February 22, 2024 — City Council Regular Meeting

Transcript

Captions from City of Boulder YouTube recording.

[0:21] hello all can you hear me yes ma'am y it's a quiet group tonight we're having some

[1:01] difficulty technology Gremlin attacking again yeah yeah working on video okay

[4:49] and otherb folks it's good to have you here Dave John I think you're on mute

[5:08] hey well it's 6 o' and it looks like we got our relevant people here so Elisha are we recording Emily has started the recording now sir okay very good well good evening everyone and welcome to the February 22nd 2024 special joint meeting between the Boulder City Council and the open space Board of Trustees I've got an announcement to make uh then we're going to have a couple of declarations and then we'll get on with business of the meeting so uh the announcement tonight is about exploring Regional minimum wage the cities of Boulder Lafayette Longmont Lewisville and the town of Erie are collectively exploring a potential increase to the local minimum wage in their respective communities beginning

[6:00] this month people are invited to engage virtually and in person with English and Spanish options options available are invited to respond to the online questionnaire and participate in one of the many Focus sessions engagement opportunities are open now until April 15th visit the QR code to learn more this announcement also comes in English and Spanish options long lville Lo

[7:06] okay and with that I will call us to order if you could do the roll call please and we're going to start with the council roll call and then after the Declarations will do the osbt roll all right thank you and good evening everyone we'll start tonight's roll call with council member Adams present Benjamin May rocket pres council member V present Maris presar here may mayor Pro spear pres council member wall pres M Wier mayor we have our thanks so much Lea all right our first item is 1A which is the rare disease day declaration to be presented

[8:02] by council member FS if you would please thank you Aaron May Brocket um is Lauren Rosenberg here to accept this declaration yes hi am here yay thank you for joining us this evening so Lauren Lauren Rosenberg is a founder of a local mom Prophet called Sophie's neighborhood and will be receiving the rare disease day declaration after read the Declaration I will invite Lauren to share some words with us this evening rare disease day February 29th 2024 there are 10,000 diseases and conditions considered rare each affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans in the United States according to the National Institutes of Health while each of these diseases may affect a small number of people rare diseases as a group affect almost 30 million or in 10

[9:00] Americans many rare diseases are serious and debilitating conditions that have a significant impact on the lives of those affected living with a rare disease is made Harder by the fact that there is often low profit potential for development of treatments for uncommon illnesses therefore very little research is done while hundreds of drugs and Biologicals have been approved for the treatment of rare diseases according to the Food and Drug admin most of the known rare diseases are still without FDA approved treatments as such millions of Americans still have rare diseases for which there is no approved treatment individuals and families affected by Rare diseases often experience additional difficulties such as a diagnos a diagnosis delay difficulty finding Med a medical expert and lack of access to treatments or ANS

[10:00] Services while the public is familiar with some rare diseases many patients and families affected by less widely known rare diseases bear a large share of the burden of funding research and raising public awareness to support the search for treatments the National Organization for rare disorders is organizing a nationwide observance of rare disease day on February 29th 2024 the city council of Boulder Colorado declare February 29th 2024 as rare disease day and urge all community members to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly and in its observance thank you Lauren um thank you for being with us again um is there anything you would like to share with us thank you so much for having me um that was really fantastic recap of um

[11:02] the uh what people with rare diseases are facing in this country and around the world um so again my name is Lauren Rosenberg and I thank you mayor Brockett and the city for allowing me to accept this declaration in honor of red disease awareness day um my daughter Sophie um currently a first grader at Foothill Elementary School was diagnosed with an ultra rare condition back on March 9th 2020 just before she was about to turn 3 years old uh it was the number of years couple of years of head scratching until the most extensive genetic tests available revealed that she had an ultra rare bone and kidney disease that came with no treatment um and no hope for any we are told that she was among 30 to 50 people worldwide with this condition that over time progressively her symptoms would personen

[12:00] um her bones would not form properly um through the course of development and her kidneys um would deteriorate over time um eventually leading to dialysis um and stage kidney failure and this is what we were told um obviously we were deep despair um but we picked ourselves up and my husband and I being entrepreneurs um based here in Boulder started our 501c3 called so's neighborhood and got to work and ever since we have um been able to change her fate significantly and it was the uplifting uh that came from the support of Boulder uh this community here including um our incredible Life Sciences uh industry and University um along with locales and just wonderful uh kind-hearted supportive people that uh enabled our foundation to get off the ground and uh to dat we have raised

