
[45:44] contact information for. Future requests and so on. And then
[45:48] also, as you all know and I know that Teresa
[45:51] will be talking to you about this at the end
[45:53] of tonight's meeting. There is a tax extension on the
[45:57] ballot this fall, and even though as staff were not
[46:01] allowed. To campaign. On work time. The foundation is able
[46:07] to do that. So the foundation will have some materials
[46:10] just kind of low key, but have some materials and
[46:13] information and some yard signs that people can take. Home
[46:15] with them if they would like to. So those are
[46:18] the goals of the party. And really, I just wanted
[46:22] to make sure that you were all aware of it
[46:24] and that you. Hopefully will join us and you can
[46:27] get tickets on the website preservebouldercounty.org. and we will be
[46:32] sending out invitations. In the very near future. Maybe even
[46:38] tomorrow. But if not tomorrow, then next week. So that's
[46:42] all I have. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thanks,
[46:45] Tina. Thanks for the presentation. And thanks to you and
[46:48] the foundation and trace for all the work you do
[46:51] to support open space. Any comments? Questions? Post hack trace
[46:57] trace Baker Posac and forgive me if this is a
[47:01] conflict of interest. But the website will also allow you
[47:05] to purchase sponsorships in addition to tickets. Thank you, Trace.
[47:09] You're welcome. All right. Anybody else? All right. Well, thank
[47:16] you. Thank you. All right. Well, I guess. Is there
[47:23] anybody in the public that would like to speak on
[47:25] this? On the agenda item. Anybody online? Nick. I'll give
[47:32] a second for anybody online who wants to make comments
[47:35] to use the raised hand. I'm not seeing any raised
[47:39] hands. All right. Thank you. And this is information only,
[47:44] so we will move on to the Boulder county parks
[47:48] and open space budget request for 2026, and Teresa will
[47:52] go over that. And thanks a lot, Terese, for getting
[47:55] this on the agenda. I know that several postac members
[47:58] we've. Asked for it before and to get in the
[48:01] process a little earlier. So thank you for making that
[48:03] happen. You're welcome. Theresa Loki, director of Boulder county parks
[48:10] in open space and what I'm going to present to
[48:13] you tonight is the list. Of items that we are
[48:18] going to be asking the county commissioners to approve for
[48:21] our 2026 budget, so I'm going to give you a
[48:24] little bit of background. Some detail about the specific request,
[48:29] and then this is an action item, so I am
[48:32] going to ask. For your approval or any modifications that
[48:36] you might have. And with that, we're going to see
[48:40] this rooted in reaching. Logo again. After Tina's presentation, we
[48:47] are celebrating our 50th. We are very proud of everything.
[48:50] That we have done in the past 50 years, and
[48:53] we're not done. We are still reaching into the future.
[48:55] And to do that, we need to ask. For more
[48:59] support. Just. To again put, like, a big picture around.
[49:07] What? We parks in open space where our budget comes
[49:09] from. Everything that I'm presenting to you today. Is being
[49:15] requested from our open space sales tax. We are not
[49:19] asking. For any general fund changes. And the wonderful thing
[49:26] about the voters in Boulder county is that. They have
[49:30] approved many different ballot initiatives to preserve and manage open
[49:34] space. And. That's the money that we spend to purchase
[49:39] wonderful acquisitions. Like the creekside and to do all the
[49:45] other things that I'm going to talk. About. So we
[49:49] are nearing the end of our most recent part. Service
[49:53] based strategic plan. In 2021, we said, okay, here are
[50:00] our goals for the next five years. We want to
[50:03] enhance our cultural responsiveness and inclusion. We want to be
[50:08] more resilient and implement our climate adaptation and mitigation plan.
[50:14] And one of our biggest. Targets was to really address
[50:18] our maintenance backlog. We have really felt for almost 50
[50:23] years. We're still in acquisition mode. And when you end
[50:27] up with 107,000 acres. Periodically you have to say, hey,
[50:31] wait. Are those fences fixed? And is irrigation water running?
[50:37] And what about the weeds? Which you all got to
[50:39] hear about weed management recently, so maintenance backlog. Was a
[50:43] big push for the last several years, and then internally
[50:48] was safety. So we've been really stepping up our game
[50:51] as far as assuring that our staff. Out there working
[50:55] in our parks are safe. So those are big things
[50:59] that we've been working on. We have, what, four more
[51:01] months to accomplish them? Or at least make some more
[51:04] strides. But we have to, right now, start thinking about
[51:08] what our budget requests are for 2026. So our priorities.
[51:15] For. This is just next year. We have not yet
[51:18] done. Our next five year vision. We said, let's get
[51:21] through 2025 and then plan the next five years. But
[51:25] we know that there are several things on our plate
[51:28] to do next year. And prairie run is the biggest
[51:32] for sure. It is the newest park that we are
[51:35] working on implementing. We have a contractor out there. The
[51:39] southwest corner of the property. Is, we were hoping to
[51:44] have it done by the end of this year. It
[51:46] looks like it'll. Be quarter one of next year because.
[51:50] We as parks nervous space have embraced the county's goal
[51:53] of diversifying our contractors by hiring more women in minority
[51:57] owned businesses. And so we said we'll be a test
[52:00] run. Let's see if we can raise the bar on
[52:04] the types of contractors we're using for large scale projects
[52:07] like prairie run. So. We'll be breaking ground any day
[52:13] now. On the west parking lot and the trail construction.
[52:20] And then that'll go into 2026. And then we are
[52:22] designing the river restoration and. The east railhead that will
[52:25] be on our list to do next year. Buffalo implementation.
[52:30] You've heard us talk about this in the past. We
[52:32] are working with the Cheyenne and Rapaho tribes, and we
[52:37] have identified an area where we think it would be
[52:39] appropriate for us to do a lease. Just like we
[52:42] lease grazing land to farmers for ranchers. For to graze
[52:47] cows. We are branching out and looking at having a
[52:53] unique lease with a Cheyenne Ana Rapaho and we had
[52:57] hoped that maybe it would take off this year. You
[52:59] might have seen this in the budget request last year.
[53:03] But. It's complicated. The Shine and Arapaho tribes are based
[53:07] out of Oklahoma, so. There's not an office and personnel
[53:13] here, so a lot of our work has been long.
[53:16] Distance. They are very excited, and we think this is
[53:20] going to be a novel partnership, so we're putting this
[53:22] back on the list for 2026. Then Prince Lake if
[53:26] you live out near Erie. We've been working on dam
[53:30] reconstruction and. The reason that we're doing this is because
[53:34] the town of Erie developed itself around. One of our
[53:39] larger agricultural. Storage ponds. So because of the increased flood
[53:46] risk, because of the housing downstream, we are rebuilding Prince
[53:50] Lake and that is under construction now, so 2026 is
[53:53] just. A final implementation of that. Then one other big
[53:59] one is the cardinal mill water. And I believe you've
[54:02] had a presentation on that. This is a legacy mine.
[54:07] Up west of Netherland. We had a field trip near.
[54:09] We had a field trip there. Some of you were
[54:11] on that. What has happened is we have state permits
[54:17] on water quality that comes from the mine at it.
