HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/23/2014 - DIRECTING THE INTERIM CITY ATTORNEY AND THE CITY'SAgenda Item 2
Item # 2 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY September 23, 2014
City Council
STAFF
Laurie Kadrich, Community Development & Neighborhood Services Dir
SUBJECT
Resolution 2014-082, Directing the Interim City Attorney and the City's Special Counsel to File an Appeal with
the Colorado Court of Appeals in the Colorado Oil and Gas Association v. City of Fort Collins Lawsuit.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to request Council’s direction to file an appeal with the Colorado Court of Appeals
regarding the District Court’s recent decision in the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s (COGA) lawsuit
against the City. That decision declared the voter-approved five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing to be
preempted by state law. This item also asks the Council for direction to file with the District Court, and the
Court of Appeals if necessary, a motion to “stay” the effect of the Order pending the outcome of the appeal.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
On November 5, 2013, the voters passed a citizen-initiated ordinance that placed a five-year moratorium on
the use of hydraulic fracturing and the storage of its waste products within the City of Fort Collins. On
December 2, 2013, the COGA filed a lawsuit in Larimer County District Court asking the Court to declare the
Moratorium unlawful and invalid on the ground that it is preempted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Act (the “Act”). On August 7, 2014 the District Court issued an Order declaring the Moratorium to be
preempted by the Act (the “Order”).
On September 9, 2014, the Council voted to go into executive session to discuss with the Interim City Attorney
and the City’s special counsel the City’s available options with respect to the District Court’s Order.
The proposed Resolution, if adopted, directs the Interim City Attorney and the City’s special counsel to appeal
the Order to the Colorado Court of Appeals. It also authorizes them to file with the District Court, and the Court
of Appeals if necessary, a motion asking the Court to stay the effect of the Order pending the outcome of the
appeal.
On September 17, 2014, the District Court determined that the Order is a final order as of that date for
purposes of appeal. The City will therefore have until November 5, 2014, in which to file its appeal with the
Court of Appeals.
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RESOLUTION 2014-082
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
DIRECTING THE INTERIM CITY ATTORNEY AND THE CITY’S SPECIAL COUNSEL
TO FILE AN APPEAL WITH THE COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS
IN THE COLORADO OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION V. CITY OF FORT COLLINS LAWSUIT
WHEREAS, on November 5, 2013, the voters passed a citizen-initiated ordinance that
placed a five-year moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing and the storage of its waste
products within the City of Fort Collins (the “Moratorium”); and
WHEREAS, on December 2, 2013, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (“COGA”)
filed in Larimer County District Court it’s complaint in COGA v. City of Fort Collins, Case No.
2013CV31385, (the “Lawsuit”) asking the Court to declare the Moratorium unlawful and invalid
on the ground that it is preempted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act (the “Act”);
and
WHEREAS, on August 7, 2014, District Court Judge Gregory Lammons issued in the
Lawsuit his “Order Granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment on First Claim for Relief
and Denying Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment” declaring that the Moratorium
is preempted by the Act (the “Order”); and
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined, based on its review of the Order and
consideration of the implications for the City of the Order, and after conferring in an executive
session with the Interim City Attorney and the City’s special counsel in the Lawsuit, that it is in
the City’s best interests that it file an appeal with the Colorado Court of Appeals asking the
Court of Appeals to reverse Judge Lammons’s decision in the Order; and
WHEREAS, in conjunction with this appeal, the Council has also determined that it will
advance the public interest and the interests of the City to file with the District Court a motion
asking it to stay the effect of the Order pending the outcome of the appeal and, if a stay is not
granted by the District Court, to file a motion for the stay with the Colorado Court of Appeals.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS, that the Interim City Attorney and the City’s special counsel in the Lawsuit
are hereby directed to timely file with the Colorado Court of Appeals an appeal of the Order
asking the Colorado Court of Appeals to reverse the Order and to also timely file with the
District Court a motion for a stay of the effect of the Order and, if denied by the District Court, to
file a motion for the stay with the Colorado Court of Appeals.
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Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this
23rd day of September, A.D. 2014.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk