Good evening. Good evening, and welcome to the August 25th, 2026 Broomfield Council meeting. Mayor Castro is absent. I am Mayor Pro Tem Jeanne Lim and I will be chairing tonight’s meeting. Before we commence the meeting, I would like to inform the public that item seven A regarding electronic bike enforcement is being pulled from tonight’s agenda.
After further discussion, we have determined that this topic requires a more comprehensive review. We will move this item to a future study session to ensure we thoroughly address community questions and policy objectives regarding electric vehicles on our trails and streets, and to develop a clear, enforceable, well understood ordinance.
Information on how to watch, attend and participate, as well as agendas, minutes and recordings can be found on Bloomfield’s website at WW Broomfield Council meetings. Public comment is welcome in person or through our call in service. Instructions for calling in are available on the Council Meetings webpage. Public comment will be limited to 90 minutes total per item.
The first 1 to 15 participants in the queue have three minutes to speak. The next 16 to 25 participants in the queue have two minutes to speak, and if time remains, the next 26 plus participants in the queue have one minute to speak for any hard of hearing residents. President.
We have wireless headsets available through our AV team in the back of council chambers. The council regular meeting is called to order. Mayor and council member McKenzie are absent. There are nine council members in attendance. A quorum of the council is present.
We begin this meeting by acknowledging that we gather on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, and other native peoples, indigenous peoples have cared for this land for generations and continue to maintain deep cultural and spiritual ties to it. As the City and County of Broomfield, we recognize the responsibility to honor this legacy and the enduring presence of native communities.
May this acknowledgement inspire action that fosters greater understanding, truth, and respect for indigenous peoples. Will everyone please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag. United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We will plan on a ten minute break. At approximately 8 p.m.. We will begin with Council’s review and approval of this evening’s agenda. Council may add or remove items from the consent agenda, or Council may revise the order of business for the meeting.
As a reminder, item seven A regarding e-bikes and other motorized vehicles has been pulled from the agenda. Does any member of the council have any comments or questions regarding this evening’s agenda? Are there any objections to this agenda being approved without item seven? A. Seeing none. This agenda is approved.
Our first item under Petitions and Communications this evening is a proclamation declaring September 2026 as Caseworker Appreciation Month. Will the representatives here to accept the proclamation please come to the podium? Mayor Pro Tem and city council members. I’m Tiffany Ramos, division manager for child, adult and family Services division and some of the team members behind me. You also hear us referred to as cafs.
Um, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to recognize the amazing work this team does every day. What makes this team so special is that their why is clear. They don’t do this work simply because it is their job. They do this work because they refuse to give up on people.
They see the person behind the crisis. They believe individuals are capable of change, and they’re willing to keep showing up, asking hard questions and looking for solutions. Even when the path forward isn’t clear. That commitment isn’t just something we talk about.
It shows up in the work they do every day and the lives we serve. In 2025, we received 1433 calls of both child and adult abuse and neglect concerns. The intake team completed 169 assessments of child abuse and neglect. The Adult Protection Team supported 85 at risk adults through formal investigations, and a number 36 adults through outreach.
Through prevention, 106 families were served by our Child Welfare Prevention Team to assess critical services to prevent further system involvement. We conducted 255 searches to support and identify relatives for natural supports so kids can remain with their families, and we supported family. 11 of those relatives to ensure that those children could remain with their extended family members.
For families who remained involved with our system. After our initial assessment, our team made 252 contacts with children and 228 contacts with parents. And finally, the permanency team closed nine cases in 2025. Eight of those nine one the child was returned to. One of those parents.
These numbers give us a snapshot of the work, but they don’t tell the full story. Behind every one of those numbers is a person or a family.
Those numbers don’t show the many late night home visits away from their own families, sitting with people who have just lost their loved ones, or lying awake at night worrying about the human they sat across from that day. And yet they keep showing up. They challenge us to look at things differently, ask better questions, and keep pushing for better outcomes.
They hold a tight standard, and honestly, leading a team like this keeps me on my toes. The bar is high and many days I make sure that we know that this is the strongest group I’ve ever had the privilege to lead, and the truth is, they make me a better leader and a better human.
They remind me to stay grounded in what matters, to lead both with courage and compassion, and to never lose sight of the people at the heart of this work. I’m truly grateful to work for this team and lead this team, and also for the City of County and Broomfield. Thank you. Thank you for joining us this evening.
I will now summarize the proclamation. Caseworkers in Broomfield prevention, child welfare and adult protection system provide essential support, advocacy and resources to vulnerable children, youth, adults and families. Despite the challenging and emotionally demanding nature of their work, they serve with compassion, professionalism and dedication while leading innovative person and family centered approaches that promote safety, stability and long term well-being.
Through programs such as adult protection, outreach, respite, and family search and engagement. They strengthen families, build connections, and improve the lives of those they serve. This proclamation expresses Bloomfield’s deep gratitude for their leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to the community.
Therefore, as Mayor Pro Tem, I hereby declare and proclaim September 26th as Caseworker Appreciation Month in Broomfield. Do any of the other representatives wish to make any remarks? Mayor Pro Tem, if I if I may? Um, we do have an award winning team standing before you.
They just won the C state Award, and we also won, um, Miss Bonnie Steele, will you introduce, um, our champion for calves that won one of five in the state was awarded, uh, as the best state case worker. Miss Steele, will you introduce her, please? I will, this is Valerie. Aparicio. I do struggle with that still, which is embarrassing.
Um, but I gotta just say, uh, Valerie joined our team as the permanency supervisor, and she’s just been an incredible team. Team member and just really came in and earned the trust of her team and has just been a valuable, um, individual for our team as well. And pushing practice. Valerie. As you can tell, I don’t like being the center of attention, but I appreciate this.
Um, I will just echo what Tiffany said of this role has made me a better professional and a better human in every sense of the world. I am very honored to be part of Broomfield. I’m happy that one of my team members, Aubree Briggs, is here.
She is one of the community outreach specialists that works on our prevention team. Um, and so I just want to say thank you. It’s been an honor. Um, and this is just going to challenge me to do better even next year. So thank you. And since she introduced her work, I’ll introduce one of mine. Um, this is Jamie Preston.
He’s amazing and pushes practice as well. And then we have Glenda Rekha as well. He’s one of our Chaffey workers. Thank you. We will now move to public comments. If there’s anyone who would like to be heard, please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood.
For the record, for anyone using the call in service, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak on this item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Seeing none. Comments and questions from council are next. Are there any comments or questions? Council member Hinkle. Thank you, mayor Pro Tem Lynn.
Thank you all for being here tonight. As much as you don’t like to be in the limelight. Uh, the work that you do underneath and away from attention and really what everyone else knows, what you do, you have to do a lot, um, with families close by and
you’re not even allowed to share with anyone. So I feel like, um, amongst yourselves, having a good team is just very important. And I appreciate, Tiffany, your leadership.
And within the city and County of Broomfield, how do we support you moving forward? How do we get out to the community? What initiatives would you like to see done in Broomfield, or what would you like people to know about? Um, the future of your work and just sort of the vision that you have for Broomfield. Yeah, I really appreciate that question and feels loaded. Uh, because many know that I’m a big dreamer.
Um, so I think something that we’re seeing both in adult protection and in child welfare, is this perspective about prevention, right? That we’re really trying to get away from this incident happened. That is unfortunate. And trying to investigate a situation and really trying to look at families or adults in this holistic place. Right.
What we know is that there are risk factors that most of our investigations around neglect are poverty related. And so when we think about ensuring basic needs, I think that would be something that I would advise all of you to think about. Right? Like child care rental assistance.
Um, you know, apartments or rental properties that feel reasonable for someone who’s a potentially a single parent that is working and trying to make ends meet. And so I think those would be things that I would consider or think about.
Uh, currently, what we have to do is our prevention team doesn’t receive additional funding from the state. And so we use existing resources and reallocate them to other positions because there is no funding for them. Luckily, our work is, um, paying off that we do see a reduction in like formalized child welfare, adult protection systems. And we’re seeing an increase in prevention, which is we’re saying that we’re meeting the mark.
Uh, and right, we have to use existing resources. So that would be something else to consider. I think some of you have seen, um, Broomfield is engaged in a rethinking termination of parental rights pilot. And what that means is rethinking termination. Parental rights is where we consider it.
The civil death penalty for parents. And so that means if you have parental rights terminated, you have no legal right to your child ever again changes their birth certificate, changes their last name. It permanently erases their history.