[54:20] And underneath the mine structure. And the state has changed
[54:25] their water quality monitoring guidelines, and we are no longer
[54:29] in compliance, so we have been working with several. Consulting
[54:35] firms to try and figure out. How to treat the
[54:38] water. So we are in compliance and we are not
[54:41] polluting the stream. that basically sits just downstream of our
[54:47] cardinal mill And then the final one is what you're
[54:49] looking at in the picture here. we have had the
[54:56] cmx acquisition on our list for 25 years we've been
[55:00] paying an option to buy it Because 25 years ago,
[55:02] the people that sat in my position said, let's take
[55:06] the long view. And when CMX is finished with the
[55:09] mine up there north of Highway 66, we think it
[55:13] can be a wonderful open space and it can connect
[55:16] some existing open spaces like the Ronster preserve, a rabid
[55:19] mountain and south down. Indian mountain. This is really the
[55:22] valley in between those two open spaces and. the property
[55:29] in total was 1600 acres we have since Had acquired
[55:31] 800. This is another 800 acres. It was supposed to
[55:35] close this year. They are not quite done with their
[55:38] restoration, so this will be on our list to close
[55:41] next year. So those are priorities. So before we start
[55:46] in the nitty gritty of what specifically we're asking for.
[55:50] We were given direction from the county commissioners. They give
[55:53] everyone in the county. Every department. Direction. And sometimes they'll
[55:59] say you can expect a 3% increase. So you can
[56:03] look at budgets that have a 3% increase and you
[56:06] figure out how to spend it. Well, this year. There's
[56:08] no increases coming. Actually, sales tax revenues are down. Worse
[56:14] than what they expected. It's not horrible, but they had
[56:17] projected a 2% increase. And it's actually coming in at.
[56:24] -1.3% so less than last year But 1.3% less, not
[56:30] 10% or 20% less. But with federal cuts and state
[56:35] cuts, we've all heard the state has major budget crisis.
[56:38] That all trickles down to county services. And so their
[56:41] direction, they said, okay, cross the board. No new staff
[56:45] request. And no new ongoing request, so we can't ask
[56:49] for more money to maintain trails or more money. To
[56:53] restore wetlands that would be ongoing. So what we did
[56:58] is we looked at our budget and we said, okay,
[57:00] what are one time requests out of the open space?
[57:03] Sales tax. Sales tax. That we need. But I do
[57:06] have to share this picture since this happened, since the
[57:09] last pose act. Meeting. This was the parks that have
[57:12] been spaced float at the county fair. More than 35
[57:16] staff and volunteers came and joined in this wonderful community
[57:20] event. Celebrating our 50th. So I just had to tell
[57:24] you what photo you were looking at. Thanks to Dan
[57:27] Lambert. She's in the front there. Tina. Was also instrumental
[57:31] in helping. This. get Having the parade. Happen, participating in
[57:38] everything. Okay, so with that direction, here are our lists,
[57:42] and in the memo. I have outlined. A spreadsheet that
[57:47] shows what it is and gave you a lot more
[57:49] detail, so I'm just going to give you the big
[57:52] numbers here. So again, I talked about the buffalo. Fencing.
[57:55] This is for fencing and corrals. Holding facility if you
[57:59] have to vaccinate. Buffalo. General land management. That's the prairie
[58:05] dog request. So, more money. Just to. Help enhance our
[58:10] prairie dog management on our agricultural lands. And then we
[58:15] are still looking for one time ag maintenance backlog. That
[58:19] includes center pivots. And improving irrigation and more fencing. We're
[58:24] doing a lot of that this year, but this is
[58:27] a one time request for next year as well, for
[58:29] 250,000. And then water assessments and crop sharing. As we're
[58:36] looking through all of. Our how? We're leasing. And assuring.
[58:42] We're trying to get a really good handle on what
[58:45] it really costs. Both to run water and for our
[58:49] crop sharing. So we're asking for a one time increase
[58:52] of 63,004. Those purposes in ag. Next is resource management.
[59:01] They. Were very conscientious and just said, okay. In the
[59:07] memo I sent you. It's $5,000 request for several different
[59:10] things. But this is really for wildlife and for our
[59:16] community engagement. So small budget increases. For monitoring wildlife, bird
[59:23] and raptor monitoring and. Continuing our work with our culturally
[59:28] responsive and inclusion strategic plan and engaging. Our administrative services.
[59:36] So not all our houses look like this, but they
[59:40] do need repairs. In 2026, it'll be the fourth year
[59:47] of our maintenance backlog investment in our houses. We have
[59:51] 28 houses that we own. Several of them have rangers
[59:56] in them, many of them are leased to farmers and
[1:00:00] those. Two categories are leased to the general public. So,
[1:00:06] like, some of our fences had been neglected for many
[1:00:10] years, so we've been putting on new roofs. And improving.
[1:00:14] We put solar panels on at least one of the
[1:00:17] houses. We're doing better. Installation, making them, bringing them up.
[1:00:23] To a nicer living standard that we can then increase
[1:00:26] the rent. And so our goal is to get the
[1:00:29] houses. Too. I would not say market value, but closer
[1:00:34] to market value, depending on who is renting. Them like
[1:00:38] we subsidize our ranger rent and our agriculture tenants, they're
[1:00:42] not. Paying market value. That we're assisting those. By investing
[1:00:49] another half a million dollars this year, we think that
[1:00:51] we can increase the rents and help recoup some of
[1:00:54] the costs, and then we should be in a steady
[1:00:57] state where our existing budget will be able to maintain
[1:01:01] these houses in the long run. Resource planning. This is
[1:01:06] again, the biggest ticket item on our whole budget request
[1:01:11] is the cardinal mill water and that's $4 million. This
[1:01:16] is an ever changing. Engineering recommendation. We're working. Working on.
[1:01:26] What we can do. What's the economic way to do
[1:01:29] this? What's the right way to do this? How are
[1:01:32] the neighbors going to. Feel if we need to put
[1:01:36] in a big water treatment facility up there. What about
[1:01:39] fire? If we're putting in a big water treatment facility,
[1:01:43] the fire protection district wants a bigger road so they
[1:01:47] can get in there if there's a fire and an
[1:01:49] accident. So all of those things just keep adding, adding,
[1:01:52] adding cost to this project. So we are working very
[1:01:56] hard. With our staff and consultants to try and get
[1:02:00] this to accomplish the goals and meet CDPHE requirements without
[1:02:06] this turning into a huge. Industrial. Complex up in the
[1:02:10] middle of nowhere, basically. So again. It's a mining legacy.
[1:02:16] Prairie run. We actually increased a little bit of the
[1:02:20] money that we were spending to get the southwest. Cluster
[1:02:24] done this year, so we need less money next year.
[1:02:28] So it's just over half a million dollars. To finish
[1:02:31] up the southwest cluster and to get the design for
[1:02:34] the creek restoration in the northeast. Cluster. Prince legdam. That
[1:02:40] is what I talked about with Erie. Again, final touches
[1:02:44] on that. That has a FEMA grant associated with it.
[1:02:48] $3 million FEMA is putting into the prince Lake dam.
