HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 2/5/2019 - Memorandum From Jason Graham Re: January 15, 2019 Agenda Item #20 - Ordinance No. 004, 2019 Authorizing The Conveyance Of A Transmission Line Easement On City Property At Meadow Springs Ranch To RoundUtilities
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M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: January 28, 2019
TO: Mayor Troxell and Councilmembers
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Jeff Mihelich, Deputy City Manager
Kevin Gertig, Utilities Executive Director
Carol Webb, Utilities Deputy Director
FROM: Jason Graham, Director of Plant Operations, Utilities
RE: January 15, 2019 City Council Meeting Agenda Item Summary #20 First
Reading of Ordinance No. 004, 2019, Authorizing the Conveyance of a
Transmission Line Easement on City Property at Meadow Springs Ranch
to Roundhouse Renewable Energy, LLC.
The purpose of this memo is to provide additional information regarding follow-up
requests by Council at the January 15, 2019 meeting. All Council members were
present. Staff provided an overview of the Roundhouse Renewable Energy Project
including a staff recommendation for Council to approve Ordinance No. 004, 2019,
Authorizing the Conveyance of a Transmission Line Easement on City Property at
Meadow Springs Ranch to Roundhouse Renewable Energy, LLC. First reading
generated a Council vote of 5-1 with Councilmember Cunniff as the lone dissenting
vote. Follow-up information was requested by Councilmembers on the following items:
1. Provide information on the process to evaluate existing roads and other linear
infrastructure in addition to the railroad line.
2. Provide further validation of the stated 98% transmission line alignment with existing
infrastructure for the recommended route vs. the stated 72% WAPA line option
alignment with existing infrastructure.
Follow Up Items
1. The project team evaluated possible transmission line routes along the old US
Highway 87, County Road 5, existing Railroad lines, existing transmission lines, and
the I-25 corridor (possible routes both east and west of I-25). The 6 possible routes
included in the siting study were evaluated using the following criteria: vegetation
DocuSign Envelope ID: 6FCF6481-465F-4355-8EC9-7FB6882C06DA
and surface water, wildlife, birds (raptor and non-raptor), visual resources, land
uses, cultural resources, engineering, and existing linear infrastructure. Specifically,
regarding the existing linear infrastructure criteria, two distinctions were made during
evaluation:
a. Distance of parallel route in miles adjacent to an existing linear feature
(railroad tracks, existing pipeline ROW/corridor, old Highway 87, CR 5, I-25,
or existing native surface roads) and;
b. Distance of parallel route in miles that can be accessed by old Highway 87,
CR 5, I-25 Frontage Road, or existing native surface roads.
2. The recommended transmission line route parallels existing Colorado linear
infrastructure (railroad tracks, existing pipeline ROW/corridor, or County Road 5) for
~98% of its design length. An alternative transmission line route in the vicinity of the
WAPA line may offer the ability to follow existing infrastructure for ~72% of its design
length (see included map).
3. Continued project team discussions have confirmed the following:
a. The WAPA line is not available for PRPA to move power due to lack of
capacity;
b. Existing WAPA line easements do not have any excess area for an additional
line constructed in parallel to the WAPA line.
City staff recommends City Council to authorize conveyance of a transmission line
easement to Roundhouse Renewable Energy, LLC consistent with the preferred route
presented by City Staff which aligns with existing railroad infrastructure on City of Fort
Collins Wastewater Utility owned Meadow Springs Ranch. The project team feels this
recommendation is aligned with Climate Action Plan goals as well as protecting and
enhancing Natural Resources of City owned properties.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 6FCF6481-465F-4355-8EC9-7FB6882C06DA
DocuSign Envelope ID: 6FCF6481-465F-4355-8EC9-7FB6882C06DA