And something we’re thinking about is there is a time and a place when, in order to keep kids safe, we have to do that. And there are times when that’s not necessary. However, our our system is sort of set up in a way that that feels easier than it should be. Right? The weight of that decision.
Um, systematically is not always really considered in the way it should. And so Broomfield has really taken a strong stance of, say, if that is the right choice to keep kids safe, we will do that, and we want to make sure we’ve exhausted all efforts and supported families in the best way possible to maintain any sort of connection with their families of origin.
Thank you. I really appreciate all of that work. That’s a great vision, and I can just tell that you want to work synergistically with other people like our Broomfield Early Childhood Council and other people as well.
100% that are really good thought partners, because child care is infrastructure, much like our roads, much like our computer systems. Childcare is infrastructure and I hope that we get to that place. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Hinkle. Um, and thank you for the important work that you do. I will bring you the proclamation in your honor. And then I’d like to ask council to come in the front.
And with the recipients, and we’ll take a picture. I know colors. Thank you. Back here, behind. Can you. Us. The. The the. I’m sorry. I’m. We have the good fortune to have two proclamations this evening. Next, Senator. Petitions and communications. We have a proclamation declaring September 2026 as Workforce Development Month in Broomfield.
Will the representatives here to accept the proclamation please come to the podium? While they’re doing that, I will summarize the proclamation. Workforce Development Month recognizes the vital role a resilient, adaptable and skilled workforce plays in supporting a strong economy and a thriving Broomfield community.
The proclamation highlights Bloomfield’s commitment to empowering job seekers through no cost career resources, training, education and upskilling opportunities provided by Workforce Colorado. It also recognizes the importance of supporting local employers, strengthening talent, talent pipelines, and fostering collaboration among businesses, government agencies and community partners.
Above all, Workforce Development Month celebrates the dedicated professionals who help connect individuals with meaningful employment, career advancement, and long term economic self-sufficiency. Therefore, as Mayor Pro Tem, I hereby declare and proclaim September 2026 as Workforce Development Month in Broomfield and encourage all residents, business leaders and community organizations to leverage this month to celebrate our local workforce. Explore the resources available through Workforce Colorado. Connecting our community to opportunity.
Would the representatives like to make any remarks? Thank you. Mayor. Mayor Pro tem, City Council members, on behalf of the Broomfield Workforce Center, thank you so much for this proclamation. Each September, the Broomfield Workforce Center celebrates Workforce Development Month by honoring our customers, both jobseekers and employers, and recognizing our dedicated workforce team who work daily to help create opportunities
for others. This. This always gets me. So forgive me. Um. Serving as a crucial cornerstone that helps sustain our regional economic vitality. The Broomfield Workforce Center connects thriving businesses with talented job seekers. As a division of Human Services, we operate with a steadfast commitment to inclusivity.
As one of our core values, ensuring our services remain accessible to all community members, the workforce system as a whole is deeply committed to the belief that every individual who desires to work. Brings unique value to our community. And we take pride in fostering an inclusive environment where all can contribute.
This last year, the workforce team came up with a team charter. The three team members that wrote it are here tonight to share it with you. Mitch Fierro, Clelia McVey and Susan Spriggs. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem and. City council members. I’m Sue Spriggs, and I’m an administrative assistant at the Workforce Center.
Um, we decided as a team we needed a team charter so that we would be unified in how we wanted to come together as a team, but also how we had we wanted the community and our customers to see us as a team. So this is what we came up with.
Um, can you switch to the next slide, please? So this is our team charter. This is what we came up with. And after a few iterations, um, this was what what it says and how it’s designed. And, um, we took one of our lunch breaks to tie dye shirts. So I. Show you what it. Looks like. Um, and we wear them for some of our team events.
Um, and it’s just kind of fun. Okay, so I’m going to just read the first part and then Colleen Mitchell chime in for the rest. So it’s, um, serve is kind of the acronym.
The Broomfield Workforce team believes that above all, we should always lead with positive intent, consideration and respect to serve our customers, community and each other as team members. So the S stands for support. Support businesses in finding skilled talent and job seekers in finding sustainable employment. Oh, and I brought some many serves. In case anybody wants one. I’ll put them in the back. Okay. Can you hear me? All right. Um.
So I am under inshore. Ensure that all individuals, regardless of background, have the chance to succeed through equitable access to services and opportunities. Reach out to community partners to assist in fostering and building positive relationships with jobseekers and employers. To support a thriving community.
And I’ll handle the V and the E V for value. We want to value our team members by cultivating a collaborative environment where shared success is built upon mutual respect and encouragement, with a commitment to a healthy work life balance. And then e to empower.
We want to empower individuals to take control of their career paths and achieve their full potential and live their best lives. Let me give it back to Celia. Okay. Thank you all. Um, before listing our events for September, I would like to sincerely thank our Broomfield Workforce Board. Um, especially our board chair.
Uh, Brian Linka, executive director of Coal Creek Adult Education Center and council member Julie Twiss, who also serves on our board. Thank you. Uh, finally, here’s a list of all of our events for Workforce Development Month. Um, Workforce Colorado Career fair. Statewide virtual event. A big thank you to Linda back here.
Um, Broomfield kind of spearheaded this, and now it’s statewide. So we’re we’re pretty proud of that. Um, on September 3rd, um, unlock your future with AI. And that is our Mitch vitro. And on September 8th is built to serve virtual workshop. Um, and that’s actually our police department is doing that. It’s about getting into public service.
On September 10th, it’s your next move. Um. Broomfield job club, uh, September 11th is Empower your Path. Telling our story. September 15th, actually thrive at 50 plus a job search workshop for experienced professionals. And then, um, September 16th is Workforce Colorado job fair. And that’s also a statewide event every year. I’m sorry.
And take a breath. Every workforce. Most workforce centers in Colorado will be doing a job fair. And then on September 22nd, we will have an open house. And on another, and then we’ll have a employer, youth employment law. And then your next move on September 24th. Okay. Um, you can find all the specifics at Broomfield workforce.org.
So thank you. And let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. Uh, we will now move to public comments. If there’s anyone who would like to be heard, please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood.
For the record, for anyone using the call in service, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak on this item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Comments and questions from Council. Are next. Are there any comments or questions? Council member Twiss. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, and thank you for the presentation.
As, uh, Miss Hardin mentioned, I have the honor of representing Council on our Broomfield Workforce Board. Um, it has been such a joy to get to know some of these folks and see the work that they do and the impact that they have in our community. Um, I also serve on the statewide, uh, Colorado Workforce Rural Alliance board.
Mouthful. Um, and every time I go to anything, uh, talking to people from the state, it is. Oh, you’re from Broomfield. Hey. So. And it’s always a wonderful story about someone at the Broomfield office or some program they did or something. And it is. It is really wonderful.
And I think you’re an exceptional group of folks. And I look forward to seeing what you do. I don’t know, I had a time frame there, I lost it, I guess. I don’t know, in perpetuity. Be be wonderful. Thank you. September workforce month. We’ll see what you’re doing. So we’ll be glad to see that. Okay. Council member Hinkle.
Thank you, mayor Pro Tem. Thank you all for being here tonight. I know a lot of people who work at the Workforce Center, working with our refugees, helping find work outside of working at Amazon and finding equitable work as well.
Um, explaining to them that they don’t need to put pictures of their families out in Afghanistan. They put pictures of their families on their resume. Um, as part of their resume. It’s been interesting to kind of see the difference in cultural values and just society.
So, um, helping people really get, um, assistance and also dollars to help them have a reeducation, um, for, for instance, one of our females, uh, was not able to work in human resources yet until she was certified. Um, and you all helped make that happen. And I feel like that was a really good resource for people who have served our country overseas from another country. And you guys are doing a lot of great work here. So appreciate. You. All.
Thank you. It’s nice to see all of you again. I spent a few years as the council assignees, so I’m I know the good work that all of you do, and I’m I’m pleased.
Um, always pleased to know when it’s September workforce month that we get to focus on that and in the public. And so they, the public knows both the businesses and the job seekers know all the resources that we have available. Uh, thank you for joining us. I will give you the proclamation, and please join us in the front for a photo.
Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. I just got it. Thank you. We had fun doing. The final item under Petitions and Communications this evening is an update on the scientific and cultural Facilities Districts reauthorization. Would the CFD representative please come to the podium, introduce yourself, and provide the update? Thank you so much, Mayor Pro Tem.