[1:02:52] And so our contribution is significantly. Very small percentage of
[1:02:58] that big project. Heron lake. That after the 2013 flood,
[1:03:05] when Pella crossing flooded, It flooded parts of Longmont, not
[1:03:11] far from the St. Vrain. We worked with Longmont and
[1:03:15] put in this big swale with a drain underneath it
[1:03:19] while the drain gets clogged regularly. It's not functioning as
[1:03:24] we had hoped. It's mitigating the flood risk. It's a
[1:03:28] swale there that can. Hold 100 year flood event. But
[1:03:33] we're working with the city of Longmont, and we want
[1:03:35] to redesign that a little bit and improve it so
[1:03:37] it's not always clogged and causing problems, so. That's what
[1:03:41] the heron Lake project is. And then Howell Ditch is
[1:03:44] really a part of Prairie run. It's a ditch that
[1:03:47] comes off lower Boulder Creek out there in the prairie.
[1:03:51] Run area and. We've been working. With mile high flood
[1:03:57] control district, and they've been setting money aside for at
[1:04:02] least five years, we've been contributing small amounts, kind of
[1:04:05] like a savings account, so that we could. Redo that
[1:04:08] Howell ditch. Make it better passage for water, better passage
[1:04:13] for fish. It's going to. Meld better. With our lower
[1:04:20] Boulder Creek restoration that we're doing. The design of the
[1:04:24] prairie run stuff that you see a couple up there,
[1:04:26] a couple of lines. Above. So the Howell Ditch is
[1:04:30] really an agricultural project, but part and parcel to prairie
[1:04:33] run with mile high urban drainage funding. And then acquisitions.
[1:04:40] So we have $17 million. That we have in our
[1:04:46] budget every year for acquisitions. Now, you just heard presentations.
[1:04:51] What? This map? Shows you are. In the blue are
[1:04:54] the three. Of the acquisitions that came up this year.
[1:04:59] Not all were planned, but we got the creek side.
[1:05:01] There near Lions and Hall Ranch and Highle Ranch. We've
[1:05:07] got the Castro property, which is out on Highway 66,
[1:05:10] and then the gateway property. Which just closed. You heard
[1:05:13] about it last month. It's kind of one of the
[1:05:17] missing pieces of the buffer around Lafayette. And between Lafayette
[1:05:23] and Broomfield. The big red circle at the top is
[1:05:28] the CMEX property, which we anticipate purchasing. Next year, that's
[1:05:31] going to be 6.6 million. And then another option is
[1:05:36] coming into play next year, and it says wack property.
[1:05:41] And. That's a budding Longmont. Smaller red circle there. But
[1:05:49] there are two there because we also have the golden
[1:05:51] fried strum. Which is just north of the St. Frain
[1:05:54] river on 75th street between the St. Frane river and
[1:05:59] Pella. So that was an acquisition that we were supposed
[1:06:04] to get this year. And. We're negotiating. The final acquisition
[1:06:13] of that. If it doesn't happen this year, it'll roll
[1:06:15] into next year. But it could happen this year too.
[1:06:19] So anyway, two option parcels. Those are two parcels again,
[1:06:23] that we had committed more than 20 years. Ago that
[1:06:26] we want those parcels along the same brain river. As
[1:06:31] urban buffers and riparian corridor, and they're both coming to
[1:06:34] fruition. 2026 and then I put a very fage circle
[1:06:39] around. A very big area. When the gross reservoir expansion
[1:06:43] was approved. In the negotiations. Denver Water agreed to put
[1:06:50] more than 5 million. It was 5,100,000 into a bank
[1:06:55] account for us to purchase open space in the gross
[1:06:58] reservoir area. So that is $5 million. It's not the
[1:07:02] 17 million that I talked about that. Is buying these
[1:07:05] other properties. It is $5 million just to purchase. More
[1:07:10] open space in the area. In the area of gross
[1:07:12] reservoir. We have spent one this year with the bear
[1:07:16] berry property. Out on. Creek. Is a road. Coal creek
[1:07:25] canyon. Canyon. Thank you. I was going to say Cole
[1:07:28] Creek drive, but. Cole Creek canyon up there. So that's
[1:07:31] what the big target is. There's not. One particular property
[1:07:34] that we've identified up there, but as properties come up
[1:07:38] for sale, And they meet open space goals. We'll use
[1:07:42] that five. Well, the remaining. It's. 3.6 or something remaining.
[1:07:50] So overall, I just wanted to give you another big
[1:07:52] overall picture of our operating. So we are still spending
[1:07:57] more than half of our operating budget on acquisitions. According
[1:08:02] to this, it's 56%. The next largest is ag. And
[1:08:08] we had an Ag tour last Saturday. And. Mike Foster,
[1:08:13] our ag division manager. Was very forthright in telling the
[1:08:18] public that. It's expensive to manage agricultural lands. We bring
[1:08:24] in about $1.5 million in revenue from our leases, and
[1:08:28] we are currently spending about four and a half million
[1:08:31] dollars on these. Irrigation projects and fencing projects. And all
[1:08:37] the other expenses. So ag. Is currently the number two.
[1:08:43] And then number three would be resource planning. And this
[1:08:48] is just operating. This does not include personnel. So I
[1:08:52] put a slide in here now. That shows expenses by
[1:08:56] division. And this does include personnel. So again, you can
[1:09:00] see. We are still spending a lot over 18 million.
[1:09:07] On acquisitions. That would be acquisitions and the whole real
[1:09:10] estate division. The next one is resource management. Resource management
[1:09:15] is one of our larger divisions. More than 42 people
[1:09:19] in that division that their rangers in education and outreach
[1:09:22] and our biologists and foresters. The director's office that comes
[1:09:27] in third. What is in that budget? Is our cast
[1:09:33] projects, our capital and stewardship. Tina is typically the one
[1:09:36] that comes in and says here we have $2 million.
[1:09:39] Here's the projects that we want to fund and it's
[1:09:42] kind of spurring innovation among staff. It's engaging the public.
[1:09:49] So that's why the director's budget itself. Is third in
[1:09:52] line here. Next is recreation and facilities. At just under
[1:09:59] 5 million. Ag resources. Below that next resource planning. And
[1:10:07] this is 2025. So this is not like, this does
[1:10:09] not include the $4 million. That resource planning is asking
[1:10:12] for. For Cardinal Mill, this is. This year's spending or
[1:10:17] budget administration is farther down than you can see fairgrounds.
[1:10:24] Even. Less than a million dollars. CSU extension and then
[1:10:30] youth corps are smallest divisions. And actually, something did come
[1:10:35] up about the fairgrounds within the last week. And we.
[1:10:41] So the fairgrounds usually is managed by public works, all
[1:10:44] of their big capital projects. It's not parks and open
[1:10:47] space. We house the fairgrounds and we do some of
[1:10:52] their budget. Their staff budget is in our budget, but.
[1:10:57] Any big building rebuilds is usually in the public works.
[1:11:02] Budget and. We saw the public works presentation and. Just
[1:11:07] like the post, the roof at the exhibit building needs
[1:11:11] to be repaired. For those of you who weren't at
[1:11:13] dinner. We had leaking roof at the post tonight. Anyway,
[1:11:17] the roof is leaking at the exhibit building. And we
[1:11:20] have fair exhibitors, Molly McGee's craft show. A host of.
