HomeMy WebLinkAbout105 - 07/01/2025 - MAKING A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION OF RAILROADORDINANCE NO.105,2025
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
MAKING A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION OF RAILROAD
CROSSING ELIMINATION PROGRAM GRANT FUNDS FOR THE
VINE/TIMBERLINE RAIL GRADE SEPARATION PLANNING PROJECT
A.The purpose of this item is to appropriate Railroad Crossing Elimination
(“RCE”)Program grant funds provided through the Federal Railroad Administration
(“FRA”)for the Vine/Timberline Rail Grade Separation Planning project (“Project”).The
funds will be used to conduct planning for the capital project,which will eliminate the at-
grade railroad crossing at the intersection of Timberline Road and Vine Drive by creating
an overpass along Timberline Road across the BNSF railroad tracks and Vine Drive.
These funds will be used for planning,including outreach,feasibility study,technical
analysis,design,and right-of-way acquisition.
B.The existing intersection of Timberline Road and Vine Drive experiences
congestion with safety and delay concerns due to the existing 4-way stop control along
with an at-grade rail crossing near the intersection.The Vine and Timberline Intersection
Improvements project,which is already underway,will improve the intersection with a
traffic signal interconnected to a new rail crossing signal.That project is fully funded,and
construction is currently underway.Construction on that intersection improvement project
has been delayed by utility relocations being performed by the Poudre Valley Rural
Electric Association and will be completed later this summer.
C.As northeast Fort Collins continues to develop,increasing traffic volumes at
the Vine and Timberline intersection will result in the need for an overpass like the one
constructed at Vine and Lemay,which was completed in 2022.By bridging Timberline
Road over the BNSF railroad tracks and the parallel Vine Drive,Fort Collins will reduce
congestion,improve safety,improve system efficiency,add multimodal options,and
provide much-needed access for growing neighborhoods.
D.A grade separation overpass at Vine Drive and Timberline Road over the
railroad tracks has been part of the City’s Master Street Plan for several years.The
Transportation Capital Projects Prioritization Study (“TCPPS”adopted by City Council on
September 19,2023 (Resolution 2023-086))includes Vine/Timberline Rail Grade
Separation as one of the top fifteen projects in the study.
E.The East Ridge Second Filing and Waterfield Fourth Filing developments
provided development contributions towards the Project.The City worked with a
consultant to develop an RCE Program grant application that was submitted in 2024.The
application requested funding to complete Project planning.The application was
successful,and the City has received RCE Program funds pursuant to an
intergovernmental grant agreement,authorized by Resolution 2025-064.
F.This Ordinance appropriates $765,616 FRA RCE Program grant funds to
cover costs in support of the Project.Project funding also includes contributions totaling
$331 ,827 from the two developments provided in lieu of construction and in anticipation
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of the Vine/Timberline Rail Grade Separation capital project,which funding was
previously appropriated to this Project through Ordinance No.122,2023,and Ordinance
No.115,2024.The local match required for the RCE funds is $191,404,which match will
be met with a portion of these development contributions.The remaining development
contribution ($140,423)will be available as an overmatch for future grant opportunities
and to help fund additional Project costs.The total fund amount projected for this planning
Project is $1 ,097,443 composed of funds appropriated with prior actions and with this
action.
G.Article V,Section 9 of the City Charter permits the City Council,upon
recommendation of the City Manager,to make a supplemental appropriation by ordinance
at any time during the fiscal year,provided that the total amount of such supplemental
appropriation,in combination with all previous appropriations for that fiscal year,do not
exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues and all other funds to be
received during the fiscal year.
H.The City Manager has recommended the appropriation described in
Section 1 and determined that the funds to be appropriated are available and previously
unappropriated from the Capital Projects fund and that this appropriation will not cause
the total amount appropriated in the Capital Projects fund to exceed the current estimate
of actual and anticipated revenues and all other funds to be received in this Fund during
this fiscal year.
The grant funds appropriated in this Ordinance for the Project are ineligible
for use in the Art in Public Places (“APP”)program due to restrictions placed on them by
the Federal Railroad Administration,the source of these funds.
J.The funding from the development contributions to construction previously
transferred to the Project are also ineligible for use in the APP program,because these
previously appropriated funds already completed contributions to the APP program.
K.Article V,Section 11 of the City Charter authorizes the City Council to
designate in the ordinance when appropriating funds for a federal,state or private grant
or donation,that such appropriation shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year in which
the appropriation is made,but continue until the earlier of the expiration of the federal,
state or private grant or donation or the City’s expenditure of all funds received from such
grant or donation.
L.The City Council wishes to designate the appropriation herein for the
Railroad Crossing Elimination Program grant as an appropriation that shall not lapse until
the earlier of the expiration of the grant or the City’s expenditure of all funds received from
the grant.
M.The appropriations in this Ordinance benefit public health,safety and
welfare of the residents and the traveling public of Fort Collins and serve the public
purposes of improving multimodal transportation infrastructure and safety within the City.
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In light of the foregoing Recitals,which the Council hereby makes and adopts as
determinations and finding,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1.There is hereby appropriated from new revenue or other funds in the
Capital Projects fund the sum of SEVEN HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE THOUSAND SIX
HUNDRED SIXTEEN DOLLARS ($765,616)in FRA Railroad Crossing Elimination
Program grant funds,to be expended in the Capital Projects fund for the Vine/Timberline
Rail Grade Separation Planning Project.
Section 2.The appropriation herein for the Railroad Crossing Elimination
Program grant is hereby designated,as authorized in Article V,Section 11 of the City
Charter,as an appropriation that shall not lapse at the end of this fiscal year but continue
until the earlier of the expiration of the grant or the City’s expenditure of all funds received
from such grant.
Introduced,considered favorably on first reading on June 17,2025,and approved
on second reading for final passage on July 1,2025.
A EST:
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Effective Date:July 11,2025
Approving Attorney:Heather N.Jarvis
Exhibits:None