Good evening, members of Council, thank you so much for having me this evening. I’d like to also thank mayor, who I know was not here tonight, and all of the incredible Cob staff who have just been amazing partners with us. I’d also like to give a shout out to our SFD Board of Directors.
Broomfield appointee Devin Schaaf, who’s with us tonight. Um, I am Andrea Albo. I’m the executive director of the CFD. I have been in this role for almost a whole year, so I knew enough to still be learning. But continuing to build my knowledge base.
And just congratulations to the human Services team for the wonderful proclamations that you recognize them with. As a former social worker, I work for Denver Human Services for 11 years. It’s special to see that still being recognized. So congratulations to all of you. Really important. So I know tonight I it’ll be brief but happy to take questions as we move through.
Do I move the slides or is someone else advancing. Okay. We can go ahead and go to the next slide. Thank you. Um, the every other year, the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts does a biennial economic activity study. And so this slide here represents 2024 data that came out of that study.
Um you can see there we funded 304 organizations across the seven county metro region. We are still the only sales tax funded initiative in the country that funds a seven county region. So we are the envy of the country, been around for nearly 40 years.
We’re in our 38th year now and growing, as you’ll hear in some subsequent sites here, a couple of things I want to call out. This is the moment where I like to say, if the joy on wonder isn’t enough to build the business case for the value proposition of why CFD is so important, let’s talk about the economic development. You can see here. In 2024 alone, we created over 14,000 jobs.
We created $3.12 billion, an economic impact for the region through CFD funding distributions, as well as incredible impact to educational experiences and free cultural experiences. So we want to definitely see that continue as we look at the growth of CFD. Next slide please. So this snapshot just zooms into Broomfield County.
Um, so as of 2025 data eight county based funded organizations are represented in the district. 368,000 Broomfield County residents engaged in district programming. So that means across all the counties, 368,000 of Broomfield residents are engaging not just in Broomfield, but across the district.
And we’re really proud that through CFD and all of our grantees and partners, we touch every single public school district in the region. And so we continue to look for ways to deepen and enrich those experiences with youth. Next slide please.
So this slide in the next one really the the meat of what I wanted to put on your radar this evening, as well as get any thoughts or feedback. Um, the last reauthorization that we had for the state statute was in 2016.
So we reauthorized about every 12 years as part of that reflective work, our staff identified that we needed to deepen that experience with more transparency, stronger communication, and ensuring that equity is present in how we think about this work. So we decided to bring in some experts to help us navigate some very strong and intentional community engagement efforts that you see here, reflected in five phases. We brought those consultants in GBM, their local Colorado based firms that specializes in PR, community engagement and just deepening that community building focus.
We kicked off in December of last year. We’re actively in phase two right now. In fact, we just completed nine listening sessions across the district. We had one in each of the seven counties in person and two virtual district wide sessions. We had over 300 participants join those sessions, and we want to continue to get the word out.
So we’ll be issuing a survey questionnaire to all of our now 330 grantees. As of this grant cycle. Um, as well as just continuing to think about how we navigate the complexities of statutory changes in what’s up ahead.
So that will take us through the end of this year in phases three through five, we’ll be standing up a stakeholder advisory group, which will be made up of cross of all tiers, all counties, all disciplines that we fund, in addition to members of our board and other county representatives to ensure that we’ve got the the equitable lens on this work.
And as part of that, our SFD board is responsible for voting on whatever statutory changes will be referred to the General Assembly for the 2028 session. And so that work will take us through late summer or early fall.
So about this time next year where our board will vote on what that change will look like and what is referred to the General Assembly. And then we’ll do some warm transition into the legislative session for 2028. And we’ve been making rounds. So again, really appreciate the time this evening with all of our local officials at the county level, as well as at the city level across the district.
I’ve also been doing lots of one on ones with legislators. In fact, I just met with Representative Nguyen, um, last week. Very supportive and I know I was actively involved in the arts and culture world with a lot of his great experience.
So I’m really excited about what’s up ahead, and then that’ll lead us into, um, late 2028 where, um, because we receive taxpayer dollars, we’re not allowed to campaign for ourselves with funding. So a separate organization called Kats, the citizens for the Arts to the zoo. They pick up once the statute is signed by the new governor. That’ll do two things.
It authorizes us as a special district, and it takes whatever those statutory language changes that were made in the bill process that have to go through voter approval, refers that language to the local ballot for each of the seven counties. And so cats will run the campaign from there.
Once that’s done and hopefully get us across the finish line for some success in November of 2028. Next slide please. So you might be thinking, well that’s a lot of work. And what have you heard so far. What’s going on. So you can see here some six major points that are coming out of the feedback thus far.
So um, folks really appreciate wanting to secure and have that predictable funding source. So we collect one tenth of $0.01. We’ve never done a tax increase. Um, although we are polling for lots of different sentiments on that. Um, for this go round, people really want to make sure that the grant application is something that’s consistent and something that people can easily access.
It can be challenging. Um, there with our tier three organizations and county cultural council roles or a lot of different nuances and a lot to keep track of, especially if you’re a smaller organization with little resources to navigate that.
So we want to make sure we’re tightening that up. We also universally make want to make sure that our current model is equitable in terms of how the funding breaks down across the three tiers. Right now, tier ones are codified in the statute and receive 64% of the funding with some nuance right off the top.
Um, whereas tier twos and threes go through an eligibility and grant making process. And so how do we reimagine that to modernize and make sure that all boats rise in the outcome of those changes? We want to make sure that we’re continuing to address those inequities and really bringing together a sense of belonging across the district, because CFD, after all, was created in order to
influence and really improve a cultural experiences for our citizens. And so we want to make sure we’re doing that across the board in a consistent way. Um, there’s a lot of technical support need that’s, um, you know, a commonplace, you know, in the day to day.
So we want to make sure we’re building strong resources there. And then again, that the County cultural councils continue to build some more consistency in that work. So with that, I hope I’m within my, my time here. Um, we can go to the final slide here.
Um, this QR code will take you to we have a road to reauthorization page where we’re posting updates, fact sheets, dashboards. We have webinars that we’ve done in the past that you’re encouraged to listen to if you’re interested, that just continue to provide that transparent communication to ensure that everyone’s coming along with us on this road to reauthorization. Thank you. And with that, I will take questions if there’s time.
Thank you. We will now move to public comments. If there’s anyone who would like to be heard, please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood for the record or press star nine. If you’re using the call in service, please limit your comments to three minutes.
Not seeing any comments and questions from council are next. Are there any comments or questions? Seeing none. Board member Scheff, thank you for being here and for representing Broomfield. And thank you for being here. Miss Albo.
I had the opportunity to attend the July 15th session in Broomfield, which was an engagement session with stakeholders, and so I’m glad you it seems like you have, followed a full process of talking to the stakeholders, and I can see where those recommendations were reflected in what I heard on that in that July 15th session. So thank you for going through that process, and we’ll look forward to what’s coming in the future.
Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Project. We’ll now move to council member reports. Does any member of the council have any reports or updates this evening? Council member Hinkle. Thank you.
Mayor Pro tem, um, wanted to let everyone know that, um, both Councilmember Todd Cohen and I attended our metro area county commissioners meeting last Friday with Attorney General Phil Weiser. Um, and I also wanted to give everyone a quick update on the Wick work, which is wildfire initiated community configurations. The basic idea is that a wildfire moving into a developed area is a different kind of emergency than a traditional wildfire or a structure fire.
It can create cascading impacts involving evacuation, traffic, fire flow, law enforcement, emergency communications, and potentially a very large number of people needing to move quickly. The regional Wick effort has brought together more than 350 members from over 75 agencies, with six in-person workshops and more than 5500 hours of staff participation.
The group has been working on common evacuation terminology, alerting methods, evacuation zones and protocols, law enforcement response, traffic management, and a unified command. One thing I found particularly important is the emphasis on having a response plan specifically for this type of incident.
For example, the terminology is intended to be consistent across the board and evacuation warning means prepare to leave. An evacuation order means leave now and a shelter in place means remain where you are. And a lot of people, we’ve learned, have been confused by past labeling. They’re also looking at pre-planned evacuation polygons and rapid lifesaving activities such as door to door notifications and high, low sirens.
The concern coming out of this update, though, is funding more than $120,000 in DHS grant funding, has been supported, has supported the North central regions whic work, but the current grant structure could change in August of 2027, potentially ending the dedicated Wick work unless additional project funding is identified.