[1:11:28] Users in that building. With very valuable things and. It's
[1:11:35] not good to have a building that leaks. so what
[1:11:43] we are going to do is add that to our
[1:11:47] request using conservation trust funds it's a pot of money
[1:11:50] that the state sets aside comes out of great outdoors
[1:11:53] colorado and it is not restricted like our open space
[1:11:56] money it can be used on Any public project. Public
[1:11:57] recreation. So we're going to ask for a new roof.
[1:12:02] at the exhibit building So then here. Is the fund
[1:12:05] balance, and this is what we look at because. We
[1:12:10] have been holding steady with acquisitions. And increasing our spending.
[1:12:17] With maintenance. Our maintenance backlog. And so we work with
[1:12:21] our budget Office and put together projections of what the
[1:12:24] forecast is going to look like if we were to
[1:12:26] keep spending money the way we are today? For one
[1:12:28] thing. And then we put adjustments in there, like in
[1:12:31] three years. We said, we're not going. To be spending
[1:12:33] 20 million on acquisitions in three years. We can't, because
[1:12:35] we can't. Afford it. So what you see here is
[1:12:38] it kind of levels off. 26. 27, 28, 29. And
[1:12:42] then the sales tax expires at the end. One expires.
[1:12:44] At the end of 29 and another one at the
[1:12:46] end of 2030, and then you see. Basically. A cliff
[1:12:51] that we go below where our. Expenditures will be more
[1:12:55] than. The revenue we're bringing in. Now, fortunately, this morning
[1:13:02] at accounting commissioner's public hearing, They approved. Putting. The 2030
[1:13:10] sales tax. On the ballot. For November. So that's what
[1:13:16] you heard about in July. That had not been approved
[1:13:20] by the county commissioners when we presented in July. But
[1:13:25] there were actually two public hearings on the parks, not
[1:13:28] space one. And the second one was this morning. And
[1:13:32] they decided. To yes. Ask the voters in November to
[1:13:37] put that zero point 15. Percent sales tax on the
[1:13:40] ballot for. This November. So what that does is that
[1:13:45] it narrows out our curve. It's kind of. Like the
[1:13:47] Covid curve. You don't want it to be spiking or
[1:13:50] dropping. You want it to be flat? Well, that's what
[1:13:52] that does for our budget here. So. That is what?
[1:13:58] Photoshopped. That is not photoshopped. I tell you, the person
[1:14:03] who took the picture sent it to me and said,
[1:14:05] this is not photoshopped. What you can tell is there
[1:14:08] is a wooden post that the open space sign is
[1:14:10] on. A one by two. If you look, there's the
[1:14:16] one by two you see at the bottom, so it
[1:14:18] really is standing there. It's the most amazing open space
[1:14:24] yes sign ever. So. With. And this would be.
[1:14:34] The second sales tax that we were asking for in
[1:14:36] perpetuity. The existing one we have in perpetuity brings in
[1:14:40] about 5 million a year. If you looked at how
[1:14:43] much it costs us for our staff and for our
[1:14:46] acquisitions and for our operating $5 million is not going
[1:14:49] to keep our department running. So this will add about
[1:14:52] 14 million in. $2,025. So it gets us closer to
[1:14:59] perhaps something that could at least keep our department going.
[1:15:02] So with that. I am happy to answer any questions.
[1:15:07] All right. Thanks, teres. That was very thorough. Yes, thank
[1:15:12] you. I learned a lot from that. Puts it in
[1:15:16] perspective. So about some questions, posack. It looks like Carol's
[1:15:21] got one. Maybe not questions, but a comment. I just
[1:15:27] think things are getting tighter and tighter in the world.
[1:15:32] And so I did a little thought experiment. About where?
[1:15:36] Looking at this budget, what would I do if it
[1:15:40] had to be reduced? And. What could I handle? And
[1:15:49] I won't go through my whole thinking process. You wouldn't
[1:15:52] want to hear. That. But I think I was thinking
[1:15:56] of two things, and I just wanted reactions to that
[1:15:59] because. I just came from public broadcasting. The funding is
[1:16:03] gone for that. It's getting darker, and this is all
[1:16:08] really wonderful stuff, but what will we do? And so,
[1:16:11] one thing. I would think would be either to slow
[1:16:17] down prairie run. Because. We can't not do the cardinal.
[1:16:25] Water quality thing that's just required and that a lot
[1:16:28] of these things seems like there are emergencies that need
[1:16:30] to be handled. So I look at that. I look,
[1:16:34] well, maybe. We could slow down prairie run, maybe. Give.
[1:16:41] And then. I just copped out and I said, okay,
[1:16:45] just reduce everything by 5%. And I don't know what
[1:16:51] people think, but I think that's something we all need
[1:16:53] to be thinking about. As everybody starts getting squeezed.
[1:17:03] So that's what I looked at, is if we were
[1:17:07] required or if the. Because. I was going to preface
[1:17:13] this by saying that. I'm on the mosquito control board,
[1:17:17] and we've been sunset, and apparently the county. Commissioners are
[1:17:21] getting rid of some of these. Advisory boards, and I
[1:17:25] don't blame them. There are 27. And so then I
[1:17:28] thought, well, if you only wanted 20 advisory boards, which
[1:17:32] ones would you want? And the mosquito control mosquito program.
[1:17:35] Is in good hands, and so. It's not a problem
[1:17:40] if it's sunset, but the county commissioners are cutting the
[1:17:44] budgets. And so I just thought maybe we should be
[1:17:48] thinking about what could we handle? This continued. If these
[1:17:57] imperatives continued. And I know this is separate money that
[1:18:01] we have, it's special money, but. We're going to try
[1:18:06] to offer. But we wiggle around too, by getting. The
[1:18:11] roof and that kind of thing. Anyway, that was my
[1:18:15] thought experiment out there. For consideration. So I think that
[1:18:20] is a very good thought experiment. We are not in
[1:18:27] that place today. But what I would ask is. Of
[1:18:32] the things I presented. The buffalo and the fencing. And
[1:18:36] you did mention prairie rung, if there are any of
[1:18:40] those. That you feel. We should be. Saying, hey. Let's
[1:18:47] pull that from 2026. That's what the commissioners are going
[1:18:51] to be. Deciding on. Is. What of these things? House
[1:18:55] maintenance. Are we still going to put another half a
[1:18:57] million into house maintenance. Are we still going to put
[1:19:00] a million into buffalo fencing or 250? Into. Ag infrastructure.
[1:19:07] So that's what I would focus on. If I were
[1:19:11] you. As a group, we like this or we don't
[1:19:13] like this. If you're going to cut something, here's what
[1:19:16] we would recommend. We have been told explicitly we're not
[1:19:21] asking for everybody to cut 5%. So that could happen.
[1:19:25] It has happened in my tenure, for sure. But right
[1:19:30] now they're not saying, just cut. Well, they're not saying
[1:19:35] anything right now for the open space. But the world
[1:19:40] is changing, right? Okay. Let me just say, on the
[1:19:46] buffalo fencing, that one seems like it's an ethical promise.
[1:19:51] Or it's a relationship thing that. Is hard. To reneg
[1:19:58] on. But it also seems like just a wonderful thing.
[1:20:05] So that's part of my thought process as I went
[1:20:07] through all of this. In a prayer run. I know,
[1:20:12] but gosh, something anyway. I think christine wants to. Christine
[1:20:16] johnson posac. I really appreciated. The memo, and I appreciated.