[13:00] nearly $2 million over the last four years and we're uh funding quite a bit of scientific research globally um that's impacting Sophie's life in real time as well as helping the lives of others um that previously had no help no hope um so it's just so important to me um that as many people as possible are aware of the fact that there are so many millions of people worldwide affected um bir rare diseases despite having disease states that are individually rare um so thank you again um we've been spending this month really highlighting rare disease day um and we appreciate all the support um and look forward to seeing the colors of rare disease day shine on the courthouse on Pearl Street on Thursday so thank you again thank you so much for joining us and for doing that important work

[14:00] yes Lauren thank you for sharing your powerful story and for everything that you're doing to raise awareness and to assist people with those rare diseases it's incredibly impressive so just very grateful for everything you're doing thank you uh and with that we will move to our next declaration which is the item 1B the 20th anniversary of the boulder International Film Festival declaration to be presented by council member shard if you would do that please you're on mute try again can you hear me yes very good thank you mayor Bara and if I could also thank Lauren again for being here Lauren for your bravery and your leadership um community of Boulder is lucky to have you and so glad uh here to receive declaration do we have H Kathy beak here to receive re this

[15:00] declaration oh there you are Kathy great okay so I will make the Declaration my first declaration and then invite you to say words sounds good so great okay so I am so honored to present this declaration this year the boulder International Film Festival is celebrating 20 years of inspiration entertainment and Community as an indispensable part of Boulder's art arts and culture landscaped named one of the 25 coolest film festivals in the world by Movie Maker magazine the boulder International Film Festival brings films filmmakers special guests award-winning actors and musicians from around the world to Boulder for a 4-day celebration of the art of Cinema the boulder International Film Festival attracts more than 25,000 film enthusiasts media and Industry professionals to Boulder each year and has been proud to host celebrate some of the film's most

[16:00] talented artists in addition to providing cultural and artistic experiences for residents and visitors Boulder International Film Festival serves as a tremendous Community partner the Biff provides free programming to seniors through their senior outreach program to youth through their educational outreach program which includes free screenings at Biff and a teen short film competition their call to action program gives a platform to local nonprofits who advocate for the world's most PR ing social and environmental issues to engage with these challenges through the art of film The Biff has featured close to 200 local nonprofits at the festival since the call to action program began and its dedication to Social and environmental resilience reflects its commitment to the values of Boulders Community this year the city council and organizers of the boulder International Film Festival invite all community members to participate in this year's festivities including free virtual film screenings leading up to the inperson festival a free community day during during the festival at eTown featuring Biff

[17:00] Classics free cake on the Saturday of the festival much more main venue for the Biff in 2024 will again be the historic Boulder Theater in downtown Boulder among many other venues and people can also participate by attending the Biff at home at home virtual Festival from March 4th to March 17th for a full lineup of films and activities please bot please visit Biff one.com we the city council of the city of Boulder Colorado declare February 29th March 3rd 2024 as Boulder International Film festivals 20th anniversary Kathy can I invite you to say any words yeah thank you so much Ryan I am honored to accept that Declaration on behalf of uh myself and my sister who co-founded the festival with me Robin and all of our volunteers and everybody who has put so much into this Festival uh this year uh we are in

[18:03] celebration of our 20th anniversary we are it's a give back to the community because we literally could not put on this Festival without the support of sponsors and donors and attendees and volunteers and filmmakers uh from all over so uh to be celebrating our 20th year is really uh exciting for us it just seems like we started it yesterday sometime when we think about it um we started it in 2005 and uh we were filmmakers and we thought Boulder really needed something like this Festival so um we've just had a blast doing it ever since uh you mentioned that um our we do have some community events some free films this year for for people at eTown on Saturday during the festival um and you mentioned the birthday cake we're doing a few other things as well to celebrate our 20th and uh I just wanted to point out that uh you know we have

[19:02] four sponsors of the festival who have been with us since the very very beginning since that year one and uh those sponsors are the St Julian hotel and uh the Allegra Printing and the city of Boulder and um there's one other one I knew I was going to forget one of them but I I just wanted to thank the city a boulder because even in our very first year when we had never held a festival the city came on with support as a sponsor and every single year after that has done any everything they can to help support us whether it's through grants or sponsorships uh always when we needed anything um the the city stepped up and uh we just want to say a big special thank you to the city of Boulder for helping us get to this 20th year we have a really fantastic lineup um you might