I just think that this work is worth keeping on our radar because it isn’t just a fire response issue, it’s a regional emergency management and life safety issue. The success of the program seems to depend on maintaining the regional coordination, training, exercises and planning that have been built so far. Thank you. Thank you.
Councilmember Hinkle, are there any other council members who wish to give a report? Um, I had the opportunity to attend the Teen Council kickoff last night. Um, we had a wonderful group of teens who are going to be working with us this year. We’re looking forward to that.
As council and, uh, bringing them in to some of our civic activities. They’ll be with us during Broomfield days and at the state legislature and, and other upcoming events. Um, I also wanted to just remind the public that, Broomfield together values and Challenges workshop will take place this Saturday at 9 a.m.. Um, it’s an update on our comprehensive plan.
Um, the, uh, of course, this will be a continuing process. So this is just an update. It’ll continue to continue for another year or so. Uh, the workshop is open to the public, uh, due to the format, the workshop will not be recorded.
Uh, while there will be, um, verbal public comments that, um, well, I should say verbal public comments will not be part of the workshop, but anyone who wants to attend is welcome to submit comments on index cards. So that happens this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.. We will now continue with public comment.
This is an opportunity for the public to comment on matters other than the items already listed elsewhere on this evening’s agenda. Is there anyone who would like to be heard? Then please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood. For the record, please limit your comments to three minutes. Hello, my name is Chuck Swain and I’m from the Wilcox subdivision between Zuni and Lowell. 1/44 and 1/56.
Um, I got a lot of questions that have came up recently in the area. The transition area called code. Uh, we’ve got the Lutheran church that, unbeknown to most of us in the subdivision, suddenly had the rights from a 2016 decision by the city to put in their school classrooms outside to take an
additional 100 and up to 150 students. Now, none of these kids drive, but their parents do. So we’ve got a driving traffic problem brewing. Plus, we’re going to have congestion between 7 and 830 in the morning. And in the afternoon. Also not thought out. Well, it bothers me.
Then we have information going on at the Discovery Church. Um, I asked the mayor about this. Oh, probably 90 days ago. And she called somebody. And then at intermission time she told me they said it was just an exercise they were doing at the church. No, it’s no exercise. It’s a development plan.
They want to stick in 48 low income housing units and eight commercial units of 3000ft of piece. That doesn’t fit the code standards. They do that will have a lawsuit on them and the city. And it would be a big one. And we’ll we’ll go forward to terminate and reverse the annexation agreement that I agreed to for that area.
And that agreement was that I would agree for the city to annex us. And I had the last 240 acres to deal with, but only on the condition they kept us agriculture, a one like in Adams County, with no businesses operating out of their garages like beauty parlors, barbershops, and car
repair. And we all agreed on that. And the mayor was very much for it. And I wanted to put down a 75 year extension. The mayor wanted it forever. So it’s forever now. The code came later to make a transition area. I was out of town on business to Europe, to D.C., to Texas, to Alaska.
For that whole period of time. I only attended one meeting, didn’t have time to say much, but the code says nothing. No, no units in that area. Um, smaller than being on one acre. So that takes care of Discovery Church.
Now we’ve got another one coming up the farm at 1/44 and federal. He’s got about 8.6 acres. After you take away federal and 144 grounds from his ten acres, and then he’s got a road to put in. He’s got an area for an oil gas. Well, that has to be honored and kept off of.
He’s going to have storm drainage. So he’s going to have a net 6.1 acres to build on. That means six units, not eight. No unit. And that thing should be less than an acre. And if they all had to be clean acres without including the water storage or the oil and gas well, back off area. So that’s just my concerns there.
And then. Mr. Swain, could you please wrap up your your time has expired. Okay. I’ll do real quick. I have a lot of concerns about the format in a lot of concerns. Light pollution, noise pollution, traffic density. But then I have an overall concern about our area.
We’ve we agreed in 2001 to do this in the city annex. And we’ve been in the city since state 81. Everybody in the city organization seems to be doing everything they can to turn us into a high density, local, city looking thing like Denver. Mr..
I suggest that we create our own ward for that area from 144 to 156, from Lowell to Zuni. I have our own council representatives and have constant communication with the city, who are different from the rest of the city because of what we are. I ask for that and we’re going to pursue it. Thank you. Thank you. Julia Nakamura um.
I have a question. Um, for years I haven’t, um, sent my utility bill through the mail to Broomfield. I’ve always been able to make a face to face visit to the county building and pay it and be happy about it. Um, besides the fact I pay in advance so I don’t have to come every month either.
Um, but the bill comes out to me. It’s a Broomfield, Colorado utility billing, so I had a problem. I thought I would not be around last month in order to pay my bill, so I thought I better get it sent in.
So I was looking at the billing and I went and I slipped the paperwork and stuff into the envelope, and I looked at what was looking at me back to this little window that was on the return envelope, which. Is. Here. And then this return envelope goes in here and you get this address here.
I don’t understand why the return address for the City and County of Broomfield Post Office, box 209095 Dallas, Texas. ZIP is 753209095. The post office is not really the best place to be sending anything long distance, let alone our taxpayers money for a utility bill.
Are we incompetent to have it come to our own box or our own facility to have this done? Or is our money being held out of state? Why does it have to go out of state? And if anybody even looks at this, if you have somebody who’s older who doesn’t look at this and send it to the mail thinking, oh, it’s going to be there in a couple of days because they’re sending it here to Broomfield, they’re going to find out it
can take anywhere from 8 to 14 days to get it to Dallas Fort Worth, or to get it to Dallas, Texas. So I just got a letter from Hutchinson, Kansas, and it took eight days for me just to get it from Kansas to here to Broomfield, so it could take up
to 14 days to get something to Dallas. This is ridiculous. Somebody needs to explain, because in the old days it went here to Broomfield. It went to the post office here in Broomfield. I don’t know how they picked it up. That’s not my concern. But it stayed in Broomfield.
So is our money not even staying in the state? What’s going on? Thank you. I’m going to answer your question. No, we don’t answer the questions. We we may we do have a water utilities item coming up where maybe they might know something about that that we could, um, handle that later.
I would, I would say you do it because I think it’s really important. No, no, that’s I’m sorry. That’s not the format we follow in public comments. We just listened to the public comments. That’s a complaint. You should do something about it. I mean, we we follow up later. Thank you.
Good. You should. Okay. Well, I don’t know where this item goes, but it’s been removed from your agenda. Item seven A regarding e-bike enforcement. Can I talk about that or is that a someplace else on this public forum? Um, no. You can talk about that now since we removed it from the agenda.
Okay. I want to know why. You did. Because I was here on June 2nd talking about this exact thing where these e-bikes were driving down sidewalks near nighttime. It’s a severe public safety issue. So it says you want to have a study session. I don’t know what you’re studying.
It’s already a statute on how you enforce this law. Uh, allowing additional time to clearly understand the challenges. What challenge? I almost saw a woman and her child get run over by this thing. These things, last month. Because I sit outside and I. First thing, uh, addressed the community’s questions. Well, that’s mine. And third, clearly define the policy objectives.
I don’t know what that means. You have a statute, you have this going on. This is a threat to public safety. And I would assume the city council is concerned with public safety. Is that true? That’s a question. Yes or no? I’m sorry. That’s not the format of public comment.
Can’t you answer as a vote as you guys have voted? Can’t you answer that question yes or no? This is a public safety issue. Yes. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sir. That’s not the format of public comment. I’m. No, you’re not sorry. So this is a public safety issue.
I got one minute and 24 seconds. So I would like to know what this council is going to do about this issue. We’re going to enforce the law that’s already on the books. Are you going to wait. Kick it down the road until somebody seriously gets hurt or worse, killed? Because I’ve seen them flying down.
Now you’re losing light. They’re out. They’re running. It’s dusk. It’s really hard to Say. And these young people don’t pay attention. I almost got run down. They were looking at their phones. So can you help me understand what this council is going to do about this public safety issue? And please don’t tell me this is in the form.
Because the city manager explain the reason we pulled it from the agenda. And when we hope to have a study session. , this was a staff initiated specifically from the PD to address exactly what you’re talking about. Sir.
And what do you mean what you’re talking about? You have you have a law. You have people that are breaking the law. What are you discussing? We’re bringing it back to a study session because there was. Give us. Just give me just a minute. What are you going to study? Give me a moment to answer your question, please. Okay. Go ahead.