[1:20:25] The presentation. And I like how you slice and dice
[1:20:28] things in a thousand different ways so that we understand.
[1:20:32] And I also think that. Everything that you presented. Is.
[1:20:41] I feel like every year. You're very clear about. The
[1:20:46] priorities. And these fit. In. Very clearly. With the priorities
[1:20:53] and the values of Pos. And I also wanted to
[1:20:58] note that. The county commissioners have been very clear about.
[1:21:05] Continuing to focus on equity. And I see that. In
[1:21:11] the way the spending. Is budgeted in this. I reflect
[1:21:19] on? Some things. That you, Therese, have said in the
[1:21:25] past, which is that. CMax. I think about the gravel
[1:21:30] mining, I think about. The cardinal mill, even the extrapation
[1:21:39] of. Bison and reintroduction. Some of these have been done
[1:21:45] by private entities, but that it's a public entity which
[1:21:50] has the capacity and has the funds. To make things
[1:21:56] right, and I think that's reflected. In this budget. And
[1:22:03] I like that. I also want to note that. We're
[1:22:08] at a point in time where. Some federal lands are
[1:22:12] being threatened and. I feel really. Fortunate to live. in
[1:22:22] the city of boulder and in boulder county and i
[1:22:25] have reflected quite a bit about Protection of lands and
[1:22:30] conservation. And restoration of land. Being done. At different levels
[1:22:39] by different entities. And I think that the work that
[1:22:45] Pos in Boulder county is doing is. Extremely important. And
[1:22:51] I'll also note that you also very clearly show how
[1:22:55] this is aligned with a comprehensive plan. And the last
[1:22:59] thing I'll comment or the question I have is I
[1:23:03] assume that. Part of the reason the Cardinal mill. Expenses
[1:23:10] are increasing is because of changes in state regulation, but
[1:23:14] I assume that also. There's less state and federal money,
[1:23:19] matching or grant money, and that we're having to come
[1:23:22] up with the shortfall. Yes, that's true. We investigated whether
[1:23:27] we would qualify for brownfields and they said no. We
[1:23:30] put in the first proposal and they're like, now doesn't
[1:23:32] qualify for brownfields. Yeah, so it is. It's definitely impacting
[1:23:38] us. Maybe it's not fair to ask, but how much
[1:23:43] do you think the cost of that item has increased
[1:23:46] because. Of. Decreases in monies available elsewhere.
[1:23:58] Well, in all honesty, when they came with the first
[1:24:01] estimates, it was going to be 14 million. So this
[1:24:04] is looking good to us right now. But at the
[1:24:07] 14 million, I mean, in either case. well i use
[1:24:15] the prince lake example $3 million came from the feds
[1:24:20] and we had to put in a fraction 10% Cardinal
[1:24:23] Mill. You could imagine the same thing that we could
[1:24:25] have expected. 75%. With state and federal. And this, we're
[1:24:32] going to have to cover ourselves. Yeah, right. That's all.
[1:24:38] You said that. You've done a trip to Cardinal Mill.
[1:24:44] A third of the third of Posac. Is new. I
[1:24:50] don't have the right word. Some point. Where? You could
[1:24:59] do that again where you're not just repeating. What you
[1:25:04] did for these other people. Well, there's a lot of
[1:25:06] major expenditure that you're. Asking us about. Exactly. Yeah, we
[1:25:09] would love to take you up there and so much
[1:25:12] is evolving. That. Yeah, even for those who. Saw it
[1:25:17] two years ago or something. They're going to have. A
[1:25:21] better understanding. Part of the budget, too. It is? Well,
[1:25:24] that's why I'm asking. It's a big part of the
[1:25:28] budget. And. I've driven up and looked at the outside,
[1:25:31] but that doesn't tell me anything. About. What you got
[1:25:34] to do. Yeah, well. We can certainly schedule a field
[1:25:40] trip. Probably not between now and the time the commissioners
[1:25:42] are going. To be looking at the budget. But no,
[1:25:46] we would love to take you up there. And that
[1:25:48] does remind me I'm going to give another plug for
[1:25:50] the September 12. We're doing a field trip up in
[1:25:53] that area. It's congremine. And Prescott wetland. So two other
[1:25:58] things nearby. We will not swing by a cardinal mill.
[1:26:03] But. You already signed up, of course. We're glad that
[1:26:08] you did. Well, Joan, you had your hand up. Yeah.
[1:26:14] Oh, you got it. Yeah. Okay. All right, Vicky. Thanks,
[1:26:22] Teresa. I have a couple of questions. One is maybe
[1:26:25] just my ineptinus. Where would the buffalo fencing go? Is
[1:26:28] that up in rabbit mountain area? Where's my cMax map?
[1:26:38] So. We haven't been. I think I skipped over it.
[1:26:44] How many times would you like to see these photos?
[1:26:46] I like the little baby. There we go. So surrounding.
[1:26:54] So we're not going to put Buffalo where the mine
[1:26:56] was? The whole idea. Is, perhaps. And again, we're working
[1:26:59] with a shyna and Rapaho. We just. Had a recent
[1:27:02] visit in the last six weeks. With. Two tribal members
[1:27:08] or representatives that have worked with Buffalo. And so they
[1:27:12] came out to look at the land and give ideas
[1:27:15] of how much what the carrying capacity could be and
[1:27:17] everything. Basically on the edges where we have had agriculture
[1:27:22] in the past, we have leased land around the edges
[1:27:25] of the mine. For the past 20 years. 25 years.
[1:27:32] And so it's just converting it from cow grazing. To
[1:27:36] Buffalo grazing. So it's in that area. And the Cheyenne
[1:27:42] and Arapaho would manage this, so they would have somebody
[1:27:45] here that would. Manage it or the Boulder county is
[1:27:47] going to manage. It will definitely be a partnership. And
[1:27:52] all those details are still to be decided. Okay. Yeah.
[1:27:56] So then I had another question about. The Prince Lake
[1:27:59] Dam. And you said $3 million of that has come
[1:28:02] from the federal government. Is there any possibility that's going
[1:28:05] to be clawed back? Everything is possible. We had a.
[1:28:10] Yes, go ahead. Don't worry about it. From the state.
[1:28:12] The money comes from FEMa to the state to us.
[1:28:15] And then. A communication month after that, probably in March.
[1:28:20] Was like, If we can't come up with it. You
[1:28:26] might be on the hook. And we have not heard
[1:28:30] any yay or nay since then. It's always been steady.
[1:28:34] State. Keep going. Keep going. And our county commissioners know
[1:28:37] that. If the well, they've been talking to. Our representatives
[1:28:42] as well. That. If there will be an outcry if
[1:28:45] the money does not come through. But it's entirely possible
[1:28:49] it could not come through. And guess what? We'll need
[1:28:52] three more million dollars to pay for the contractors fixing
[1:28:56] Prince Lake. So I was trying not to say that.
[1:28:59] Hoping not to jinx us here. Sorry. It just seems
[1:29:03] like a big chunk. If we're to lose it, and
[1:29:07] we're seeing that happen all over the government. Obviously. Yes,
[1:29:11] without a doubt. Without a doubt. Thank you. All right,
[1:29:15] any more questions? I just have a couple of trees.
