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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES-10/14/2008-SpecialOctober 14, 2008 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO Council -Manager Form of Government Special Meeting - 1:00 p.m. A special meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at 1:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the City of Fort Collins City Hall. Roll Call was answered by the following Councilmembers: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw, Roy, and Troxell. Staff Members Present: Atteberry, Harris, Roy. Executive Session Authorized Councilmember Ohlson made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Poppaw, to go into executive session, as permitted under Section 2-31(a) to confer with attorneys for the City regarding potential litigation and, to the extent that the State's Sunshine Law, under Section 24-6-402(4)(b) and (e) may be applicable to the City, to confer with the City's attorneys for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions and to determine positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations to develop strategy for negotiations; and to instruct negotiators. Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw, Roy and Troxell. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED (**Secretary's Note: The Council adjourned into Executive Session at 1:05 p.m. and reconvened following the Executive Session at 2:32 p.m.) Councilmember Troxell left the meeting during the Executive Session. Mayor Hutchinson stated the Town of Timnath has passed on first reading, an ordinance annexing the southwest corner of I-25 and Harmony Road. This is a critical issue for Fort Collins as the intersection is a gateway to Fort Collins. The City has a formal intergovernmental agreement with Latimer County, recognizing that the intersection has been in the Fort Collins Growth Management Area for 28 years. Based on that agreement, Fort Collins has invested heavily in the area, contributing to major improvements to the 1-25/Harmony interchange, the Transit Center and other investments. Second reading of the Timnath ordinance is scheduled for October 29, 2008. The special meeting has been called to allow Council the opportunity to act before that deadline. All notification requirements have been met in calling the Special Meeting. He asked for Council discussion regarding the necessity of acting immediately. Councilmember Manvel stated it is essential for Council to act immediately. Notice of the Special Meeting was correctly posted but more information was not published before the meeting as details were under consideration up to the time of the meeting. 194 October 14, 2008 Councilmember Manvel made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Poppaw, finding that the postponement of any action taken at this meeting would be contrary to the interests of the City. City Manager Atteberry stated the Town of Timnath has initiated an annexation that encroaches into the City of Fort Collins' Growth Management Area, which has been in place for 28 years. Specifically, Timnath has created a flagpole annexation to cross I-25 on Harmony Road, in order to bring into the Town a property on the southwest corner of I-25 and Harmony. A second annexation by Timnath will bring in the remainder of the property, which lies between Kechter Road to the south, Harmony Road to the north, Strauss Cabin Road to the west, and I-25 to the east. Together, these properties are known as Riverwalk or the Stoner Property. The proposed annexation by Timnath lies within the City's Growth Management Area. The GMA was implemented through an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County. There are other cooperative GMAs in the region, including agreements between the City and Loveland, Windsor, Wellington, and Larimer County. None of these entities have ever utilized hostile annexation into the City's boundaries. Fort Collins has invested significant funds into the Harmony/1-25 corridor, based on regional planning and agreements that were in place. He, City staff, and the Mayor have had multiple contacts with the Town of Timnath and have spent many hours trying to cooperate with Timnath and find a compromise that would be mutually beneficial, but those efforts have been unsuccessful, to date. On October 8, 2008, a formal objection to the annexation was sent to Timnath and mediation has been requested. Despite the objection, all indications are that Timnath plans to proceed with the second reading of the annexation on October 29. He and the Mayor have been told the annexation will proceed as planned. Timnath's forcible annexation into the 28-year GMA is completely unacceptable to the City of Fort Collins and it is imperative that Council use every legal means available to preserve this important gateway to the community. The Town of Timnath issued a resolution on September 17 that offered Fort Collins a small portion of the revenue from Riverwalk and gave the City only 30 days to respond to the resolution. Staff has been exploring options to offer in response and, in order to meet the tight deadline set by Timnath, this Special Meeting was needed. Staff recommends initiating the City's own annexation in response to the Timnath annexation. John Kirsch, 2207 Gemstone Court, expressed his disappointment with Council and City management in the handling of Timnath and Riverwalk Project. Councilmember Manvel stated calling a special meeting required unusual and extreme circumstances and this situation met that criteria. Mayor Hutchinson noted meetings have been held with Timnath in an attempt to reach compromises on the issue, but no resolution was reached between Timnath and Fort Collins. Good governance requires Council to act now. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw and Roy. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. 195 October 14, 2008 Mayor Hutchinson stated the next step is to adopt an emergency ordinance conveying natural areas to Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation. Since the ordinance was not available for public inspection at least 24 hours before the meeting, it is necessary to read the ordinance into the record. City Attorney Roy stated each action taken at this meeting is to facilitate the annexation of property by the City, which, in part, will overlap a portion of the annexation undertaken by the Town of Timnath. Councilmember Poppaw made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Manvel, to adopt Emergency Ordinance No. 128, 2008, Authorizing the Conveyance of a Portion of the Arapaho Bend Natural Area to the Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation. She read the Ordinance into the record. Lindsey Kuntz, Real Estate Specialist, read the legal description contained in Exhibit A. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw and Roy. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. City Attorney Roy noted an agreement between Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation and the City for the conveyance of the property and a deed now needed to be signed, after passing Emergency Ordinance No. 128, 2008. Mayor Hutchinson signed the agreement and deed, which were accepted by Chuck Seest, Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation Secretary. City Attorney Roy explained that, during the course of this transaction, the Council will receive a petition from the Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation, which has just taken ownership of the bulk of the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. This petition will be an application to disconnect portions of the Natural Area for the purpose of re -annexation. The Land Use Code does not contain a process for disconnection. State statute contains provisions relating to disconnection but those provisions only apply to statutory cities. Fort Collins is a home rule city. Staff believes it is advisable for the City to adopt its own disconnection process, which is the purpose of the next ordinance. Councilmember Roy made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Poppaw, to adopt Emergency Ordinance No. 129, 2008, Amending Division 2.12 of the City's Land Use Code to Add a New Section Establishing a Procedure for Disconnecting Property from the City. He read the Ordinance into the record. Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw and Roy. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. City Attorney Roy stated Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation has signed an application to disconnect portions of the Natural Area that was conveyed to it. The City Manager has signed a similar application to disconnect an adjacent part of Harmony Road, as well as certain portions of Strauss Cabin Road and Kechter Road. Those petitions have been given to the City Clerk. Pursuant to the new Code provision just adopted, the next step is adoption of a third ordinance that grants the October 14, 2008 disconnect of both properties, for the purpose of the subsequent re -annexation, together with certain additional properties. Councilmember Manvel made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Roy, to adopt Emergency Ordinance No. 130, 2008, Authorizing the Disconnection of Portions of Arapaho Bend Natural Area and Portions of Harmony Road, Strauss Cabin Road and Kechter Road. He read the ordinance into the record. Kuntz read the legal description contained in Exhibit A. Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw and Roy. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. The meeting adjourned at 3:21 p.m. ATTEST: Adiournme^* 197