We’re bringing it back for a study session. Rather than having counsel make a decision based on the number of questions that were fielded between. Hold. Give me a minute. Between the categories. Between electric bikes, electric vehicles. The speed on trails, under. Sidewalks, sidewalks. Sidewalks as well, sir. And roads included sidewalks.
That’s more important because there there’s people dogs, cats, children, old senior citizens on these sidewalks. And these people come out of nowhere. Someone is going to get hurt. So why are you taking your time studying this? Sir, if I could answer you. Yeah. Go ahead. As I asked when this measure came up, I did ask people.
I’m sorry. What? This measure came up. Metric. What is proposed is a change to ordinance. Now there is existing state law and there’s existing ordinance. And as you pointed out, we have determined that existing ordinance does not cover what has developed in terms of scooters and the unicycles and all the variations that have gotten
increasingly faster. As you’ve noted, I think we all have agreed. We have seen people going too fast on sidewalk, going into the street. The police have video of someone who got hit by a car and went flying and miraculously survived.
So it’s not that we don’t care, but we discovered in putting this out that there is a great deal of confusion in the community as to what existing state law actually says between the three classes of e-bikes and where they can go and when they can go, and confusion as to what what applied to each vehicle.
So we because there were so many questions and needed clarity in our mind, as well as the people who other people of them knew that we were hearing from who said they weren’t understanding what we were requesting, what was proposed, or they had concerns that this proposal would overly restrict their e-bike usage, that we were
going to go to a study session so we can hear from you and hear from other residents as to what their concerns are. I don’t think anybody disagrees that we have a safety issue, and I think it’s Centennial.
Am I right that just passed an ordinance that’s similar because we’re all having that concern. So it’s not a matter that we’re delaying that. We want to take it off the table and not act.
We just want to make sure we get it right, and we want to make sure the community understands what’s being proposed, and that we don’t have any unintended consequences, particularly for me, that we discourage e-bike usage or we push people into the street off the sidewalk, potentially over concerns of fines. There’s questions about speed on a regular bike compared to e-bikes, and there’s been questions about regular bike traffic rules, etc. so we just there’s a lot of questions.
So before we go fast too quickly, we just want to have a study session here from the community, here from the experts. And then it’ll be back on the agenda for a vote. Does that make sense? Yeah, that’s the. Opportunity that you already have. Bike lanes. That’s one. So they really don’t need to be on the sidewalk.
I don’t know why these kids are on the sidewalk when there are bike lanes. And then you’ll get into this. Well, they’re not a bike. So again, I’ll stop. It comes to definitions, just. Like I said, almost plowed me over. And I’m pretty good.
So I’m thinking like if there’s someone in a wheelchair or a walker or cane, what then? And then you got finger pointing. Yeah. Okay. Um, thanks. Uh, thank you for your comments. We will certainly notify the community when the study session is on the agenda. We will now continue with the report section of the agenda.
City manager Hoffman or attorney Rogers, do you have any reports this evening? I’d like to welcome Danny Broussard, our assistant city county manager, to the dais. We will be rotating between the three of them so that everybody gets the great opportunity to sit this dais for the entire meetings. Welcome, Casper Yard. Welcome. No, thank you, mayor. Mayor Pro tem. Thank you.
Council’s consideration of the consent items is next. The clerk will now read the consent items by title. And there will be one opportunity for public comments and council questions and comments. Yes. Point of. Order. Oh. We have Bernie. Oh, Mr. Block. Where did we go. During right after reports? Yeah. Yeah, but it’s not on here. Okay. Sorry.
Next under reports, staff is going to update the council with a semiannual performance and internal audit update. Sorry. Council has a copy of the agenda memorandum, which I’ll ask our staff to summarize. Thank you. Um, mayor Pro tem and council. No one wants to miss Mr. Block’s bi annual audit update. Mr. block, the floor is yours.
Thank you. City manager Hoffman. Good evening, Mayor Pro tem, city council members Bernie Block, director of performance and internal audit, here to provide an update of the activities I’ve been working on since we last met in February of this year.
Back in December, and performed a risk assessment that looked at changes in our organizational environment, solicited feedback from senior leadership, considered staff request, and looked at audit issues impacting local governments.
From that, we prepared a potential audits listing that was then priority ranked, and based on that ranking, a draft of the proposed annual audit plan was discussed with the City Manager’s office and the city and County attorney based on their feedback, the project plan was completed, and that’s attachment number one to your council memo, attachment number two to your council memo is the status updates listing that provides a summary of all audit findings, recommendations and the status of previously issued audits with open or recently implemented items.
Projects that have been recently completed or are currently in progress. Since the last council update include the Custodial Maintenance Audit Developer Incentive Agreements, audit, the Water Utilities Compliance review, business process improvement projects include Unclaimed property grants, policy updates and billing reconciliations, recorder treasurer daily balancing and the auditorium rental process.
I also continue to provide a consulting services to staff on a variety of topics such as internal controls and external audit related matters. I participate in professional development activities through the innovation ecosystem that focuses on process improvement, change management, training, and staff mentorship, and then other activities are audit follow ups on open audit recommendations, employee fraud hotline maintenance, um assist with the ERP system, ERP system
implementation as needed. Uh participation in the organizational strategic plan, um efforts and then artificial intelligence initiatives. With that, I welcome any questions that you may have related to these activities. Thank you, Mr. Block. We will now move to public comments.
If there is anyone who would like to be heard, please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood. For the record, for anyone using the call in service, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak on this item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Questions and comments from council are next. Are there any questions or comments for Mr. Block? Council member Delgadillo.
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And thank you, as always for digging into this. A lot of information here. Uh, it was really exciting to see a lot of data standardization and a lot of really great things going on. Um, I have one very broad question, and then I have one comment.
So my very broad question is how is priority determined exactly? Because there are certainly some items where is labeled as high. And that did make a lot of sense given the potential risk from an HR perspective and things like that.
Um, and then there are some others where, you know, I would have guessed differently, but I’m just curious to know the methodology there. Yes, I thank you for that question, Councilmember Video um, the, um, it’s based on severity and probability and I’ve there’s some criteria related to, uh, how that works in the matrix. I’d be happy to share that with Council. Um, after the meeting, I can send that out.
That sounds great. Um, yeah. Nothing totally urgent. That one was just one where it was just very interesting to see. And then the comment that I have is, I was very excited to see the enhancements when it comes to asset management and stuff like that, and the recommendations that are
forthcoming. Um, I’ll add in one thing that, uh, keeps me up at night when it comes to infrastructure, which is that, um, you know, there’s where we are, there’s the change, and then there’s the so the rate of change, and then there’s the rate of the rate of change.
Right. And one thing that I always think about is that as we get older and older, not only are we keeping up, but like, what does that slope look like as time goes on? And I think that the projections that we have, um, I think that covers some of it.
But I’m curious if my only comment is really let’s, uh, think creatively of how we can see that, because I think we’re able to keep up with things now, but we’re pretty new community, and we’re going to have this huge liability coming.
So I’m curious to see the ways in which we can kind of see around the corner and figure this out. But I think that the recommendations here are really good steps in that direction. So that’s my comment. Thank you. And I believe that’s the purpose of the asset management system to provide us with the data that we need to do more effective forecasting for those exact reasons. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you. Are there any other council member questions or comments? Um, I was I was glad to see that the, um, grant processing and training has been updated. We’ve been talking about that for quite a number of years while I’ve been on council.
So, um, do you feel that that process is completed, that all the departments are able to follow, do their own work? I guess my question. I believe that, um, you know, we’ve had many training sessions that, um, yes, I do answer your question. The short end is, yes, I believe so, but that’s what we’re here.
Our resources, if anything comes up, we have a grants administrator, and I’m also a resource if, uh, you know, if questions come up. But I think they are, um, reconciling those, uh, accounts better than we’ve seen. Um, ever. So that’s good. Okay. Um, I did have one item where, uh, it was flagged. Flagged as a high priority that we needed, uh, additional resources.
Um, as an organization for Ada efforts. But that that would have to be delayed for a few years. So I just wanted to ensure. I mean, I’m sure we’re following and we’re compliant with federal guidelines and things, but could you characterize what we need to do as an organization that we are, um, delaying some efforts for?
I believe we have a good process in place now for handling, um, issues that come up either from the public or internally, from our employees through human resources. Um, there are, um. Infrastructure, um, needs that we address as we make modifications and renovations.
But, um, to do a thorough assessment throughout the organization is a resource intensive. So it’s a finding the technologies either through GIS or other ways of, um, being able to continue to ensure that we’re doing everything that we can. And at this point, it’s just a resource limitation. So it’s not as if we’re not addressing issues. I think we’re doing a good job of that.
