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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand Conservation And Stewardship Board - Minutes - 12/12/2007MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS LAND CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP BOARD Regular Meeting Primrose Studio 4300 Michaud Lane, Fort Collins December 12, 2007 DATE: LOCATION: TIME: For Reference: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Primrose Studio, 4300 Michaud Lane 6:00 p.m. Linda Stanley - 493-7225 Mayor Doug Hutchinson - 416-2154 John Stokes, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Raymond Boyd, Greg Eckert, Michelle Grooms, Trudy Haines, Vicky McLane, Linda Stanley, Dave Theobold, Karyl Ting Board Members Excused Council Liaison Mayor, Doug Hutchinson Staff Present Natural Resources / Natural Areas Department: Geri Kidawski, Mark Sears, John Stokes Guests No guests Public Comments No public comments Agenda Review Stanley: Harmony Gateway District was removed from tonight's agenda because of the long discussion we had on this topic at last month's meeting, and also because a memo was written to City Council regarding this subject as well. City Council will have a work session on January 22, 2008, about gateway's in general Later on in this meeting I would like to set a date for the LCSB retreat, and I would like to talk about the year ahead, and discuss agenda items for 2008 meetings. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board December 12, 2007 Page 2 of 6 Review and Approval of Minutes Michelle Grooms moved to accept the minutes as written. Vicky McLane second, it was unanimously approved. Tim LaBaw Lease at Reservoir Ridge • Sears: We are requesting recommendation from the Board to City Council for the approval of the lease for the Facility Attendant residence located on Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. The Facility Attendant will pay rent monthly at the rate of three hundred and fifty dollars ($350) per month. In addition to rent, the Facility Attendant will be responsible for payment of all utilities. The Facility Attendant will be required to vacate the Premises if he/she is no longer in this designated position. The lease is a one year lease with up to four annual renewals. • Stanley: On average what will you pay the Facility Attendant monthly? • Sears: We are guaranteeing him ten hours a week or forty hours a month. • Stanley: I'm concerned about using Natural Areas money on structures, which are open to anyone. Will we make money on this or will it cost us money over time? • Sears: Besides giving us the land, Rob Udall gave us $125,000 in cash. That money is an endowment, and we can only use the interest, which gives us about three or four thousand dollars in interest each year that can be used for maintenance of this property. • McLane: At the open house there were a number of elderly people as well as those with mobility limitations unable to hike in the Natural Areas, and this is a marvelous setting for those folks to feel comfortable, to share and to look around. I feel this is a wonderful asset. • Sears: In the Natural Areas program we try and reach out to a broader audience. What we haven't captured yet are groups that want to have an event and find themselves in a Natural Area. This would give us a much broader audience. • Eckert: Do you have a mechanism to raise money to add to that amount. • Sears: We've talk about whether the Natural Areas Program should look into raising funds for the program, but we haven't pursued it yet. We had a fifty dollar donation to the Natural Areas program over the Thanksgiving holiday. Vicky McLane motioned that the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board recommend that City Council approve an ordinance granting the right to lease the Facility Attendant residence located on Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. Raymond Boyd second, and it was unanimously approved. Northern Integrated Supply Project • Stokes: I would like to show the Board the presentation made to City Council last evening. Staff is preparing for the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) associated with the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP). Land Conservation & Stewardship Board December 12, 2007 Page 3 of 6 Staff plans to develop comments on the DEIS for Council's consideration around the time of the expected release of the DEIS in early 2008. We are seeking Council reactions and guidance related to staff s current efforts to analyze NISP. The presentation for the City Council work session consisted of four elements: o An overview of historic Poudre River flows and operations; o An operational overview of NISP; o A brief overview of staff work related to NISP; and, o A brief review of the potential impacts of NISP to the Poudre River through town. The presentation for this work session was intended to provide background and context about NISP in order to assist Council in gaining a general understanding of some of the major issues. Staff will return to Council sometime in early 2008 for a more detailed examination of the issue. It was stressed to Council that the diverted water is not going to be flowing through the Poudre River in the future. It won't flow through town because the water will probably be delivered through pipes to Horsetooth Reservoir down to Carter Lake, and then into other delivery systems to be delivered east. • McLane: Is the District the only proponent of this project? • Stokes: There are fifteen partners in the project. The District, fifteen other municipalities and water Districts. • Stanley: When the EIS statement comes out with the preferred alternative, what is the turnover? • Stokes: Once the preferred alternative is selected, agencies will remain with that alternative. Comments can be influential over what happens with the preferred alternative and how it is implemented, but typically the Corp preferred alternative stands. Eventually they will issue a record of decision and that ratifies their preferred alternative. • Stanley: What is the point of doing public comments after the EIS report comes out other than to change how it is implemented? • Stokes: It depends what your strategic interest is. If you want to oppose a project you may want to make that known before the draft EIS comes out. • McLane: What water is removed from the Poudre River will not be put back in at another point. • Stokes: That's correct. The two water rights associated with this project are, Grey Mountain Right and the South Platt Water Conservation Project. • Stanley: They are funded by tax payers' dollars. • McLane: Does the District own those water rights? • Stokes: yes • Ting: Do you have projections for precipitation data for the next 