[20:01] see these around town it's the program and I encourage you to pick it up and read it it's uh 74 films um from I think 30 different countries we have 50 filmmakers coming into town this year so a really strong group of people coming in to share their films and their stories and we're really excited we hope that we see all of you at the festival it's next weekend so thank you so much well thank you Kathy to you and the team for your two decades of service and we all look forward to seeing starting next weekend thank you yes thanks so much Kathy for joining us and what a milestone so exciting I've got the program on my kitchen table right now and I'm picking and choosing which ones I'll I'll be at so can't wait to see at the festival that's fantastic thank you so much see you there see you there uh Teresa

[21:01] thanks Ain so um before the osbt convenes there's a matter I wanted to bring to council's attention for potential action should Council so choose uh the boulder Revised Code section 275 subsection e provides that no former public official shall appear before or participate in the body where they served within one year of their service that's relevant this evening because Karen halwig is signed up to speak at tonight's joint public hearing misswig served on the osbt and it's not yet been a year of time elapse since her service therefore she's ineligible to speak before the osbt however um section two - 7-5 does provide that the prohibition

[22:02] can be waved by the city council by a vote in this circumstance um it's an unusual circumstance because we have a joint meeting and Miss halwig would um like the right to be able to address Council and isn't able to do so without jointly addressing the osbt tonight so I wanted to advise Council of this matter in case you wanted to take up the exception happy to answer any questions thanks so much for drawing our attention to that Teresa I appreciate it um I I personally would certainly welcome the the the opportunity to give Karen a chance to speak to city council um so i' I'd be open to that Teresa what would you need specifically would it be a motion to could you be specific do you mind yes absolutely um it would require a motion to wave the prohibition of BRC section 2-7 d5e with respect to miss halwig um Karen

[23:03] halwig for this evening for the joint public hearing of the osbt and city council very good uh council members is anybody have a question or comment on that or want to make a motion sure I'll make a motion or I couldn't hear who said that Tara okay Tara and then I got Mark go ahead Tara no I said I would make a motion I don't have any questions isues okay feel free to go ahead um just a quick question how close to the one year is it I believe that her term uh expired at the end of March so I believe we're approximately a month from um from when that year would elapse excuse me teres I think it was March 2023 right right yeah yes okay yeah thank

[24:01] you I would be inclined to follow mayor brockett's lead on this thanks Mark Tera did you want to make that motion sure um I make a motion to wave the provisions of BRC section 2-7-2 with respect to miss holg for the joint public hearing tonight is that good enough yeah okay I'll second we good it Motion in a second seeing no other hands raised Ela this a raise show of hands vote Yes okay all in favor raise your hand okay I believe that's unanimous very good Miss hwi can speak to us tonight in the public hearing thanks for taking us through that Teresa um okay so tonight's public hearing item as we mentioned before is being held jointly with City Council on the open space board of TR and involves the request from the city utilities department for the ongoing use

[25:01] and management of an approximately 2.2 acre portion of the osmp van Fleet prop Vleet property needed to construct and maintain elements of the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project so if I could now ask um osbt board chair Dave pun to do a roll call for the osbt thank you mayor bracket I will call the role of the open space Board of Trustees uh board members Z I'm here board membera present and board member Carol present and I am Dave coz and I am present and so we do have a quorum uh Brady Robinson is out of the country and will be absent he thanks very much for that Dave welcome him again to our distinguished obbt board members thank you thank you uh Elisha if you could read the item

[26:00] into the record so we can get started please you're muted you're muted Bri's moving still a little slow my apologies um our public hearings are item number three on tonight's agenda 3A is the consideration of a request from the city of Boulders utilities department to use and manage an approximately 2.2 acre portion of the van vet open space property to be con to construct access operate and maintain elements of the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project pursuant to the disposal procedures of article 12 section 177 of the city of Boulder Charter and related matters good thank you so uh this item will begin with a staff presentation and