It’s just we can continue to do better. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Block. Okay. Now, Council’s consideration of the consent agenda items is next. The clerk will now read the consent items by title. And there will be one opportunity for public comments and council questions and comments.
Will the clerk please read agenda item six a through six by title six, a. Approval of minutes for the regular Council meetings of August 3rd and August 11th, 2026 six be proposed resolution number 2020 692, adopting an updated fee schedule for the parks, Recreation and Senior Services Department.
Six proposed Resolution Number 2026 103, adopting an amendment to the Flag policy on property owned or controlled by the City and County of Broomfield. Six D Proposed Resolution Number 2026 106, authorizing intergovernmental agreements for election services between the City and County of Broomfield and the Jefferson County School District.
Number R, R one and Weld County School District RE-86E Proposed Resolution Number 2026 112 approving amendments to Council Procedures and Rules of Order. Thank you. We will now proceed with public comments. If any residents are using the call in service, they should indicate their desire to speak by pressing star nine to raise their hand. We will start with in-person comments on the consent agenda.
If there is anyone who would like to be heard, please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood. For the record, please limit your comments to three minutes. Is there anyone. On the. Does any member of Council have comments on these agenda items? Council Member Peterson. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem.
I am wondering if Attorney Rogers can I briefly clarify the flag policy and how that might affect, um, requests for additional flags to be flown in Broomfield? Um, thank you, Councilmember Peterson, for that question.
A couple of years ago, Council adopted a flag policy that specific to council to Cob Broomfield flagpoles outside our buildings, our facilities, as well as the flagpoles upon midway to set forth a schedule for the flags on midway and also set forth a list of what are the permitted flags for our flagpoles. Um, this is an option that local governments have of saying we’re going to use our flagpoles in this way.
It is the government speech, the government deciding what it’s putting out to the community. Another option that some other communities do if they say very similar to our podium here tonight, our flag poles are open for anyone. Um, and if you put in a request and we can schedule it and you have the right size, you know, we’re not going to put any flag.
We have a manner restriction, a size restriction, and you can have it for a week. And they open their flagpoles up to whomever submits a flag, and they might fly the flag on a couple flagpoles in those areas. So those are the two options.
Um, our flag policy, it really just focuses on that former option where, um, Cob decides what flags are going to hang there, at what time. Um, and like I said on midway in a set schedule.
So, um, we don’t have a policy to open it up to a person to say, hey, can I can I fly my CSU flag since they’re playing? See you soon or something like that. Um, our flag poles are not open to general public use like that. Thank you very. Much. Are there any other council member comments or questions? Seeing none, is there a motion by council that consent items six A through six be approved? Council member Hinkle. So moved.
Is there a second council member ward.? Second. Is there any discussion? Council, please cast your vote electronically. All council members have entered their vote. The results will now be displayed on the screen that passes 9 to 0. Thank you. Next we’ll go to the action items.
A reminder that item seven A regarding the operation of electric bikes and other personal and off highway motorized vehicles has been pulled from tonight’s agenda. The the topic will be heard at a future study session. Next under Action Item, staff is going to provide the council with a drought status update.
Council has a copy of the agenda memorandum, which I’ll ask our staff to summarize. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem, making his way down is Mark Laurie. He’s the deputy director of water utilities. Hot topic that we’re going to talk about next.
Um, a lot of folks are wondering why we don’t have watering restrictions, and I’m sure you’re going to walk us through that. Mr.. Laurie, the floor is yours. Thank you. City manager Hoffman. Good evening, mayor Pro Tem, members of council. Um, I think this will be your last drought update for this year. Uh, unless things change dramatically in the last couple of months of the year. Here.
You may remember, in July at your enterprise update, we had talked about how conditions on the reuse system looked a little bit concerning. And so we scheduled this action item for tonight in case we wanted to recommend a drought arrest status one for the reuse system.
I’m actually going to recommend remaining on Drought Watch for both potable and reuse systems, and we’ll get into that. I have a pretty brief presentation. Next slide please. So just to recap where we are, I’m sure you’re all well aware that it’s been very hot and very dry. The map on the upper left is the US Drought Monitor for Colorado from last week.
The darker reds are extreme. What they label extreme drought and exceptional drought, which is most of Colorado at this point, including most of Broomfield. Um, the monsoon has been bringing rain in the last few weeks, but most of it’s kind of missed Broomfield for whatever reason, so we haven’t seen a lot of rain chart on the lower
right is, uh, precipitation for this year. The blue bars are what we would expect. On average. The red bars are what we got this year. You can see that each red bar is generally substantially less than the blue bars. So we’ve had a pretty big precipitation deficit throughout the year.
Normally this would lead people to water their lawns and hose to water their turf areas much more than they would an average year. That really isn’t what we’ve been seeing. Next slide please. So for the potable water system, we are recommending that we remain in drought. Watch.
Our supply conditions have not really changed at all from prior updates this year. Despite the hot and dry conditions that I just summarized. Potable use has remained pretty much on our historical average, so when the chart below the blue dots are this year’s use, the gray dotted line is our last five year average, and you can see that other than an early ramp
up in the spring when folks were firing up their irrigation systems early, that water use is pretty much been right on that five year average and hasn’t really been exceeding it other than that spring that springs period, and we’ve been well below our peak year of 2024.
So in some Broomfield, residents and businesses have been heeding the call and have been making some sacrifices to irrigate their grass areas, whether it’s homes, businesses or private homeowners less than they might otherwise given the hot, dry conditions. Um, we can actually quantify the difference.
I’m not going to go into that, but we can kind of figure out how much we would expect them to use and how much they’ve actually used, and it’s a pretty big difference. So it’s actually a big thank you to the community for stepping up and making those sacrifices.
You do see some stressed lawns around town, some brown lawns around town. I think those are sacrifices that the community has made to use less water this year than than they might have otherwise. Next slide. Okay. For the reuse system. So this one’s slightly more complicated.
We did say to you in July that, um, water use on the reuse system among our raw water and our reuse customers was near record highs, um, through mid-July. And that Great Western Reservoir Storage and Great Western Reservoir was dropping at a pace that we felt was unsustainable for the rest of the year, irrigation season.
So on July 16th, uh, staff sent a letter to all of our reuse and our raw water customers asking for a voluntary 20% cut in water use. We shared that with you on July 21st. I think it was at the enterprise update. So we sent that letter out. We did get some commitments back from some customers that they would try to cut. We’ve had some back and forth with a few customers about changes they can make.
And uh, about ten days ago, I spent some time quantifying what the numbers look like. You can see in the lower chart, we’ve had about a 10% reduction in overall water use on the reuse system.
In addition to that, our water resources team and our wastewater team worked a little harder on kind of optimizing how we use Great Western Reservoir and how we pump treated, reuse water from the wastewater facility. Um, and so the bottom line of that is we’re taking less water out of Great Western Reservoir. We’re pumping more water from the wastewater facility on a daily basis.
So that’s also helped to stabilize the Great Western storage levels. So we’re less concerned about the sustainability of Great Western Reservoir for the rest of the season. And we think we’re just fine remaining in drought. Watch for the reuse system.
So again, a good thank you to all of our reuse customers and our raw water customers for making those cuts and making those sacrifices. It’s helped us kind of be in a better position here today. Next slide. So just to sum up, um, kind of a pat on the back to the community. People have really made that sacrifice and we’re very grateful for that.
It’s put us in a good position going into 2027. Um, certainly want to ask everybody to keep up the good work. Uh, I keep hoping it’s going to cool off and start raining, and it keeps not raining and not cooling off.
Um, so we’re going to have probably another month or two, hopefully not more than that of, uh, needs to irrigate turf and trees and so forth and gardens, um, around Broomfield. So just asking the community to keep up the good work, use water as efficiently as you can for your landscape area so that we can be in a good position for next year. Believe it or not, we’re already thinking about next year.
Um, so, um, Kevin Allen, our superintendent of Water Resources, has been working hard to connect with other water users in the area to acquire. You can actually acquire. I’ve talked before about our carryover capacity, the amount of water, that of water that we can legally, essentially carry over from one year to the next.
You can actually lease some of that capacity from other entities. And he’s been working to connect with other other entities and acquire some more of that carryover capacity, which will just give us more water going into next year. Um.
