Sentinel NORTHGLENN 1/3/13
Northglenn Thornton
January 3, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ournorthglennnews.com, ourthorntonnews.com
Adams County, Colorado • Volume 49, Issue 21
SLIP SLIDIN’ AWAY
County, Northglenn to face off Quarrel stems from approved changes to the city’s urban renewal plan By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com
Omar Alvares laughs as he slips off a board while sledding down a slope at Bell Roth Park Thursday, Dec. 27, in Thornton. Photo by Andy Carpenean
Mapleton to host community programs Agreement includes exchange of maintenance services for facility uses By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com Mapleton Public Schools will soon host several community programs at several of its schools through a newly approved joint-use agreement between Thornton and the district. The agreement, which was unanimously approved by City Council during its Dec. 18 public meeting, spells out an exchange of $49,495 in city landscape maintenance services for an estimated $42,359 in building and field uses through the school district. In all, the city would provide maintenance services to five of the school district’s facilities, including Meadow Elementary, Clayton-Bertha Heid Elementary Park, Sam Molinaro Park, York International School and portions of its Skyview Campus. The agreement would also allow for the conditional forgiveness of $229,539 in water and sewer tap fees
that were due to the city earlier this year. Council unanimously approved an agreement during its Aug. 28 public meeting to the delay the payment of these tap fees till a formal joint use agreement could be finalized. Mike Soderberg, the city’s community services executive director, said these tap fees would become payable if Mapleton terminates the agreement in the future. The agreement will allow the city to have second priority for fields and facilities after the school district but prevent individual school principals from modifying previously scheduled city events. In cases where Mapleton staff may be required to work overtime, the city or the affiliated organization will be required to pay those costs. Soderberg said the largest costsaving measure will be the relocation of the city’s boxing program from its current location at 9191 Washington St. to Mapleton High School. He said this move alone is estimated to save the city about $30,000 each year. City Manager Jack Ethredge said the agreement would allow the city to ensure some Mapleton-owned facilities located within the city are main-
tained and available to neighboring residents. “There is — particularly with Mapleton and maybe with other districts now and in the future — a concern that a lot of their facilities are built and integrated within the neighborhoods,” Ethredge said during a Dec. 11 planning session. “We see this as an opportunity to stabilize that public property that is within neighborhoods owned by the school district as well.” Mayor Pro Tem Eva Henry, who represents the city ward located within Mapleton’s boundaries, said the agreement would allow the city to enhance the quality of life for neighboring school district residents through the introduction of adult programs that the city is not able to offer at its current facilities. “It’s not just all about dollars — it’s also about the quality of life that we’re offering to our citizens and partnering with our schools, which in the long run, is actually a significant benefit for the children in our community,” Henry said. “Sometimes you just can’t put a dollar amount on some city services, and I think this is one of those times.”
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A disagreement between the Northglenn Urban Renewal Authority and Adams County proposed modifications and additions to the city’s urban renewal plan will be settled by the Colorado Supreme Court later this month. The disagreement stems from a set of recently approved actions by the city to substantially modify its current urban renewal plan and create a new urban renewal plan based on a 2012 survey produced by Centennial-based real estate advisory company Ricker Cunningham. The three resolutions, which included one to declare parts of the current urban renewal area as blighted, was unanimously approved by the Northglenn City Council during its Dec. 17 public meeting. Funds used for public improvement projects in the current urban-renewal area, which generally spans from 120th to 104th avenues and Fox Run Parkway to North Federal Boulevard, are set to expire in 2017. These funds, called tax increment financing, are collected through sales and property-tax increases that exceeds the rate set at the beginning of the urban renewal area’s establishment in 1992. Ricker Cunningham principal Anne Ricker said the new urban renewal area will encompass areas removed from the original plan such as the Northglenn Marketplace and Huron Center, which may experience significant benefits from future redevelopment efforts. In all, she said the area’s existing $5.6 million property tax base is projected to increase to $31 million over the next 25 years through tax increment financing generated by the new plan. City Attorney Corey Hoffmann said the creation of smaller, individual tax increment financing districts may be beneficial to some business owners who are seeing their property values increase because of
redevelopment initiatives. However, not everyone is on board with the city’s new urban renewal plan. Adams County Commissioner W.R. “Skip” Fischer and Adams County Assessor Gil Reyes wrote in a Dec. 12 letter that the county was opposed to the modification of the current plan and the creation of a new one because it would violate a 1994 district court case filed by the county against NURA. Reyes and Fischer both contend the district court ruled in the county’s favor after finding there was no factual or legal basis to contradict the Adams County Assessor’s calculation of the incremental tax revenue payable to NURA. “Judgment was entered in favor of Adams County and against NURA, and although the judgment was appealed, it remains the law,” Reyes and Fischer wrote in the letter addressed to NURA Executive Director Debbie Tuttle and City Manager Bill Simmons. “The urban renewal impact reports … contain methodologies that are inconsistent with the court’s order.” Ricker said she is prepared to testify and validate her company’s findings when the case will appear before the Colorado Supreme Court at the end of the month, but noted that it is important for NURA and Adams County to continue discussions. “I think any kind of a dialogue and a dialogue throughout the life of your plan is always a good idea,” Ricker said. “It is never the intention that one organization do well and the other fails, because nobody does well, and I can’t say that enough. If there truly are impacts that are unforeseen at this time, there should be a regular dialogue and you should talk about that and figure out ways to solve those problems together.” The first public hearing on the lawsuit, which will include the delivery of oral arguments, will begin at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at the new Colorado Supreme Court building, 2 E. 14th Ave. in Denver.
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