[1:29:20] First off, I think it's a good job doing this
[1:29:22] and putting this all together and showing it to us.
[1:29:25] Most of these projects seem really important. And some of
[1:29:27] them are ongoing. Or promises like Perry, Ron has been
[1:29:31] something that. 's been a lot of times been put
[1:29:34] on planning that. And a lot of effort by this
[1:29:37] group as far as reviewing it. One of the questions
[1:29:41] I have is Harren lake outlet construction. And as someone
[1:29:45] that's out there a lot, is that going to include
[1:29:49] making the trail? Better too. Or is it mainly about
[1:29:53] flooding? It's mainly about flooding because the trail gets flooded
[1:29:57] now. And I'm just wondering if that'll get part of
[1:30:01] the project, too. I was looking at Stefan to see
[1:30:04] if Stefan has more details on it. Oh, Jared. Yeah,
[1:30:09] it says culvert repair, but the outlet doesn't have a
[1:30:12] real culvert. That you can see right now. Jared Roberts,
[1:30:15] deputy director of community amenities yeah, janet so I think
[1:30:18] part of the process is to look at. Can we
[1:30:20] make that crossing better for the trail experience as well,
[1:30:22] because the flooding is what's causing the issue for the
[1:30:24] trail experience, right? Especially from an accessibility standpoint. You get
[1:30:28] to that point and you either have to turn around.
[1:30:31] Or wait through where some people are able to kind
[1:30:33] of, like, skirt around the edge. Yeah. And. You did
[1:30:36] install something nice to get around it, but for people
[1:30:41] that aren't so good. On their feet or they've got
[1:30:43] strollers and stuff they can't get through. Then that's the
[1:30:46] intent with the design. I think, depending on what the
[1:30:49] expense or the cost would be that could limit our
[1:30:51] ability to do. Things because we can't raise it very
[1:30:53] much is my understanding in that area. Okay, but. If
[1:30:56] it drains, it'll be better. Okay. All right. Thanks. That's
[1:31:00] the only question. I have. So how about. We'll do
[1:31:04] some more discussion in a minute, but let's see. If
[1:31:06] we got any public comment. Do we have anybody in
[1:31:09] the room that wants to comment on this? I don't
[1:31:13] see anybody. Nick, do we have anybody? Online. Yes, we
[1:31:18] do. Jamil Molian, I'm going to allow you to speak.
[1:31:28] You'll need to unmute yourself and you'll have three minutes.
[1:31:36] Hi. Can you guys hear me? Yes. We can. Awesome.
[1:31:40] I'm Jamila. I go to see you boulder. I was
[1:31:44] just joining. This meeting, but I had a question about.
[1:31:48] The fencing for the buffaloes. I was wondering what the
[1:31:51] purpose would be for converting that specific area in Cheyenne
[1:31:54] and Arapaho. From pow grazing to buffalo grazing. I just
[1:31:58] wanted to know. A little bit more about that. Okay,
[1:32:02] so the question, not so much input or comment, theresa.
[1:32:09] Do you want to try to answer that question? Sure.
[1:32:13] In parks and open space. We've got 25,000 acres of
[1:32:15] land that we lease. To ranchers and farmers. And they
[1:32:23] have historically been. Of european heritage. So we know that
[1:32:32] there are buffalo herds in the area. There are counterpart
[1:32:35] agencies like Daniels park. That have been raising have buffalo
[1:32:40] on their open space. And same with Larimer County. And
[1:32:45] so we were introduced to the Shyan and Rapaho. They
[1:32:48] were here on consultations. With the city of Boulder. And
[1:32:53] they talked to our county commissioners and said, hey, is
[1:32:56] there something that we could do some sort of partnership
[1:32:59] that we could do to bring Shyana and Rapaho back.
[1:33:03] To Boulder county. They are one of the historic tribes
[1:33:06] here in the most recent. Tribes that lived in Boulder
[1:33:10] county before white settlers. So we said in our context,
[1:33:16] rather than. Leasing land to a traditional cow rancher. Could
[1:33:23] we have an agreement with a shyan rapaho? And they
[1:33:27] would bring buffalo here. So that's what our discussions have
[1:33:30] been. For the past several years. And so the answer
[1:33:35] is yes, they are interested. They also have a board
[1:33:40] just like this that they have to get approval for
[1:33:43] staff and budgets. And that sort of thing. So both
[1:33:47] entities are working on this novel partnership, which would be
[1:33:52] leasing for a fraction a dollar a year to the
[1:33:55] Cheyenne and Arapaho to bring buffalo back. So it would
[1:33:57] be. Converting land we have grazed. With cows to land
[1:34:03] that would be grazed with buffalo. All right. Thanks, Terese.
[1:34:08] And thanks for the question. Generally, what we do is
[1:34:10] take comments at this point and don't really get into
[1:34:13] a discussion back and forth. So hopefully that answered your
[1:34:17] question. Did you have any more of a comment? No,
[1:34:21] all good. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yeah,
[1:34:24] thank you. We appreciate hearing from you. Anybody else online?
[1:34:31] I don't see any other hands raised. Okay. All right.
[1:34:34] Thank you. And let's go back. Postag, at this point,
[1:34:39] did you have something, Trace? Yes, Terese again on the
[1:34:43] subject of the buffalo. In addition to the fencing, Would
[1:34:51] any changes have to be made to the ground in
[1:34:54] terms of planning specific grasses or anything? Like that. Well,
[1:35:00] weed management for sure. Yes, we'll need to manage weeds
[1:35:04] out there. The area is pretty diverse. It is not
[1:35:07] a monoculture of planted grazing grass. It has a good
[1:35:13] plant diversity. Out there, which would be ideal for Buffalo.
[1:35:15] Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any more questions? I had one
[1:35:23] more question, Terese. So, looking at the egg and you
[1:35:26] pointed out how expensive it is. And each time we've
[1:35:29] been looking at budgets, there's quite a bit of investment.
[1:35:32] In infrastructure, whether it's fencing or the center pivots, to
[1:35:36] improve water efficiency. Is there a point where. It's going
[1:35:41] to be caught up and we might see that. 1
[1:35:45] million revenue versus 3 million spent. Start to balance out
[1:35:48] and maybe switch a little bit. Just like how I
[1:35:52] described in our housing. We're putting a lot of money
[1:35:54] into ag. Now and. We are in year two of
[1:35:59] our asset management system. This is a system that you
[1:36:03] put in. All of your inputs and you can budget
[1:36:07] out how much things are going to cost in the
[1:36:08] long run and you can do a better job of
[1:36:11] budgeting for the next ten or 20. Or 50 years.
[1:36:15] So that asset management system. Our agriculture division is one
[1:36:18] of the first groups that jumped on board, and they're
[1:36:22] putting all of their how many irrigation structures. How many
[1:36:26] miles of fencing? So with that, we are certainly hoping
[1:36:30] that we will be able to have a good, steady
[1:36:33] projection. Of what maintenance costs will be in the long
[1:36:35] run and be able to keep up with that. Out
[1:36:38] of steady state, so. We don't need $4 million a
[1:36:42] year to deal with maintenance backlog. Okay, great. All right,
[1:36:47] so at this point, any more questions? Comments? Discussion? Do
[1:36:51] we want to make a motion? Does anybody want to
[1:36:55] make a motion? Terry speaker? Yeah. Shall I make a
[1:37:01] motion? You can make a motion. Okay, so I move
[1:37:03] the postdack. Recommend approval to the board of county Commissioners
[1:37:07] of the budget. Request as presented by Director Gloaki I'll
[1:37:12] second it. All right, so we got a motion and
[1:37:14] a second. Let's do a vote. All those in favor?
