HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 02/06/2018 - RESOLUTION 2018-013 APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTALAgenda Item 20
Item # 20 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY February 6, 2018
City Council
WITHDRAWN FROM CONSIDERATION
STAFF
Patrick Rowe, Redevelopment Program Coordinator
John Duval, Legal
SUBJECT
Resolution 2018-013 Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fort Collins Urban Renewal
Authority for the Authority's Contribution of Funds to the City's Whitewater Park Project for Public
Improvements.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is the approval of an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Fort Collins
(City) and the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority (URA), which memorializes the terms of acceptance of
$300,000 in URA support for the City’s Whitewater Park Project. The URA investment is provided in recognition
of project benefits that will accrue to the North College URA plan area as a result of the project.
Note: The URA Board will consider the Whitewater Park Project request the same evening this item is
considered. Should the URA Board not support the Whitewater Park Project request, the intergovernmental
agreement will not be entered into by the City and URA.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
Whitewater Park Project Description
The Whitewater Park is a planned 12.5-acre park that includes world class whitewater features, park gathering
spaces, river overlooks, fish passage and habitat, stormwater improvements and restoration of the area. The
project will include many items beyond the whitewater features, such as art in public places, road improvements,
parking, pedestrian circulation, gathering spaces, wetlands and restoration, historic preservation and
interpretation, removing the Coy diversion structure and south bank walls, cleaning up industrial properties, and
creating a stormwater basin that returns water to the river. The project also includes a layout that supports future
trails, pedestrian bridge, and an upper terrace gathering space that can be enhanced without the need for
Federal Emergency Management Agency or US Corps of Engineers permitting.
Project Funding
The Whitewater Park project has funding sources of $9,018,000 and a budget of $9,647,000. The primary source
of funding for the project is the CCIP (Community Capital Improvement Program), which is contributing $4M of
the approximate $9M available. As the amount provided from CCIP was less than necessary to fund the project,
it was determined during the CCIP funding process that participating City departments would contribute funds to
allow the project to move forward. That effort resulted in $1M contributions from Stormwater, $1M from Natural
Areas, and $1M from the General Fund (2015), in addition to the $1.5M of private and public fundraising funds.
Agenda Item 20
Item # 20 Page 2
This provided a total of $8.5M of funding for the project. As the site will provide a neighborhood park use for the
adjacent Old Town North Neighborhood, Park Planning contributed $400,000 towards the purchase of one of
the available properties, and the fundraising group raised an additional $100,000, resulting in the total funding
available of approximately $9M.
Project Funding Sources Amount
Community Capital Improvement Project $4,000,000
Natural Areas $1,000,000
Stormwater $1,000,000
General Fund (2015) $1,000,000
Park Planning & Development $ 418,000
Public and Private Fundraising $1,600,000
Total Funding $9,018,000
Budget Category Amount
Vine Drive, Parking and Storm sewer Improvements $ 513,000
Property Acquisitions and Cleanup $1,000,000
River Enhancements $3,675,000
Gathering Areas and Bridge Abutments $1,157,000
Landscape Enhancements $ 233,000
Design, Engineering and Contractor Costs $2,614,000
Contingency $ 455,000
Total Estimated Cost $9,647,000
Approximate Shortfall $ 629,000
The current funding gap of $629,000 is largely the result of the high cost of dewatering the project (approximately
$700,000 - $1M) to allow for construction of the project in the river. The team is actively pursuing different means
to address the funding gap, including:
Seeking $300,000 from the URA in recognition of plan area benefits;
Value engineering - largely, methods/means to reduce dewatering costs;
Use of budget contingency;
Further scaling back of the project (a last resort) - potential to eliminate bridge abutments, smaller wall at
south bank overlook, etc.
A $300K investment from the URA is critical as it approximately cuts the funding gap in half and makes it more
feasible that the other strategies listed above will be able to bridge the remaining funding gap. Park Planning
staff has made significant reductions in the scope of the project to date and is hopeful that further scaling back
won’t be necessary. However, as a last resort, the Project may potentially need to eliminate the bridge
abutments, redesign a smaller wall at the south bank overlook plaza, and redesign Vine Drive to eliminate parallel
parking.
CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Should the URA Board approve the Whitewater Park Project request, the City will enter into the
intergovernmental agreement whereby the URA will provide the City $300,000 for the Whitewater Park Project.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Location Map (PDF)
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ATTACHMENT 1
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RESOLUTION 2018-013
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THE FORT COLLINS
URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY FOR THE AUTHORITY’S CONTRIBUTION OF FUNDS
TO THE CITY’S WHITEWATER PARK PROJECT FOR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins (the “City”) is planning the construction of a park in
the downtown area along the Poudre River, to be known as the Whitewater Park, funding for
which the City’s voters approved in 2015 as part of the City’s Community Capital Improvement
Program (the “CCIP”); and
WHEREAS, improvements constructed for the Whitewater Park will include world class
whitewater features, park gathering places, river overlooks, fish passage and habitat
improvements, stormwater improvements, street and sidewalk improvements, and various other
related public improvements (the “Park Project”); and
WHEREAS, the City has a $9,647,000 budget for the Park Project, but has only
identified $9,018,000 of available City funds for it, including $4 million of CCIP funds,
$3,418,000 from other City funds, and $1.6 million from public and private fundraising, leaving
a funding shortfall of $629,000 (the “Shortfall”); and
WHEREAS, in 2004, the Fort Collins City Council adopted Resolution 2004-152
approving the North College Avenue Urban Renewal Plan, which it amended in 2015 in
Resolution 2015-106, (the “North College Plan”); and
WHEREAS, the North College Plan was adopted to facilitate the elimination and
prevention of blighted areas within the plan area identified in the Plan (the “Plan Area”) by
promoting and assisting undertakings and activities within the Plan Area involving the
development, redevelopment and rehabilitation of Plan Area properties as part of a single urban
renewal project (the “North College Project”), which is administered by the Fort Collins Urban
Renewal Authority (the “Authority”); and
WHEREAS, the Authority’s Board of Commissioners (the “Board”) has reviewed the
Park Project and identified several benefits that it will provide to the North College Project as
contemplated in the North College Plan, which benefits include, without limitation: (i)
improvements to portions of Vine Drive in the Plan Area, (ii) stormwater improvements that will
remove several developable properties in the Plan Area from the floodway and reduce the
likelihood that College Avenue in the Plan Area will overtop during a flood, and (iii)
improvements that will improve connectivity between the Plan Area and downtown Fort Collins
(collectively, the “Park Project Benefits”); and
WHEREAS, the Board has determined that that the value of the Park Project Benefits to
the Authority are significant, with a value equal to or greater than $300,000, and they represent
undertakings and activities within the North College Project that will benefit the development,
redevelopment and rehabilitation of properties within the Plan Area; and
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WHEREAS, the Authority has therefore offered to contribute $300,000 to the Park
Project to reduce the Shortfall to support construction of public improvements associated with
and part of the Park Project; and
WHEREAS, to memorialize this contribution, City and Authority staff have presented to
this Council and the Board for their consideration the Intergovernmental Agreement attached as
Exhibit “A” and incorporated herein (the “Agreement”), under which the Authority agrees to pay
the City $300,000 to reduce the Shortfall to fund public improvements for the Park Project; and
WHEREAS, the City and the Authority are authorized to enter into the Agreement to
cooperate in the funding and construction of the Park Project pursuant to C.R.S. § 29-1-203 and
the Colorado Urban Renewal Law, including, without limitation, C.R.S. § 31-25-112, and the
City is further authorized to do so under City Charter Article II, Section 16.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
Section 2. That the Agreement is hereby approved and the Mayor is authorized to
enter into the Agreement on the City’s behalf in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit
“A,” subject to such minor modifications as the City Manager, in consultation with the City
Attorney, may determine to be necessary and appropriate to protect the interests of the Authority
or to effectuate the purposes of this Resolution.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 6th
day of February, A.D. 2018.
____________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
City Clerk
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AND THE FORT COLLINS URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY REGARDING THE
AUTHORITY’S CONTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FOR THE WHITEWATER PARK
PROJECT
THIS INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT is made and entered into this _____
day of February __, 2018, (this “Agreement”) by and between the City of Fort Collins, a Colorado
home rule municipality, (the “City”) and the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority, a corporate
body and political subdivision of the state, (the “Authority”). The City and Authority shall also
hereafter be jointly referred to as “Parties” or individually as “Party.”
