Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 08/21/2001 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 114, 2001, DESIGNA AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 10 DATE: August 21,2001 110 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL FROM:• Karen McWilliams SUBJECT: Second Reading of Ordinance No. 114, 2001, Designating the John and Inez Romero House, 425 Tenth Street, as a Local Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on Second Reading. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The owner of the property, Fort Collins Partners I, LLC, initiated this request for landmark designation for the John and Inez Romero House. This residence has architectural importance as an exceptional example of adobe architecture in Fort Collins. Additionally, the house has historical importance, for its association with the sugar beet industry in Fort Collins, and for its association 110 with John and Inez Romero, important leaders in the Hispanic community. Ordinance No. 114, 2001, was unanimously adopted on First Reading on July 17, 2001. AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 14 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: July 17, 2001FROM Karen McWilliams SUBJECT: First Reading of Ordinance No. 114,2001,Designating the John and Inez Romero House,425 Tenth Street, as a Local Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. j RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. At a public hearing held on June 27, 2001, the Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously recommended designation of this property as a landmark for its significant architectural and historical importanceto Fort Collins. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The owner of the property, Fort Collins Partners I,'`LLC, is initiating this request for landmark designation for the John and Inez Romero House. This residence has architectural importance as an exceptional example of adobe architecture in Fort Collins.-Additionally, the house has historical importance, for its association with the sugar beet industry'in Fort Collins, and for its association with John and Inez Romero, important leaders in the Hispanic community. History - John Romero was born in Santa Fe,New Mexico in 1897. He moved to Fort Collins in 1920 to work for the Colorado and Southern Railroad,where he eventually became a foreman. He also worked in construction,as a sheep herder,and with the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1932, he began working for the Great Western Sugar Factory. 'Although he had been able to complete his schooling only through the sixth grade before he was forced to drop out and go to work,he obtained books to educate himself at home. Mr.Romero became a notary public to help his friends with legal papers, acted as an interpreter, and helped with the Crippled Children's Easter Seal campaign,the Nebraskas Boys' Town, and any project that dealt with the welfare of children. John Romero died February 2, 1975. Both Romero Park and Romero Street are named in Mr. Romero's honor. Inez Romero lived in the Andersonville neighborhood from 1922 until her death in 2000. Born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Inez Rivera came to Fort Collins with her family in 1916 at the age of eight. Her father, Frederico Rivera, worked in the beet fields. Inez's mother, Antonia, was a curandera,a practitioner of herbal folk medicine. In 1925, Inez married John Romero and they raised seven children, five of whom are still living. In the early years, the family earned much of their living working in the sugar beet fields. From 1904 to 1953,the Great Western Sugar Factory in Fort Collins produced pure granular sugar- Colorado's"white gold." The factory purchased its sugar beets from local growers. Local growers, in turn, needed to employ many workers to help cultivate and harvest their annual crop. In the interest of maintaining a consistent worker population, the factory initiated the construction of Buckingham, Alta Vista and Andersonville. Located to the northeast of Fort Collins' central core, these small neighborhoods housed an element that was essential to the sugar boom: field laborers. Founded in 1902 and 1903,respectively,the communities of Buckingham and Andersonville were DATE: July 17, 2001 2 ITEM NUMBER: 35 have dropped to about $11,000 per unit and seem to have somewhat stabilized at that level. Many communities and water districts in this area have relied primarily or solely on CBT water so they have tied their cash in-lieu-of prices to CBT prices. With the large increase in prices during the last several years, the raw water costs for many area developers have increased dramatically. Many of the cities and water districts in this area continue to have cash rates that exceed $10,000 per acre foot. The attached graph illustrates the changes in the price of CBT units,North Poudre Irrigation Company(NPIC) shares and the City's cash in-lieu-of rate. The City's cash rate needs to be set at a level that will enable the City to,,purchase or develop enough water to meet the water demands of new development. Local developers that build in the City of Fort Collins Water Utility service area can turn over shares in a number of local irrigation companies to satisfy raw water requirements. Because of this, it is appropriate to focus on the cost of acquiring local stocks or developing other local projects when adjusting the City's cash in-lieu-of rate. In recent months the City has received,primarily cash and very little water stock. This is an indication that the price of local stocks is approaching"oi'ixceeding;the present cash in-lieu-of rate of$4,500 per acre foot. Another consideration is the cost of developing water suppIy.pigjects in the Poudre Basin: Since the price of acquiring many existing water rights has more that i'tripled in just a few years, the cost of developing alternative projects has become more competitive and attractive. Because many of the City's water rights deliver large quantities only during the peak runoff period, some of it cannot be used without some storage capacity tore-regulate it. Also, with the use of water that has been transferred from agricultural_use to municipal use, there are requirements to make releases to the Poudre River ,year-around to meet historic return flow obligations. An r examination of the projected cost for an e6largement of the existing Halligan Reservoir or local gravel pits indicates that new firm yield may be developed from these projects for about $5,000 per acre foot. These types of projects take several years to complete and face other uncertainties; so, it is appropriate to assume a somewhat higher cost than the $5,000 to recognize the risk associated with these projects. Taking all the above factors into consideration, the staff believes that the cash rate should be raised from $4,500 to $6,500 per acre foot. A new typical single-family lot of 8,000 square feet in the Utility service area has a raw water requirement of.77 acre feet. If a developer chooses to pay cash instead of turning in water rights to satisfy the raw water requirements, the cost for such a lot would increase from about $3,465 to $5,005. The proposed increase in the cash rate would go into effect for all permits issued on or after September 1, 2001. The City Code provides that nonresidential customers pay a surcharge on water used in excess of their annual'allotment. As, charge is based on the in-lieu-of cash rate, it also needs to be increased from $2.12:to $3.06 per one thousand gallons. The proposed increase in the surcharge would go into effect for all billings issued on or after September 1, 2001. The Water Board discussed this item at its May 24, 2001 meeting and recommended that the cash in-lieu-of rate be increased from $4,500 to $6,500 per acre foot and the surcharge be increased from $2.12 to $3.06 per thousand gallons.