[0:16] [music]
[0:22] All right, we'll begin the Canyon City
[0:25] Ballot Study Committee meeting. It's
[0:27] June 29th, six o'clock.
[0:31] And uh
[0:33] we have uh
[0:35] myself as the uh city council member
[0:38] here. I'm the chairman of the committee
[0:41] and uh Tammy's here, our director of
[0:44] finance and our committee uh members as
[0:48] well. We have one missing, but uh two
[0:50] missing. Bob Stovall uh couldn't make
[0:53] it, but he turned in his paperwork, his
[0:55] homework before he left. So, good for
[0:57] him. Um, so what we did, we uh have our
[1:01] opt option evaluation sheet, and what we
[1:04] can do is just name up name our top
[1:07] choices, and then we've turned in our
[1:10] option sheets to uh Jessica who created
[1:14] those. Thank you, Jessica. and uh we'll
[1:18] be evaluating those and presenting uh
[1:20] the findings to the uh city council on
[1:24] July 6th. So, we'll go ahead and get
[1:27] started. It should be a pretty short
[1:29] meeting. Um you want to start with yours
[1:33] top three, fourth, whatever those are.
[1:35] » Yeah. So, um I'll be honest, I apologize
[1:39] a little bit as well. I don't have all
[1:40] my homework done. Uh we had some stuff
[1:42] happening within the organization that I
[1:43] run that kind of got me crazy this week.
[1:46] So I apologize about that. Um but I do
[1:49] feel that there's some great projects
[1:51] that we have uh and I'm kind of curious
[1:53] what what can be done with that. I think
[1:56] there's possibility of still having a
[1:58] modest pool is uh strong and high on my
[2:02] list. I also am partial to the thought
[2:05] process of building some type of incline
[2:08] steps similar to Manitu on Skyline
[2:10] Drive. Um, and those are my my big two
[2:14] uh that we've got in Western and
[2:16] possibly Western Gateway as well.
[2:19] » Okay, great.
[2:22] Well, um the number one on my list is uh
[2:25] to continue to collect tax and build
[2:27] more modest pool which would uh create
[2:31] an economic value, attract future
[2:34] residents.
[2:35] Um, it would fill the need and desire
[2:38] for a public pool and it it affects the
[2:40] community at large, tourists and future
[2:42] residents.
[2:44] My second choice is the public works
[2:46] projects like sidewalks, creates safe
[2:50] public walking spaces, specifically in
[2:53] residential areas throughout the town
[2:54] and East Main Street.
[2:57] uh it creates safety for pedestrians and
[2:59] aesthetics for overall community and
[3:02] then it affects the residents overall
[3:04] community business property
[3:07] equity and homeowners businesses. My
[3:09] third choice would be the Western
[3:11] Gateway project which would expand
[3:14] recreation space along the West Arkansas
[3:16] River corridor. It would uh
[3:19] they would use the space otherwise just
[3:21] sitting idle idle. It affects u the it
[3:27] affects our residents, supports
[3:29] businesses, recreation, tourist and
[3:31] rafting companies.
[3:33] And uh but my number one by far would be
[3:36] to continue to collect the tax and build
[3:39] a more modest pool.
[3:42] » Okay. Thank you.
[3:45] » I'm gonna speak for Bob real quick. Um
[3:48] Okay. So Bob's top three picks were the
[3:51] western gateway, a modest pool
[3:54] or the economic development fund. And
[3:57] his fourth option would be Ar.
[4:01] And then for sorry myself uh in my top
[4:05] three I had started with a modest bull
[4:08] um the skate park but uh after kind of
[4:12] evaluating that it does tie into the
[4:14] Western Gateway project. So that might
[4:16] be something that comes later. So I
[4:18] switched that to the western gateway
[4:19] project for now. And then the third
[4:22] option was the inside on
[4:27] » The incline on skyline.
[4:29] » Hello.
[4:33] » Well, my choices were are
[4:36] keeping the sales tax money and continue
[4:39] collecting the pool.
[4:42] I mean, this may require some legalities
[4:45] to reuse the ballot question coming up
[4:49] because I don't know legally
[4:51] what we can do with the money. Um, and
[4:54] that's part of what we have to learn.