[27:00] recommendation which will be followed by any clarifying questions that city council or osbt may have and after those clarifying questions I'll open the public hearing for testimony and after the testimony portion of the public hearing is closed there'll be an opportunity for any last clarifying questions from Council Members or trustees uh the mayor myself and the osbt board chair will then seek motions to continue this public hearing item on upcoming meeting dates in March as a reminder neither the council nor board will be deliberating or making a decision on this item at tonight's meeting the deliberations and decisions will come at those meetings in March and with that um can I hand things over to you nura to get things kicked off please yeah thank you so much mayor um and hello to the open space Board of Trustees which we don't get to see in these kind of meetings I appreciate uh your reminder Mr Mayor that we are not asking for decisions to be made tonight as we know there is such tremendous Community interest in this item and appreciate the thoughtful questions both

[28:01] bodies may have as you hear more in our presentation and while we know this is just the beginning of the process that there are many moving Parts in in what is really truly a very complex project it's exciting for us to staff to come before you now on the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project as we are at the 60% stage of design and one of the critical next steps in this project is the consideration of the disposal of 2.2 Acres of open space parks of land that is needed to support the flood mitigation work I'll note too as so many of you already know that Decades of analysis and engagement work has occurred to get us to the place we are right now and I want to appreciate the thoughtful way in which our staff had moved this work forward keeping flood mitigation and safety at the Forefront of their work while also thinking very intentionally about how to mitigate mitigate and monitor any potential impacts this may work may have on our wetlands and the various habitats that are home to some of our threatened species in the area and other species

[29:01] that present some conservation concerns to both staff and our community with that I'll turn it over to our director of open space in Mountain Park Stan Burke and our director of utilities Joe Tedy Uchi who will kick this off but want to also appreciate not just the work of our utilities and osmp staff but the work other departments particularly folks in planning and development services and in our city attorney's office although there are more across the organization have really provided over the years this has been an extraordinarily heavy lift on a variety of fronts and we look forward to hearing from you and our community so I will uh kick it off to Dan if you could take us forward great well thank you Nara and good evening council members and good evening trustees it's nice seeing you all together uh as n said my name is Dan Burke I'm the director of the open space and Mountain Parks uh department and I'll be joined by uh Joe tauchi from utilities department to provide some introductory remarks uh before we begin

[30:02] the formal presentation and since both uh the board and the council need to consider and approve this transfer of L requests I just want to thank both bodies for the opportunity to simultaneously address the group um it's it's a great opportunity to do that and before we dive into the presentation I just want to take a moment to introduce you all to the staff who will be supporting tonight's presentation so in addition to Joe and I you will be hearing from Brandon Coleman from the city utilities department as well as Bethany Collins and Don Deo from open space and Mountain Parks I just wanted to call that team out because this is really the core team that since 2020 when city council gave direction to begin design of this particular flood mitigation project a small portion of which will need to be located on open space manag land that this team has spent hundreds and hundreds of hours working together and pursuit of a common goal that we collect collectively set

[31:00] out for our two departments and that goal was really in two parts first is to design a project that minimizes to the greatest extent possible impacts to open space in Mountain Parks land and second in order to address any avoidable impacts to open space to identify and develop comprehensive mitigation and restoration plans that will significantly benefit the open space system in this area and long term Joe and I share the opinion that staff has successfully achieved that goal tonight staff will summarize the request open space received from the city utilities department for the ongoing use and management of approximately 2.2 Acres of open space land needed to support the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project along with the temporary use of approximately 1.9 acres of osmp land needed only during the construction phase of the project staff will then also provide an

[32:00] overview of how the project plans to address through mitigation and restoration any permanent and temporary impacts to open space these plans include adding significant lands and water rights to the osmp portfolio as well as a plan to undertake one of the largest Wetland restoration projects in the city of Boulder's history as Bethany will later explain in the presentation the utilities request for the ongoing use and management of approximately 2.2 Acres of open space needs to be approved through the disposal process that is described in Section 1 177 of the city Charter in in addition to adhering to Charter Provisions open space staff considered this transfer of land requests by following osp's guidance for license and Disposal requests this is a document that has been endorsed by the Board of Trustees and and that outlines the information that staff needs to adequately assess disposal requests that