And I shudder to say this, but January is, what, four months away? So we’ll be looking closely at snowpack as it develops over the winter to see if we’re in for another dry year or if things will, um, improve for going into 2027. So do your snow dances as, uh, as winter approaches.
And as I said, I think this will be the final update for this year unless we see something really wild dramatically change between now and, say, October or so. That’s all I have. So I’d be happy to entertain any questions that you all have about conditions as they stand or where we’re heading. Great. Thank you. Um, we will now move to public comments.
If there’s anyone who would like to be heard, please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood. For the record, for anyone using the call in service, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak on this item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Roxie July Blackmore uh, I know you made the statement that we could maybe pull some water from other entities.
Um, I’ve been around the Front Range now quite a bit. Um, and the other entities are low on water too, and they’ll have to pull from anybody that they can pull from. And Colorado is not looking very favorable. Um, I, I’m curious.
I know that if Dillon Reservoir goes much lower, that Denver’s going to start having some problems. And I know we get quite a bit of our water from Denver. Uh, are we at any point thinking that we might have to consider a true drought next year? And I’m speaking with minimum snow because unless something, uh, if Mother Nature decides to give us a lot of snow in the
mountains, we have a lot of reservoirs up in the mountains that are, um, looking pretty bad. There’s no fishing. Um, that’s why the bears are coming to the city. Because there’s no berries. There’s no nothing. And this is in all of my.
I’m not going to say how old I am, but in all of my time right now, this is probably been for the Front Range and the mountains. Probably the worst I have seen it, uh, out where I come from, on the eastern plains. Yet they’ve had some pretty good rains, but they also got held out a couple of times.
So when it comes to the agricultural side, they haven’t had the best, but at least they had a few rains. But most of that had to go downstream because once it dries, just like here, it gets onto the ground and it runs away. So there’s no soaking in. Um, so I’m just a little worried.
Um, I’m hoping that you’re not afraid to call a true drought next year. If we really need to. That’s. I think that’s what a lot of people are thinking about this year.
Um, and I know we’ve had the water that we can back up, but next year, I just want to make sure that you’re not afraid to go ahead and call it to drought. And we’ll have to enforce it even to the hose, along with regular taxpayers of Broomfield. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other public comments? We have, uh, questions and comments from council. Next. Council member Hinkle. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem, thank you for the presentation.
Heading into a very difficult season and predicting what we’re going to have in 2027. Um, I appreciate the communication. I’m making sure that our reuse customers are, you know, pulling back, um, it sounded like we wanted them to do a voluntary 20%.
Um, are we still communicating even though they hit the 10% mark? Are we communicating? Hey, we’ve hit 10%. Could we, you know, ramp it up a little bit. More? Thank you. Member Council member Henkel for that. Um, yeah, we’re we’re in pretty regular contact with many of our reuse customers.
There are some of them that are smaller, and we’re not as in contact with, but several of our several of our large hose, uh, and golf courses interlock in Greenway Park. We’re in pretty regular communication with them for a whole host of reasons. So we do kind of reiterate these messages of drought use water efficiently.
Many of those are the ones that did give us commitments that they were going to cut. And in addition to that, I should have mentioned, but I didn’t, um, Cob Parks is is the biggest single category of water use on the reuse system, and we have been closely coordinating with them, and they planned out some cuts, especially on non athletic fields.
But they were going to do 20% reductions. So we are continuing to talk about that pretty much with everybody that we can on the reuse system. Awesome. Thank you so much. And then just sort of piggyback on what Miss Jewell was saying I agree I have concerns about 2027.
Um, my next question that, um, I had typed up earlier, at what point will we have enough information about 2027? In that water year to know if we’re going to have a problem during summer at what are some key indicators that we’re going to be looking at. I know you said snowpack, other other key indicators.
Yeah. Thank you for that. Um, I’ll try not to geek out on this too much. Um, so, so, uh, how much time do you have? Um, so the Northern Water Board, the first benchmark we’ll look for is the Northern Water Board sets an initial quota for the CBT system in November. Um, it’s almost always 50%.
That’s sort of the floor that they’re setting for the year. They do occasionally set it at 40%. I don’t know of a time when they’ve set the fall quota lower than 40%. So we’ll look to see what they do in November. That’s usually their second or third meeting in November.
Um, I’d be surprised if they don’t do 40% this year just to send a signal that they’re they’re getting ready for drought. Beyond that, it’s going to be the same timing that it was this past winter, roughly. So we’ll be watching snowpack probably starting in January. I mean, literally the team at Water Utilities was discussing this mid-January.
You know, you think we’re only halfway through winter, but once a pattern sets in, you’re pretty confident that a pattern is going to be there. And we’re starting to think about it. So we track snowpack throughout the winter. Um, if it looks bad enough, we’d probably give you an update in the winter.
That’s possible. In one of the on one of the enterprise updates to just say it’s possible that we’re going to come to you with a recommendation this spring. The real critical dates are going to be in the spring.
Uh, so we’re on a curtailment from Denver water of 20% through whenever they decide to update that at the end of next snowpack season. So that’s probably going to be March, April, possibly May, but it’s probably going to be March or April that they would decide whether they’re going to continue that curtailment or relax it or get rid of it altogether. And then the Northern Water Board sets.
They’re mostly final quota for the CBT system in April. It’s usually their second meeting in April. So it’ll be the same timing as it was this year. If we were going to make a recommendation, it would be late April or early May.
Um, and we’re, you know, through our procedures, we’re on top of that. So we’re thinking about it, like I said, January, February. If we think there’s going to be a need to make a recommendation and have an agenda item for you all on your action, on your action agenda, we’ll schedule that in February ish.
Um, so that, you know, we can get some lead time, um, and make sure that we’re able to get that when we want to get it on the on the agenda in April or May. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Council member ward. Thank you. Mayor Pro tem. Um, my first question might be for Attorney Rogers. I’m not entirely sure.
Um, is in regards to the reuse water system, but specifically for Interlochen in the special agreement that they got decades ago. Um, does that agreement contemplate what happens during a drought? And by that, I mean, are they subject to the same restrictions that we would have to we could impose on other
reuse, uh, users or because of their special agreement, we are obligated to provide them the full amount that they agreed to in 1980, something, 1990. Um, thank you for that question, Councilmember Ward. I actually didn’t pull the agreement for to prep for tonight, and I apologize for that. But, Mark, ah, Mr..
Laurie, I’m sorry. Are you you’re good on that one, I think. Yeah. We because we have talked about this with Carl front is our attorney that works with Mark on those agreements. Yeah. I think it’ll be worth doubling back and making sure we’ll review the agreement again.
But we have reviewed that agreement with with Carl Front, one of our attorneys in the attorney’s office, and, um, the agreement says that they are subject to all rules and ordinances that the city passes. So if we pass drought restrictions, they are subject to the drought restrictions. Okay. Wonderful. Um, my next question is.
Probably just something that some people are thinking in their head right now, just in the community. Um, you know, we have some people who are taking this threat of a drought for us specifically, but just the state of Colorado having a drought very seriously and cutting back on on water.
And then there are going to be others who don’t, um. Besides us having a sufficient amount of water for all of our kind of five year average that we’re seeing, is there any other reason we wouldn’t go into a official drought? Um, not just a drought watch, but an official drought status,
because I think some people are probably feeling irritated that they’re they’re cutting back and then others are not. And there’s not really consequences right now without the official drought declaration. Um, thank you, Council member Ward. That’s a that’s a tricky question.
Um, so, so, you know, in terms of what’s happening now, and some people are cutting back and some aren’t the best we can do is communicate, um, take the complaints we get from community, investigate them, do our enforcement actions, and try to make sure as many people are complying with what we’re asking as possible, as well as
continue to get the message out there about, you know, I think you’d have to be sleeping under a rock to not be aware that we’re in a drought or that the Colorado River is in some concern right now. Um, so I think more and more people are taking it seriously in terms of declaring a drought. Stage one.
Um, I feel strongly and I think it’s a standard practice in the water sector and the water industry, that you really do it based on the overall water supply and water and supply, water supply and demand balance. Um, that it’s taxing on staff, it’s taxing on the community.
Um, it imposes a lot of costs to go into a mandatory restriction. You’ve seen the news stories about Denver and about Aurora and other communities that actually do have mandatory restrictions in the amount of work that it takes to make that happen. And it creates even more controversy.
So we kind of we don’t really want to do that unless it really is necessary based on our supply and our demand balance, on what we expect, I think, to solve the problem that you’ve highlighted, we want to continue to step up communications, reach people that we’re not reaching.