[4:56] Steve, I went back and evaluated the
[4:59] results of the election and the sales
[5:02] tax we all know, passed and the gold
[5:04] bond passed, but the mill levy failed.
[5:07] And when you look at the numbers of how
[5:09] people voted, it's very very close to
[5:12] 50/50.
[5:14] If we don't do something about the pool,
[5:17] this town is going to continue to be in
[5:20] battles over whether we should have or
[5:23] shouldn't have a pool and who should pay
[5:25] for it or shouldn't pay for it. So, I
[5:28] mean, it's been bad enough for the last
[5:30] few months, but it's going to get worse,
[5:32] I think, if we don't come up with a a
[5:36] good decision. I know there's several um
[5:39] petitions being started. I don't know
[5:41] what good they'll do. But anyway, my um
[5:45] my choice was to continue with the sales
[5:48] tax and to try to figure out a way and
[5:52] whether the park and wreck gets out of
[5:54] the food business like they said they
[5:56] wanted to do and let the city take it
[5:59] over over like I'm just reading now with
[6:01] the charter. Um I don't know the
[6:05] legalities of it. I'm only here in part
[6:08] to try to analyze things and see what
[6:10] might be best. I think it's best if we
[6:13] try to go forward with a modest pool,
[6:17] not the Taj Mahal, not the Cadillac, a
[6:20] pool similar to what was closed down to
[6:24] Vicabo.
[6:26] So that's that's my choice. My second
[6:29] choice if that fails or goes back to
[6:33] park and wreck and starts over again. Um
[6:37] if the city money if the tax money
[6:40] becomes our responsibility as city then
[6:44] I guess I would like to see it
[6:46] used towards the western Gateway
[6:49] project. And the third choice would be
[6:52] the John Vipen Reservoir project. And I
[6:55] chose both of those because I felt like
[6:59] it's the closest thing you can have for
[7:02] all the people and all the children to
[7:06] enjoy, not just a select few.
[7:13] Oh, my turn. So, I also did not do my
[7:17] homework, but I do know what my um
[7:22] would be.
[7:24] My top one would be to continue to
[7:28] collect for a modest pole. The next one
[7:34] would be clock tower because it is the
[7:37] closest to being ready to go out for
[7:40] construction.
[7:42] And then
[7:46] on the third one
[7:50] it it's going to depend on what future
[7:53] funding would look like. But um Western
[7:57] Gateway because I think that is probably
[8:00] the next project that we actually
[8:05] h have already been working towards and
[8:08] have something for. But if all we are
[8:11] going to have is the funds that are
[8:14] collected right now
[8:17] towards Western Gateway,
[8:20] you're not going to get very far.
[8:23] » Thank you.
[8:26] All right. Well, you before I give mine,
[8:29] you I think everyone's talked about the
[8:31] West. Oh, here we go. Your top three or
[8:33] four. Um,
[8:36] well, I I'm still kind of in the realm
[8:39] where it needs to be tangible. So,
[8:41] something that everybody can maybe see,
[8:43] utilize, something like that. Um, I I
[8:47] really feel like if it were to go back
[8:48] to the city, it's just going to dissolve
[8:51] into the ether and
[8:54] the sense of that being tangible is just
[8:56] gone. Um, and I think that there's a a
[9:01] mandate of sorts to do something
[9:03] functional with the money for the
[9:05] community. Um,
[9:09] I think the pool is
[9:13] obviously it would be great if it went
[9:15] through the pool and it worked as
[9:16] planned, but what we have right now I we
[9:20] can't build a pool with that amount of
[9:23] money, nor I mean we could contribute
[9:26] towards a smaller one, but um again it
[9:30] just kind of goes into the ether because
[9:31] it's there's so many more other barriers
[9:34] associated with that.
[9:36] So, with that said, um my top personal
[9:41] one would be like a skyline incline kind
[9:43] of thing. Um I think that we could do it
[9:46] for pretty costefficiently
[9:49] probably under $2 million. I would hope.