[33:01] come into our department so with that we have a few more introductory remarks but I'll have uh uh Joe come on and uh uh uh to provide us uh a few more introductory remarks before we get started Joe take it away thank you Dan hopefully everyone can hear me and good evening uh city council members and Board of Trustees I'm Joe tauchi the director of the utilities department and as has been mentioned tonight we're here and focused on the open space disposal process for the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project uh it's a project that's been in the making for years and years and we're really down to the the final month or so of City Board and Council process and all of the associated recommendations and approvals that go with that as many people know our organization has gone through some staff transition in the past several

[34:00] years including members of this project team however as Dan covered in his introductions our primary presenters tonight have all had uh key roles on this project for several years and it has really been great to work with Dan and and his team uh the past many years and it has it has really been a true partnership um and as naria mentioned in her opening remarks it's it's not just open space and utilities so many departments have supported the the project that we're working on the city manager's office city attorney's office the planning and development service and many others and it has been really great to see everyone work together for common goals that are really bigger than any of our individual departments and while for the utilities department the flood protection and the Associated Life Safety is a central and critical goal

[35:01] equally important is protecting the environment and Dan touched on some of the ways that were going about that but our our project team has worked hard to minimize the flood project impacts on City open space originally when we landed on the current design alternative we were talking about five acres of permanent impact and Disposal potentially and the team has really been focused as we come up to this 60% design point on reducing that to 2.2 acres for those environmental impacts that are unavoidable tonight you'll hear about mitigation and restoration plans designed to offset those impacts and we know that maintaining groundwater flows has been an item of uh High Community interest and tonight again you'll hear about a long-term monitoring plan and to ensure that the flood Project's groundwater conveyance

[36:00] system operates as designed and and Brandon if you want to start uh bringing up the slides I'll I'll wrap up here in a second and and I'll be turning it over to Brandon next but before I do I also just want to acknowledge and thank city council and the various boards including the Board of Trustees as well as the community for the input that we have received over the years there have been many many meetings and and late nights and we appreciate everyone continuing to follow what we're doing and with respect to the community we we definitely know there are mixed views on the projects on the project but hopefully people can see how how their input has positively shaped what we are planning here regardless of of their overall views and Brandon if you want to go to the next slide so um I will be turning it over to Brandon Coleman who is our utilities uh

[37:01] project manager for this engineering project manager he'll talk about uh the flood project then Bethany will talk about the uh land transfer details Don Deo will talk about the mitigation project and monitoring plan and then Dan and I will wrap things up at the end so with that Brandon I I think I will turn it over to you great uh thanks Joe and everybody uh good evening Council I'm Brandon Coleman I'm the uh engineering project manager in the storm flood utility and I'll be going over um a little bit of background on the flood mitigation project and the components uh of that project so so first I just want to start for what the need for the project is so South Boulder Creek is a one of 16 major drainageways that run through the city and and were uh responsible for uh flood management and mitigation through those

[38:01] 16 drainageways South Boulder Creek has flooded historically uh through the city uh some of the major flood events were in 1938 uh 1969 and most recently in 2013 uh the photo in the middle here is from Thunderbird Apartments along Thunderbird Lane from the 1969 flood and then the photo on the right is from koala Drive in 2013 13 and really speaks to the need and the importance of this project so as Joe mentioned uh the real goal of this project is protection of life and safety and this image here is a picture of the South Boulder Creek uh flood plane and you'll see a diagonal Road running across the middle of this figure that's us36 and uh the outlined area that's the South Boulder Creek flood plan plane and there's also a dash line that denotes the CU South property and the purpose of

[39:02] this project is really focused on mitigating flooding that leaves the main channel of South Boulder Creek and over tops us36 around the Table Mesa park and ride and then flows through the city uh through the frager Meadows neighborhood KU Meadows and also uh the East Boulder neighborhoods uh as as you've heard this project does have a long history um I'll pick it up and this project has followed a life cycle approach that we use as a utility so the first step in our flood mitigation is really flood plane mapping and that started in about 2004 2003 for the South Boulder Creek flood plane and that mapping effort was accepted as a regulatory flood plane in about 2010 and the mapping really identifies the flood risk so that's where we identifi this over topping flow and uh the need for mitigation so from that mapping effort

[40:01] we move to flood mitigation planning and mitigation planning is really looking at a systemwide flood approach for South Boulder Creek specifically in this case and also comparing multiple different Alternatives um to identify the best alternative for flood mitigation within a major drainage way so through that process we developed a South Boulder Creek major drainageway plan and that was accept Ed in 2015 and as you saw CU South is a key location for where flooding happens and where over topping of us36 um occurs and that mitigation plan identified a Regional Detention Facility um on the CU South property so recognizing that we moved into developing uh the Boulder Valley comp plan The Guiding principles for how the CU South property um would be uh approached with the flood mitigation as a key component of that and following