30 or 40 years. • Stokes: The City has begun to do some climate related modeling around that because of the concerns of climate change. • McLane: Why hasn't the City of Fort Collins intervened earlier in this project? • Stokes: There are three Council members that would like to bring forward a resolution opposing this project. However, I don't have an answer to your Land Conservation & Stewardship Board December 12, 2007 Page 4 of 6 question; it may have had to do with the composition of Council prior to the last election. • McLane: This Board's comments can have concerns regarding Natural Areas. • Stokes: As a staff we are trying to get a high level perspective on the removal of water from the Poudre River because this will have certain impacts. • Stokes: Another issue could be that the water taken out of Glade and put into Horsetooth will potentially diminish the water quality in Horsetooth. The City of Fort Collins gets its water from Horsetooth and will have to treat that water. The City may have additional treatment expenses. • McLane: Is there any way the staff can track the flows that are lowered especially in the peak months, and its impact on the Natural Areas? • Stokes: The Natural Areas program has a report that is in the process of being prepared by a consulting firm, which will go into more detail then I'm this evening. We will have a chance to look at this report and determine if we agree or disagree with the conclusions that they draw. • Stanley: Is there a cost benefit analysis going along with the EIS statement? • Boyd: Sometimes. • Haines: Is anyone in the City doing an Economic Impact Statement? • Stokes: What we are doing is a Contingent Evaluation Survey, which is different from an Economic Impact Statement. • Haines: Do Cities sue water districts? • Stokes: It takes a lot of money and commitment and it can be risky. It may be done by private groups, and typically it has happened. • Theobald: What I understand is that the communities east of here want to grow. From sitting on this Board I recognize that there is a careful, methodical process, and this is not some fringe environmental group. The Natural Areas Program, and many others of us before, have been protecting these lands for decades. Because these areas want to grow, there are going to be other huge impacts that we are not currently thinking about, for instance air quality. • McLane: What should this Board do? • Stokes: I'm not looking for action from this Board; I just wanted you to have the information. • Stanley: I feel that Council would like to hear from us. • Stokes: What we need to do is focus our work on the direct impacts to Fort Collins, and the negative impacts to the Poudre River in Town as well. There is a local coalition called Save the Poudre, you can visit their web site. Also, I would encourage you to visit the District's web site. • McLane: What is Greeley doing? • Stokes: Greeley and Fort Collins have a project together, which is called the Halligan -Seaman Project. This is a storage project on the north fork of the Cache la Poudre. The City project is a drought protection project at Halligan, and I believe I'm correct in saying that the Seaman project is additional water for Greeley growth. Almost all the water for the Halligan -Seaman project is taken out of the river before it gets to Fort Collins. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board December 12, 2007 Page 5 of 6 • Haines: Should we have a motion that this Board writes to City Council encouraging them to have a resolution against the NISP project? • Ting: Council members felt there was not enough information to make a decision on the NISP project. • Stokes: Some Council members want to come out with a resolution opposing this project. It is up to this Board in terms of what you want to express to City Council. Trudy Haines moved that the Land Conservation & Stewardship Board express grave concerns about NISP, and would be supportive of a resolution opposing NISP. We will list our concerns for City Council to review. Michelle Grooms second and unanimously approved. Board Discussion: • Grooms: How much water does Fort Collins own at Glade Reservoir? • Stokes: None of it. Fort Collins Utilities will provide fifty percent of the residence of Fort Collins, the other fifty percent will be provided by three water Districts, one of them being the Loveland Water District. • Ting: Does 287 move into Red Mountain or where does it go? Stokes showed the Board a slide on the highway 287 relocation final alternative. • McLane: I feel that we should state our concerns to City Council, and then have City Council express their opposition. I think we should list the concerns of impacts to the Natural Areas. • Theobald: I feel we should express our concerns because we are in the eleventh hour. • Haines: I think we need to make a strong statement. • Stanley: I would like to see unanimity. • Eckert: Any tracking of the Poudre River in regards to the health of Cottonwood regeneration? • Stokes: We've looked into who is monitoring the health of the forest and the river, and there are no good data or analysis on vegetation along the river corridor. We are thinking of partnering with Utilities and other organizations to put some transacts on the river so over time we can watch how they change, but that would be only for now. Utilities have been testing water quality for decades and they have some very good water quality information. We are doing a contingent evaluation and we also have the Poudre River Technical Advisory Group. This is a group of expert Federal and CSU scientists that we asked to help us understand the history of the Poudre River, what it is like now and what it might look like in the future if the project was to go forward. This was a group conversation, and we hope to have a white paper written from this meeting. New Business: No new business. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board December 12, 2007 Page 6 of 6 Announcements: Stokes: At the February 13`h. Board meeting we will discuss Community separators. We will bring our maps to put up on the wall, we could do a PowerPoint presentation, and we can discuss some ruff calculations regarding acreage cost and discuss the likelihood of success. Stanley: One of the things I would like to hear from everyone is what items you would like discussed at our Board meetings for 2008. I did submit a work plan for this Board but it was a very general plan. Stokes: Our tours to Soapstone have helped advance the level of knowledge in the community about the project, so we are planning on scheduling tours on the Poudre River to bring the same kind of awareness and knowledge to the Community. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Submitted by Geri Administrative Sec