[9:52] Um I think it'd be a big boost. It would
[9:54] be kind of like a play and manu where
[9:56] it's obviously very long and you know,
[9:59] very difficult whereas this would be
[10:01] like our little mini version of it. and
[10:04] um people already naturally drawn the
[10:06] skyline anyway. It may be more of a draw
[10:08] and people could use it. Um two, I think
[10:12] that perhaps augmenting the river as it
[10:16] is right now and maybe accommodating
[10:18] like a a swimming feature there. Um
[10:22] Bubble actually just recently did
[10:23] something on a larger scale. Um but it's
[10:27] really impressive with what they did.
[10:29] They kind of kind of separated the water
[10:31] a little bit. I forgot the name of the
[10:33] water park, but um it's really cool. Has
[10:36] a lot of people going to it. It's safe.
[10:38] They built in some cool features to it.
[10:41] And my understanding was it was it was
[10:43] in the millions, but they did a really
[10:45] big project. I think that we could
[10:47] probably do something
[10:50] probably a little bit more economical
[10:51] than that. And then three, um I think
[10:54] that
[10:56] if we were to fund a special program or
[11:00] something like that for kids K through
[11:04] eight or even 12, maybe after school,
[11:06] we'd fund them for like the next three
[11:08] years or something like that. I think
[11:10] the money would go really far in that
[11:12] regard. But um those are my my top
[11:15] three.
[11:16] » Thank you.
[11:18] So, [clears throat] I wanted to bring up
[11:19] the Gateway Plaza because I've run into
[11:22] so many people that have no idea what
[11:25] that is. Absolutely no idea. Also called
[11:28] the riverfront initiative.
[11:31] Um, and on June 17th at a city council
[11:36] and planning commission meeting, uh, it
[11:39] was presented as the riverfront
[11:41] initiative. And uh I I'd encourage
[11:45] everyone to go back and look at that as
[11:49] you would our first meetings that define
[11:52] from our attorney that [clears throat]
[11:54] some of the tabor laws what we can and
[11:56] cannot do and uh how how this played
[12:00] out. So go back to our other meetings to
[12:02] look at that and uh with this one on
[12:04] June 17th city council meeting look at
[12:06] the riverfront initiative. Some of the
[12:09] things it included [clears throat]
[12:11] was an entry plaza. It's uh it's a large
[12:15] oversized vehicle put in takeout. First
[12:18] street bridge, western gateway,
[12:19] riverwalk, native meadow, shade and
[12:22] swing pavilion, event plaza, trailer and
[12:25] oversized vehicle parking, small vehicle
[12:28] put in and take out. Uh, a nature play,
[12:32] floater safe headgate, gravel beach,
[12:35] island bridge, boardwalk overlook,
[12:37] riverside drive, put in and takeout,
[12:39] redesigned diversion structure,
[12:42] Cottonwood Grove, Sand Creek Beach, and
[12:44] a picnic area, a Nicholls bridge, uh,
[12:47] Western Gateway soft surface trail and
[12:50] river portage. So there's a lot to that
[12:53] and uh I've got it printed here so
[12:55] you'll have see an idea the work that
[12:58] went into that. So what I did I compared
[13:01] that to a pool for example to our pool
[13:06] and I had for my choices I had the
[13:10] western gateway
[13:12] uh we had the safety and public works
[13:15] for our uh to fund our dice units. You
[13:19] know, we have our dice units working
[13:20] now. Uh that funding is going to run
[13:22] out. We have to match that for at least
[13:24] a year. Uh along with other safety and
[13:27] security initiatives. And then public
[13:29] works. We talk about sidewalks, roads,
[13:31] and such. Uh the economic and business
[13:34] aid fund to help businesses get started
[13:37] or expand here in town. And a and a
[13:40] pool. And I give you just a quick
[13:43] comparison what I did on the gateway in
[13:46] the pool.