[41:01] the acceptance of those uh of the update to the Boulder Valley comp plan in 2017 we moved into design and as you've heard we've been in design since 2017 2018 we're um glad we've gotten to a 60% design stage and really felt now was the right time to bring forth uh this request [Music] so [Music] there we go so next I'll just go through some of the major components of that phase one from the flood mitigation plan which is this Regional Detention F facility Upstream of us36 so first to create the detention we're going to um this area shows an area where we're going to use an earth and embankment and that will actually detain the flood waters um and that'll be along the CU South property next to create the volume we need for detention during a 100-year flood um

[42:01] this area would be an area of excavation where we would create that detention volume then next we have an outlet work so the facility will only hold water during a flooding event and uh the outlet Works will discharge to channel which ultimately discharges back to South Boulder Creek in a safe way as to not increase Downstream flooding and what we'll be talking about a lot tonight is this Spillway um it will also be referred to as a flood wall so it's really a concrete wall that parallels us36 to create that detention uh that I was discussing and that's where it is located on open space and um we'll be talking more about that through the night and then the other component that you'll hear about tonight is this area of the C South property it's been denoted as Oso which is open space other

[43:01] but it comprises about 119 Acres that we've been focusing on for environmental uh mitigation area and also a restoration area and it's a historic part of the historic South Boulder Creek flood plane as well so maps are helpful um but they're not always great for visualization so we did create this uh rendering to help people visual ize what's going to happen so it starts we are looking we are looking Northwest uh across the US 36 bridge over South Boulder Creek and I'm going to hit play here and what you'll see is really the flooding um being detained by our Spillway and flood wall in the foreground here and then our Outlet structure which comes under us36 and then discharges to vely channel and you can see the flood wall on the back there and as the flood wall gets closer to the Sea South property it transitions to

[44:00] that earn embankment which is shown in green here and you'll see another large area of fill that's South Loop Drive so the existing road to the property will need to be elevated over our facility so that's just a general overview of the facility and kind of helps you visualize it show this is showing the flood waters but as I mentioned before it won't hold water unless it's actually flooding and then post flood it will actually drain completely so to get into the design details a little bit um we've really focused on the 60% design of developing the details around the spillway and flood wall in coordination with open space to really Define the area that we need for this transfer request so the spillway consists of a concrete wall and this is very busy this is part of the design drawing so I'll just hit some of the key components here uh the concrete Spillway flood wall we'll be talking talking about you also see the SE dot right of way there will be a downstream uh

[45:00] Spillway apron to address any groundwater issues and also um for any flows above the 100-year flood they would over top this Spillway so protecting that Downstream Edge and then you'll see underneath there's a groundwater collection system which I'll discuss further and then on the Upstream side of the wall we have about a 14t uh maintenance Road and this also includes a C Camp pile wall Foundation that is designed to cut off groundwater and then the groundwater conveyance system would safely move that water across that Foundation as to not impact uh the wetlands upstream and downstream of the facility and really mimic the natural uh movement of groundwater so this is a rendering this is another thing we've been thinking about uh through the 60% design and this is really for visual um impacts of the wall so we did select a concrete Spillway flood wall to minimize the

[46:00] footprint as much as we could so that's the tightest Corridor we can think of is to have a vertical wall but on the downstream side of the wall adjacent to us36 we're looking at proposing fill to go on that Downstream side and this really helps to for the visual Aesthetics and also to uh reduce any potential vandalism to the wall so I mentioned the groundwater conveyance system and just in general I'll speak at a very high level um about the groundwater conveyance system we have done a lot of work of groundwater modeling to understand the groundwater conditions and also to be able to size this piece of the design so on the left hand side of the screen this is our groundwater collection trench so essentially this will collect any groundwater on the Upstream side of our uh Spillway and then as that groundwater gets collected did we'll have a series of pipes and manholes that penetrate our foundation wall to move groundwater