We’re looking at, in fact, today, um, our water resources team kicked off our new process to develop a new water efficiency plan, which will probably involve some, you know, new communication strategies, new communication methods that might make us better both during normal times and during drought times. I think that’s probably where we have to go in terms of trying to equal those things out.
Um, but it’s certainly always going to be a challenge. Okay. Um, I’m glad you mentioned that cost benefit analysis. Um, because that leads me into my next question, which is about the. Decision that staff is going through right now about potentially leasing some additional rights for carryover.
Um, I assume the reason we’re doing we want to do the carryover is to ensure we don’t go into a drought declaration potentially next year. Would that be correct? It’s, um, I wouldn’t. Quite put one of the reasons. Yeah, it’s an insurance policy, so. Yeah. Okay.
Um, are we doing that same kind of cost benefit analysis between how much those lease that leasing right, is going to be for whatever period of time that is versus, you know, going into an official drought declaration? Um, we have not done a formal cost benefit analysis.
This particular lease that gave us additional carryover capacity to take to to basically allow us to hold more CBT water into next year was essentially a swap. We actually it’s with a ditch company of farming organization. We actually lease them some CBD water for this year because we finally realized we’re going to have a little bit extra.
So we leased them some CBD water for this year, in addition to them paying for that water for this year, they gave us their carryover capacity going into next year. So it was essentially a payment and a swap. Um, because they don’t they don’t have any CBD water left, so they’re not going to have anything to carry over in the next year.
So they gave us the carryover capacity. Um, so it’s a in a way it’s a win win for us. Okay, great. That’s all my questions. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Peterson. Yes. Thank you. I’m just wondering if you or actually Manager Hoffman just stepped out.
Uh, have an answer to Miss Julie’s question about why we are outsourcing our billing for water utilities and what the grace period is for that. I think City. Manager Hoffman. Was going to hope to address that. But we you want to take that? Okay. Good evening, mayor Pro Tem and council members can ret water utilities director.
Um, will we be reaching out to our finance department? Because they’re the ones that oversee the utility billing department, and we will be back in touch with, uh, Miss Jewell and also with council and advising them what that outcome is. Thank you so. Much. Uh, thank you. Are there any other council member comments or questions? Okay. Seeing none thank you for the update.
The final item under Action Items is Council consideration on first reading of a proposed ordinance related to review criteria for administrative amendments to site development plans. Council has a copy of the Agenda Agenda memorandum, which I’ll ask our staff to summarize. Thank you mayor.
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, this evening we have Deputy City and County Manager Anna Burton. City. Thank you. And thank you. Mayor. Pro Tem, members of council. Um, this evening, I’m here to present ordinance number 2305, which updates the review criteria for site development plan amendments specific for administrative review.
This ordinance was prepared and has been brought forward based on council direction. Next slide please. So as I mentioned, this request came forward from council because when residents choose to buy or rent a home, um, in a residential development, whether that’s an apartment, a townhome or a single family residence, they often rely on the amenities that are shown on the approved site development plan.
Um, that could be a pool, could be nearby trails and recreation centers. It could be a dog park right now, a developer can proposed changes to these amenities that could result in a reduction in the size of the amenities through an administrative process. That means that no public hearing would be required. Ordinance number 2305 changes this.
Any modification under this ordinance that would reduce or eliminate a permanent outdoor recreation facility would no longer qualify for administrative approval. It would go through a public hearing process. Next slide please. So this ordinance would add one new finding to section 1738 to 30.
It allows the location and size of recreation facilities to be changed administratively only if two conditions are met. The first is that the size of the facility cannot be changed, or it cannot be reduced, I should say. And second, the new location and design must remain appropriate given the approved site development plan. Next slide please.
It’s important to note that this additional, finding is in addition to all the existing requirements in place for administrative review of changes for site site development plans, so applicants would still have to show that any proposed change to a site development plan, for example, wouldn’t be able to reduce landscaping materials or plantings.
It can’t increase parking by more than 10%, and it needs to satisfy all of those other required findings that have things to do with building heights, dimensions, and a variety of things. So this only adds one new review criteria. Next slide please.
So if under this amendment, if a proposed modification can’t meet the new required finding, it doesn’t mean that the developer still couldn’t propose this change. It just means that it can’t be approved administratively and will have to go through a public hearing process.
That means a full review by the Land Use Review Commission at a public hearing to provide an opportunity for public comment and consideration by City council, either at a public meeting or through the council call up process, depending on the the process involved with the size of the property, the goal is to make sure that changes and amenities, um. When there are changes to amenities, residents may have relied on when they moved into a certain development.
Um, that there aren’t changes to it without a public process and an opportunity for them to be involved in the review. Um, and I should say this process provides also some more discretion. Um, council can then through that public hearing process, um, still consider reductions to the size of a recreation facility, but they can weigh whether the changes represent a trade off, for example, that merits that consideration. Improved accessibility or enhanced recreational value.
For example. Next slide please. So if council wishes to proceed with this ordinance this evening, 2305 um the recommendation recommendation would be to approve on first reading and order it published, and then we’ll hold a public hearing and second reading on September 22nd. And with that, I will conclude staff’s presentation and happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Deputy Deputy Manager. Uh, we will now proceed with public comments. If any residents are using the call in service, they should indicate their desire to speak by pressing star nine to raise their hand. We will start with in-person comments. There is anyone who would like to be heard.
Please come to the podium and state your name and neighborhood. For the record, please limit your comments to three minutes. Good evening, mayor. Mayor, Pro tem, Council members, staff. Just. Country estates. Um, to be frank, I’m very surprised that we didn’t already have something like this on the books. I highly support it. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there any, uh. We have no individuals on the phone. Questions from council are next. Members should limit themselves to questions during this portion. The time to introduce amendments and state positions for and against this item is later. Are there any questions? Council member Brown. Thank you, mayor Pro Tem. Um, and thank you, Miss Burton.
For the presentation. I was just wondering quickly if you could speak to the memo states there won’t be any financial impacts anticipated because you’re already going through the review process. I’m just wondering if you can speak to volume if there is, you know, a sense of how many things might now get kind of caught in this process.
Thank you. Council member. We had this conversation internally as we were drafting that portion of the memorandum, and it did make us pause.
How many of these do we really review on a given year? Um, and really, our staff found that we really do not see a lot of significant changes to the recreation amenities once they’ve been approved. We see some adjustments. Um, trail alignments often get changed that I don’t think that would often trigger this requirement. If we’re still connecting a trail from A to B, but the alignment is adjusted in between, we wouldn’t consider that a reduction in the trail connectivity or the amenity.
Um, but if we provide feedback to the applicants that they are not able to reduce the number of swing sets or change things, we think that either they will, um, just. Um.
They’ll meet the requirements of this step today or they’ll likely be able to adjust their proposal to meet the requirements for administrative review. Or we might see 1 or 2 a year that decide to go through the full process. We don’t think that there will be significant volume. Wonderful. Thank you for addressing that. That’s all I. Have. Thank you. Do we have any other council questions or questions? Okay.
Next is council’s consideration of proposed ordinance number 2305. Will the clerk please read the proposed ordinance by title. Seven? See ordinance number 2305 to amend chapter 1738 230 of the Broomfield Municipal Code regarding the standards of Review for modification of site development Plans. Thank you.
Is there a motion to approve the ordinance on first reading in order, published in full, and set the hearing for September 22nd, 2026? Council member Ward. So moved. Is there a second Council member? Hinkle. Second. Is there any discussion? Seeing no further discussion, we will move forward to the vote on ordinance number 2305. Council, please cast your vote electronically. All council members have cast their vote.
The results will now be displayed on the screen that passes 9 to 0. Thank you. There are no mayor or council member requests for future action this evening. Is there any other business to come before the council? From my council colleagues or staff? Mayor Pro Tem, just an answer to the resident, Mr. Jules.
Question. Um, our finance director. Um, was listening and indicated that Wells Fargo is our bank and part of their processing. The unit is in Dallas, and so whether it be individual residents, um, and or our bulk processing, um, it all goes to Dallas. It’s going to continue to go to Dallas.
Um, we haven’t had issues, um, of payments not arriving on time or late payments. So, uh, we’ll certainly keep an eye on that. Um. City Manager Hoffman is is that has that been, um, is this something new that it’s going to Dallas or is not? Jewel just observed it, but she just observed. It, correct.
Okay. Thank you. Is there any other business from council? There being no further business, the business meeting is adjourned. Have a nice