[13:48] uh the you know when you add uh the 2026
[13:54] June 2026 report by the trust for public
[13:57] lands demonstrated a consistent 3 to1
[13:59] return on investment in community scaled
[14:01] public spaces every year according to
[14:05] PTPL for larger citycaled park
[14:08] investments the annual return on
[14:10] investments ROI benefit is even larger
[14:14] adding in the fact that Canyon City has
[14:15] an economy tied to outdoor recreation
[14:18] based on tourism. The expected ROI for
[14:20] investment in a park like that proposed
[14:22] for the Western Gateway site would be
[14:24] even greater, offering significant
[14:26] benefit to both the people and economy
[14:28] of Kenyon City. Investments in park
[14:31] publicly uh accessible open spaces have
[14:34] been shown to have greater relative
[14:35] return investments in public buildings
[14:38] as well as lower operating costs. The
[14:41] per acre scale of investment shown in
[14:42] the master plan of the gateway here is
[14:45] actually on the lower end of the
[14:46] national average of the parks of this
[14:48] type. The proposed plan is thoughtful,
[14:50] responsible, and communitydriven
[14:53] uh community large and small throughout
[14:56] the United States and in Colorado are
[14:58] recapturing their riverfronts, making
[14:59] investments in public access and
[15:01] recreation that lead directly to
[15:03] increases sustain uh vitality.
[15:07] uh the comparison the two broad projects
[15:10] uh I I wanted to see what the difference
[15:12] in community needs were and uh
[15:17] the long-term riverfront destination
[15:19] with multiple uses rather than a single
[15:22] recreational facility uh was one of the
[15:24] comparison
[15:26] and uh the consultant described a phase
[15:28] project centered on river access event
[15:32] spaces natural areas recreational
[15:35] amenities including ing playgrounds. Um,
[15:39] by contrast, a municipal outdoor pool
[15:41] primarily provides aquatic recreation,
[15:43] swimming, instruction, youth
[15:45] programming, and cooling during the
[15:47] summer months.
[15:49] Um,
[15:51] a riverfront
[15:53] park can be used by walkers, runners,
[15:55] cyclists, anglers, families, picnickers,
[15:58] festival attendees, kayakers, rafters,
[16:01] tourists, seniors, and people with
[16:03] disabilities for access to the trails.
[16:06] and uh an outdoor pool mainly serves
[16:09] swimmers and a limited capacity in year
[16:13] round [clears throat] use. The
[16:14] riverfront
[16:16] made usable throughout the year. It
[16:18] supports tourism downtown destinations
[16:22] and businesses.
[16:24] Um the master plan includes restoration
[16:26] enhancements of the river corridor
[16:28] through improved river access, habitat
[16:31] protection, landscape flood resilient
[16:34] design, open space preservation. It can
[16:37] be built in phases.
[16:40] Uh start with the playgrounds, the uh
[16:43] river access with the beaches and so
[16:46] forth. uh does have lower uh operating
[16:49] costs
[16:52] whereas [clears throat]
[16:54] there's more opportunities for grants.
[16:57] Uh a municipal outdoor pool has
[16:59] advantages. The comparison is not
[17:01] entirely one-sided. The pool prevent
[17:03] provides benefits. The Western Gateway
[17:06] project and cannot replace it. swimming
[17:08] lessons, water safety education, youth
[17:10] swim teams, aquatic exercise, senior
[17:13] water therapy, a place to cool off
[17:15] during the summer, and competitive
[17:16] swimming. These services became a
[17:19] community issue after the closure of the
[17:21] Echaban pool and the subsequent
[17:22] subsequent suspension of plans for its
[17:25] replacement. The property and the
[17:28] liability of the current Ekaban pool
[17:30] lies with the Canyon City Recreation
[17:32] District, which is separate a separate
[17:34] entity from the city of Canyon City. A
[17:37] lot of people don't realize that they
[17:39] think they're together. It's and the the
[17:42] recreation district was created in order
[17:45] to build and operate a swimming pool.
[17:49] Uh then I just went to a head-to-head
[17:53] comparison and u the Canyon City Rec
[17:57] District still has the ability to
[17:58] acquire the funds to build and operate a
[18:00] pool. So that was sort of one of the
[18:04] comparisons I did when I picked my four
[18:06] items out of what do we have 11 I think
[18:09] total. So that's what uh that was my
[18:12] pres my four picks for the pool. So
[18:16] again we'll present these and tally them
[18:18] up in the worksheets and then present
[18:21] them on July 6 to the city council at
[18:25] the city council meeting.
[18:28] Anything from the committee here? Any
[18:31] questions?
[18:34] » Can I say something real quick about
[18:35] » No, we're not taking
[18:37] » Nope. We're not taking uh questions
[18:40] today.
[18:41] » It's not a question.
[18:42] » Did you have something?
[18:44] You guys have something?
[18:47] » Okay.