RECITALS
WHEREAS, the City is planning the construction of a park in the downtown area along
the Poudre River, to be known as the Whitewater Park, funding for which the voters approved in
2015 as part of the City’s Community Capital Improvement Program (the “CCIP”); and
WHEREAS, improvements constructed for the Whitewater Park will include world class
whitewater features, park gathering places, river overlooks, fish passage and habitat
improvements, stormwater improvements, street and sidewalk improvements, and various other
related public improvements (the “Park Project”); and
WHEREAS, the City has a $9,647,000 budget for the Park Project, but has only identified
$9,018,000 of available City funds for it, including $4 million of CCIP funds, $3,418,000 from
other City funds, and $1.6 million from public and private fundraising, leaving a budget shortfall
of $629,000 (the “Shortfall”); and
WHEREAS, in 2004, the Fort Collins City Council adopted Resolution 2004-152
approving the North College Avenue Urban Renewal Plan, which it subsequently amended in 2015
in Resolution 2015-106, (the “North College Plan”); and
WHEREAS, the North College Plan was adopted to facilitate the elimination and
prevention of blighted areas within the plan area identified in the Plan (the “Plan Area”) by
promoting and assisting undertakings and activities within the Plan Area involving the
development, redevelopment and rehabilitation of Plan Area properties as part of a single urban
renewal project (the “North College Project”); and
WHEREAS, the Authority’s Board of Commissioners (the “Board”) has reviewed the
Park Project and identified several benefits it will provide to the North College Project as
contemplated in the North College Plan, which benefits include, without limitation: (i)
improvements to portions of Vine Drive in the Plan Area, (ii) stormwater improvements that will
remove several developable properties in the Plan Area from the floodway and reduce the
likelihood that College Avenue in the Plan Area will overtop during a flood, and (iii) improvements
that will improve connectivity between the Plan Area and downtown Fort Collins (the “Park
Project Benefits”); and
EXHIBIT A
WHEREAS, in consideration of the Park Project Benefits, the Board has adopted
Authority Resolution No. 84 approving this Agreement and appropriating $300,000 to be paid to
the City to help reduce the Shortfall by funding the public improvements providing the Park Project
Benefits; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has also approved this Agreement in its Resolution 2018-
013; and
WHEREAS, the City and the Authority are authorized to enter into this Agreement to
cooperate in the funding and construction of the Park Project pursuant to C.R.S. § 29-1-203 and
the Colorado Urban Renewal Law, including, without limitation, C.R.S. § 31-25-112, and the City
is further authorized to do so under City Charter Article II, Section 16.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises contained herein and other good
and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which the Parties hereby acknowledge,
the Parties agree as follows:
1. The Authority’s Obligation. The Authority agrees to pay the City three hundred
thousand dollars ($300,000) within sixty (60) days after the City enters into the construction
contract with the general contractor it retains for the Park Project and provided such contract
includes the construction of the public improvements that will provide the Park Project Benefits.
2. TABOR. The Parties understand and acknowledge that the Authority is not subject
to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution. The Parties
therefore intend that the Authority’s debt obligation in Section 1 above is a binding obligation
enforceable by the City at law and in equity as provided in Section 3 below and such enforcement
is not contingent upon the future appropriation of funds by the Board.
3. Remedies Upon Default. Upon the failure of either Party to comply with any of
its obligations contained herein (a “Default”), the non-defaulting Party shall provide written notice
of the Default to the defaulting Party. Immediately upon receipt of such notice, the defaulting
Party shall promptly cure such Default within thirty (30) days, or if not susceptible of cure within
thirty (30) days, within such time as agreed upon by the non-defaulting Party for the cure of such
Default. If the defaulting Party fails to cure or remedy the Default within the time period
prescribed, the non-defaulting Party may protect and enforce any or all of its rights and the
obligations of the defaulting Party under this Agreement by suit in equity or action at law, in
Larimer County District Court, whether for the specific performance of any covenants or
agreements in this Agreement or otherwise, or take any action authorized or permitted under
applicable law, and may require and enforce the performance of all acts and things required to be
performed hereunder by the other Party. Each and every remedy of either Party shall, to the extent
permitted by law, be cumulative and shall be in addition to any other remedy given hereunder or
now or hereafter existing at law or in equity.
4. Amendments. This Agreement may only be amended, changed, modified or
altered in a writing signed by both Parties.
5. Implementing Agreements and Further Assurances. The Parties agree to
execute such other documents, and take such other actions, as will be reasonably requested by the
other Party to confirm or clarify the intent of the provisions hereof and to effectuate the agreements
herein contained.
6. Term; Termination. This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect until the
Authority’s debt obligation under this Agreement is paid in full to the City. However, in the event
the City does not enter into a construction contract with a general contractor for the Park Project
by January 1, 2019, this Agreement shall terminate and both Parties shall be released from all
remaining obligations under this Agreement.
7. No Third-Party Beneficiaries. No term or provision of this Agreement is intended
to be for the benefit of any person, entity, association or organization not a party to this Agreement,
and no such other person, entity, association or organization shall have any right or cause of action
hereunder.
8. Applicable Law and Venue. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed
under the laws of the State of Colorado and the venue for any judicial proceedings related to this
Agreement shall be in Larimer County District Court.
9. Section Headings. The captions or headings herein are for convenience or
reference only and shall in no way define or limit the scope or intent of any provision or section
of this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have executed this Agreement as the date and year
first above written.
THE FORT COLLINS URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY
By: __________________________________________
Darin A. Atteberry, Executive Director
ATTESTED: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By: _________________________ By:______________________________
City Clerk Authority Legal Counsel
Print Name: ___________________ Print Name: _______________________
THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
By: __________________________________________
Wade Troxell, Mayor
ATTESTED: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By: _________________________ By: ______________________________
City Clerk Deputy City Attorney
Print Name: ___________________ Print Name: _______________________