[1:37:20] Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank
[1:37:27] you. Thank you very much. All right. So next on
[1:37:32] the agenda would be. A public comment period for items
[1:37:36] not on the agenda. Let me ask anybody in the
[1:37:39] room want to comment. See no one. Anybody online want
[1:37:43] to comment? And this could be items not on the
[1:37:46] agenda. I don't see any hands raised. All right, thank
[1:37:52] you. So the next agenda item moving. Right along will
[1:37:55] be posTC members comment period for items not on the
[1:37:59] agenda. All right. Christine. Christine Johnson Posak. I just wanted
[1:38:05] to comment. On. Some of the. Two public comments that
[1:38:12] we received since the last meeting. There was a comment
[1:38:18] regarding bikes. At Marshall Mesa and. Is that city. But.
[1:38:29] Talking about opposite directions for bike and pedestrians and. I
[1:38:34] think that it's not a bad idea, just in general.
[1:38:40] For us to be thinking. On properties or trails where
[1:38:46] bikes and horses and pedestrians. Are working together about enforcement
[1:38:53] and novel ways of managing things and looking at. What
[1:38:59] other county? Open space. Other city open space is doing,
[1:39:05] and I just wanted to acknowledge that comment. And then
[1:39:09] there was another. Comment that. Was not. Pos. Related. About
[1:39:17] compost, and it sounds like the county. Is supporting. The
[1:39:23] land swap. With city of Longmont open space. And I
[1:39:29] just wanted to go on the record saying, That. We
[1:39:34] need compost. Happening? Within Boulder county or supporting Boulder county,
[1:39:40] and I would encourage that person. To rethink their position.
[1:39:48] That's it. Thanks. And thanks for the reminder about that
[1:39:50] comment about Marshall Mesa, because. And thank you, Renata, for
[1:39:55] forwarding that. She forwarded that onto the city of Boulder.
[1:39:58] To handle it. Anybody else? All right. Thank you, I
[1:40:05] guess. Carol byerly. I just. Continue. Christine's comment. I've been
[1:40:11] getting queries about. Compost issue. Me too. So I'm wondering
[1:40:17] if we could get a brief on what's going on,
[1:40:20] so. I don't say. Well, I don't know. If it
[1:40:24] is a ripe issue, as it were. Good one. City
[1:40:31] of Lawmark. Okay, well, if I could. I can give
[1:40:35] you a little bit of background information on it. So
[1:40:39] again, Teresa Glow Ikea. Parks nervous space. So what? The
[1:40:43] county, when the county established its sustainability tax, 2015? 2017?
[1:40:49] I don't know the year. They put money aside. To
[1:40:54] establish a compost facility in Boulder county, and since then,
[1:40:56] we've been looking for a site. Many of you may
[1:41:00] have heard about the rainbow Tree nursery. That's where it
[1:41:03] had an open space Nexus. That one was not approved
[1:41:08] by the county commissioners, but. There's a fear in the
[1:41:15] community that anyone, county commissioners are open space are going
[1:41:19] to use open space. Sell open space and use it
[1:41:22] as a composting facility. What's happening right now in the
[1:41:26] city of Longmont is they have identified they purchased two
[1:41:30] properties, and these are about a mile and a half
[1:41:34] east of east county line Road, so. They're in Weld
[1:41:37] county, but very close to Boulder county and southeast Longland.
[1:41:42] The two properties. One is purchased by public works. The
[1:41:45] others purchased by open space. The one that open space
[1:41:48] owns is currently being mined. The one that public works
[1:41:53] owns has already been mined. So the proposal is swap
[1:41:57] the two properties so the one that is already being
[1:42:01] restored and is closer to the riparian area would become.
[1:42:05] Open space. And the current open space that is being
[1:42:09] mined for gravel would become the public works. Site. That
[1:42:14] is what is confusing the public. On. You're selling open
[1:42:18] space and going to put a compost facility that is
[1:42:21] not the intention. Open space would actually get more acres
[1:42:25] if they did the land swap, but it's public perception
[1:42:29] that you're selling open space to put in a compost
[1:42:31] facility. So that has not been decided by the city
[1:42:36] of Longmont. That is the city of Longwood. Decision does
[1:42:38] not have anything to do with Bowler county open space.
[1:42:42] But boulder county. Our sustainability office and public works. Will
[1:42:47] be partners with whoever, like Longman. If Longma decides to
[1:42:51] put a compost facility there. We have said we have
[1:42:54] money in order to do that and are willing as
[1:42:56] a county to help contribute. So that's where Boulder county
[1:42:59] gets drugged into this. Now, if that whole deal falls
[1:43:03] apart, Boulder county is still willing to look for. A
[1:43:08] composting facility. They're not looking on open space. It would
[1:43:11] be where in Boulder county. Is someone going to say
[1:43:13] yes, we can have a composting facility next to us.
[1:43:18] Hence the dilemma. We, Boulder county, our partner, parks and
[1:43:24] open space. We want the compost facility as much as
[1:43:26] anyone. We have 25,000 acres of agricultural land that need
[1:43:30] compost. So anyway, that's what it is. And if you
[1:43:36] have any questions, you can let me know. Vicky Lawrence
[1:43:39] with Posek. Teresa, did you say this land is in
[1:43:42] Weld county? It's. Just adjacent to Boulder county. But this
[1:43:44] is Weld county land that Longmont bought, yes. And the
[1:43:50] city of Longmont owns both of those, and I don't
[1:43:53] know if it's in their town, limited, certainly in their
[1:43:55] influence zone. But the city of Longmont owns both of
[1:43:59] those parcels right now. Anything else? All right, moving on.
[1:44:10] To the director's update. So, Teresa, you're still on. Well,
[1:44:13] that's why. I stayed here. I knew it wouldn't be
[1:44:15] long, so just a few things I already. Told you
[1:44:18] about the wonderful news for the ballot. Measure is going
[1:44:22] to be put in front of the voters in November.
[1:44:28] to request them to approve Zero point 15% tax in
[1:44:32] perpetuity. Real estate update, the gateway property that was. The
[1:44:38] property. Between Broomfield and Lewisville had been on Lewisville's list
[1:44:42] for a long time. We purchased it for 2.7 million,
[1:44:47] so that's a nice closing. I know. Poseac asked, is
[1:44:52] the city of Louisville going to contribute? We are still
[1:44:55] working very hard to get them to contribute. So we
[1:45:00] have not forgotten about that request. AG hosted. Ag tour.
[1:45:06] John was on it. Vicky was on it. That was
[1:45:09] last Saturday. Wonderful. We visited two. Farms. There were 45
[1:45:13] people that came out. We got to hear from. The
[1:45:17] great, great granddaughter of John Clark and all the stories
[1:45:21] of that farm that is now county. Open space and
[1:45:24] the current farmers, so that was. A great. Public tour.
[1:45:32] CSU extension is now working with wildfire partners. They have.
[1:45:37] A new within the last year, they hired a sustainable
[1:45:40] landscapes person. And they're working with wildfire partners to help
[1:45:45] develop a program. Working with hoas. to get sustainable practices
[1:45:54] and wildfire mitigation in the home so that's a nice
[1:45:58] new branch that csu extension you heard eric's presentation not
[1:46:01] that long ago How they're constantly evolving. What they're doing,
[1:46:02] it's not just for H. It is four h, which
[1:46:04] is great, but it's a whole lot more. Will toll
[1:46:09] is our new recreation of facilities division manager. Since Jared
[1:46:13] got promoted, will toll was buildings and historic preservation. So
[1:46:16] he will now be the recreation of facilities division manager.
[1:46:20] You might remember him. Because he did the tiered approach
[1:46:23] to all of our historic structures. Mike agana is here.
[1:46:30] Mike Agna is our new division manager for the resource
[1:46:33] management division. So Stefan got promoted to deputy and now
[1:46:36] Mike. Has been. Selected as our new division manager. There's
[1:46:43] a little cascade happening there. Shane, I think, gave a
[1:46:46] presentation not that long ago. About limber pine. So Shane
[1:46:50] is having additional responsibilities as well to fill in for
[1:46:53] Mike. And Vivian is getting ready for the conservation awards.
[1:46:59] We would love to have. Posac attend the conservation awards.
[1:47:04] They're going to be held at our shelter at our
[1:47:06] parks nervous based building on September 23, so we'll make
[1:47:10] sure that you get an invite to that, I think.
[1:47:13] It is typically 03:00 right, renata? She's talking. 03:00 on
[1:47:21] September 23 we'll make sure that you know about that
[1:47:24] and then two other things. We want to invite you.
[1:47:26] We are going to have another 50th celebration for staff.
[1:47:30] At the Ag Heritage center on the 7 September. So
[1:47:34] we would like to extend that invitation to you if
[1:47:36] you want to come out and have a picnic with
[1:47:38] staff from 430 to six. 30 on Sunday. September 7.
[1:47:45] It will be the entertainment there. Will be the low
[1:47:47] flying knobs. And if you haven't heard of them, they're.
[1:47:49] A fabulous marimba band. You might recognize one of the
[1:47:54] members. And then. We are also going to send you
[1:47:59] a parks and open space all staff work day for
[1:48:02] September. 10, September 10 is we're going to be out
[1:48:05] at Prairie run, so if you want a close up
[1:48:08] look at Prairie run and get to interact with staff.
[1:48:12] We usually get between 50 and 80 staff out there
[1:48:15] doing a host of different work projects, so. We would
[1:48:18] like to invite you to come join us for that.
[1:48:20] If you're up for it. That's all I have. Great.
[1:48:25] Any questions? I had one. I know. I forgot. Yeah.
[1:48:29] Go. Joan Lutz with Posac with the sustainable landscapes. My
[1:48:35] understanding is that there will be a recommendation for specific
[1:48:39] plants to plant. And I would like all of those
[1:48:44] plants to be native plants because we have seen so
[1:48:48] many times in the past. When people have planted things
[1:48:52] that aren't native and they got out of control. It
[1:48:57] is possible to meet. All of the criteria for sustainable
[1:49:03] landscapes using natives only. I am not 100% sure. So
[1:49:11] let me tell you. I have been an advocate for
[1:49:14] that for many years. Knowing how weeds take off when
[1:49:21] you plant them in an environment where they don't have
[1:49:23] natural predators. Now what I am also impressed with is
[1:49:28] CSU extension. And what do they call it? Something select.
[1:49:38] Plant, select, plant, select. Where there's sometimes hybrids and. To
[1:49:44] me. I'm not an expert, but to me. They are
[1:49:48] selecting plants and breeding them so that they are really
[1:49:51] well adapted for our environment here. And I'm not 100%
[1:49:56] sure. But. I do think they are less likely to
[1:50:02] escape. so that's what i don't know with the csu
[1:50:10] extension and wildfire partners if they might be promoting some
[1:50:14] of the csu plant select varieties okay because sometimes these
[1:50:19] non native plants you think they're going to be okay
[1:50:21] like bradford pierre and it was sterile it can't possibly
[1:50:25] reproduce and then nature found a way and now it's
[1:50:26] The eastern part of the United States. A terrible blight.
[1:50:30] But the trouble with picking plants. That appeal to people
[1:50:38] for zero escape purse purposes or whatever is that they're
[1:50:44] not picking plants that appeal to our native pollinators. That
[1:50:48] are not the generalst ones. They're going to be okay
[1:50:51] no matter what, but. The particular ones. Nobody's going to
[1:50:56] see whether. These. Rare bees. Are going to prefer the
[1:51:06] plant select ones because. Of the nectar content or something.
[1:51:13] So, anyway, just a plug for native plants. Well, I
[1:51:17] appreciate your plug, for sure. And in parks? And open
[1:51:19] space. We definitely just go with the natives, that's for
[1:51:23] sure. But I agree. The amount of yard space that
[1:51:28] could be converted to native habitat could change the trajectory
[1:51:32] of our pollinators for sure, right? Given. The apocalypse that
[1:51:38] insects are experiencing. It'd be good to give them as
[1:51:43] much help as possible. Well, I'll check and see. If.
[1:51:49] I'll ask csu. What their program is promoting. Thank you.
[1:51:54] Christine. I'd like Christine Johnson. Poseack. I'd like to piggyback
[1:51:59] on that. And. I would like to make some very
[1:52:02] specific. Recommendations because I consulted on the CSU. Extension low
[1:52:09] flammability plant list, which. Is not very extensive and doesn't
[1:52:14] include just native plants, and I would suggest that the
[1:52:18] Idaho firewise. Plant list be included. It's much more comprehensive.
[1:52:27] Than the csu list. And it includes many plants that
[1:52:31] are native to. Colorado and plant select. While many of
[1:52:39] those plants. Thrive in Colorado. And are low water plants.
[1:52:48] Only 22% are native. So. That's not. A great resource.
[1:52:58] In terms of. Fire. And habitat. That's it. vicky Lawrence
[1:53:07] pozak while we're on native plants, Do you know anything?
[1:53:12] This might not be quite. In your knowledge base, whatever.
[1:53:17] Are we moving towards getting a native plant masters program
[1:53:22] for Boulder county through the extension service? We are. We
[1:53:26] had one for a while, and then. It disbanded. And
[1:53:31] yes, they are bringing it back. Do you have any
[1:53:34] details on that? Like when or what? They're. I don't.
[1:53:37] But we can find that out. Thank you. All right,
[1:53:40] Posac. So we're going to adjourn the meeting right now,
[1:53:46] but don't go. Away because we're going to go into
[1:53:49] an executive section. Yeah. So. Meeting is adjourned. The public
[1:53:53] portion of the meeting. And then what? I have to
[1:53:56] do is. I have to read a motion to go
[1:53:58] into executive session. We need a second. And then we
[1:54:01] need to vote. So here's the motion. I move that
[1:54:04] poseack enter. Executive session in accordance with CRS 24 six.
[1:54:12] Four two four a for the purpose of discussing confidential
[1:54:16] real estate matters and negotiations relating to potential open space
[1:54:20] acquisitions.