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NATION & WORLD / PAGE B3 Thursday, February 18, 2010
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Councoll to buyapt of Rive alk
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BY KEVIN DUGGAN
KevinDuggangcoloradoan.com
The on -again, off -again
Riverwalk project is on again.
The Fort Collins City Council
voted unanimously early
Wednesday morning to buy 128
acres southwest of the inter-
change of Interstate 25 and
Harmony Road to use as a reser-
voir and open space area. The
property sits on the south side of
the Riverwalk development pro-
posed by developer Jay Stoner.
The decision clears the way
.for Stoner to sell the 293-acre
Riverwalk property to
Turnkey Property Service,
which in turn will sell the
reservoir site to the city for
$4.425 million.
CounciPs decision came
after midnight and after much
complaining from members
about the lack of public process
in putting the deal together.
Because of time restraints,
the proposal was not reviewed
by citizen advisory boards that
typically would be asked to
weigh in on the matter, includ-
ing the city's water board.
Project
Continued from Page Bt
Despite their misgivings,
council members voted for the
project, saying it would help
the city control a major gate-
way to Fort Collins.
"It's hard for some people to
Mayor pro-tem Kelly
Ohlson said the process
showed disrespect for the
water board and was "inten-
tional, blatant and irresponsi-
ble at the staff level."
City Manager Darin
Atteberry said there was no
effort to exclude the water
board, although he agreed the
process was not "optimal." The
stop -and -start nature of the
project and deadline pressures
facing the developer dictated
how the deal was handled, he
said.
appreciate, but not everything
is Old Town," said Council
member Wade Troxell. "We
really have to think about our
entire city, and that includes
the eastern edge."
Riverwalk, which would be
a transit -oriented develop-
ment with a mix of commer-
cial and residential uses, is
likely to stay much as Stoner
In August, the council
unanimously approved a $5.8
million contract to buy the
land from Stoner, but the deal
fell through.
"I think that the nature of
the. project and constant
change has put us in this
predicament," he said.
The city has been dealing
with the Riverwalk proposal
in its various configurations
for more than three years.
At one point, Timnath was
prepared to annex west of I-25
in order to bring the project
envisioned it, Hackstaff said,
although less intense. The
reservoir area would provide a
connection to other open
spaces along the Poudre River
and I-25, he said.
. Much has to happen for the
land deal to be finalized, offi-
cials said.
The city and Turnkey would
have to agree on a final design
under its control. That propos-
al set off a battle between
Timnath and Fort Collins that
was resolved through media-
tion.
Rus Hackstaff of Turnkey
told council members the com-
pany faces a March 1 deadline
to close on its deal with
Stoner. An equity partner is
willing to participate in the
deal, he said, at a time when
financing from banks is diffi-
cult to get.
See PROJECT/Page B2
for the reservoir, which would
hold 1,500 acre feet of water. A
lined gravel pit on the site
would be expanded to accom-
modate the water.
Turnkey also would have to
acquire permits for the reser-
voir project from the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.
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