[47:02] across that cuto off in a safe Manner and then on the downstream side we'd have a groundwater distribution trench so rather than having uh the groundwater discharg to open air we would want it to go back into the native soil as it would have historically so that's really the fundamentals of how the groundwater conveyance system works and it would also have valve So based on groundwater monitoring around the facility we'd be able to adjust that in the future as needed um this figure here also shows the outlet works so I mentioned the tunnel under us36 I wanted to highlight this because this is something we've worked with open space on as well as we were able to realign our Outlet Works um closer to the c. right of way and that was able we were able to minimize our impacts for the this disposal request by doing this alignment shown here which is shown in our 60% design documents as

[48:06] well so this is just a really highlevel vision of the schedule I'm just going to talk through a few things here this isn't all the items we have to deal with but this is really a highlevel um summary of the design and then also some of the key permits that we need to get so you'll see we're here today um we've completed our 60% design um that's also been posted to the website for the public um and then we're moving into 90% design and then as you go below the 90% design you'll see we we're already working with seot on a special use permit but having the definition from this Spillway flood wall alignment will allow us to better discuss the impacts to the SE dot right of way um through those negotiations

[49:00] so the next permit underneath there is the US Army Corps of Engineers is our federal Nexus because we will have some impacts to Waters of the US and they're a key component of this because they are also reviewing our environmental impacts and also our mitigation requirements including consultation with us fish and wildlife for threatening endangered species so this Spillway is in a very highly sensitive environmental area so it's really important we have it designed for these discussions so that way we can identify our impacts and also get the appropriate mitigation requirements from the Army core of engineers in fish and wildlife and then the next line under there is uh the state Engineers Dam safety office and the spillway is a key hydraulic component of the design and we need that to stay relatively the same so that way we can review that design and the Hydraulics of the facility including our Outlet Works pipe sizing and also

[50:01] over topping flows of anything greater than a 100-year flood and then the next three lines are all associated with flood plane uh regulations and flood plane permitting and as I mentioned before this is going to have a large impact on the flood plane um we'll essentially be cutting off that 100-year flooding flow through that um those neighborhoods I mentioned previously and that's going to require a from FEMA who uh is the federal agency that oversees flood planes also the city has uh flood plane regulations as well and then Boulder County flood plane uh will be reviewing this so having this wall defined at 60% is key to being able to move those permits forward and then throughout this whole process we've been collaborating with open space which has been great and we're really at a point where um we have the footprint defined the wall alignment defined and our impacts defined so that's why we're here um talking about

[51:00] this disposal decision moving forward and you'll see as we move through this we're getting close to a construction start date in early 2025 and that being said I'm going to turn it over to Bethany thanks Brandon can everybody hear me all right um so next up we're going to go through some of the uh utilities requests details the transfer request details um and let's go to the next slide Brandon so as Joe and Dan introduced um on December 15 2023 open space and Mountain Park staff uh received a request from City Utilities Department for the use of osmp managed land to support the construction and maintenance of the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project the request described the portions of open space property needed for temporary and ongoing use for the flood project the proposed dedication of land and water rights to

[52:00] osmp and mitigation restoration and monitoring plans to address flood project impacts next slide uh so let's get our bearings a little bit first the open space property we're discussing is part of a large complex of properties north and south of us36 acquired from the van vet family in the late 1970s and referred to by osmp staff as the van vet open space or van vet South the area related to this request is located generally within the blue oval on this map just south of the highway and east of the approximately 300 acre CU South property owned by the University of Colorado next Slide the utilities request centers on the proposed transfer of control use and management of an approximately 2.2 acre portion of the vample open space property along the US 36C do right of way shown in blue here next slide this area is needed by utilities to accommodate a portion of

[53:00] the flood mitigation infrastructure described by Brandon including access for its ongoing maintenance and management and that's the area that he showed in his i' I've put a rectangle around a portion of the area he showed in his diagram to denote what the transfer area really involves um the location of the spillway infrastructure is necessitated by the site topography including the elevation of us36 as well as the location of the existing utilities next slide so we use the term transfer interchangeably with disposal in the memo in this presentation um because title to all open space land is held by the city of fer not specifically by osmp so this request is to transfer use and management to another city Department uh this is usually accomplished or uh is accomplished by an interdepartmental agreement or what we will phrase an midou um but as outlined in BRC 8811 the transfer between departments must still

[54:00] comply with the disposal procedure set forth in article 12 section 177 of the city of Boulders Charter and other related Charter and code Provisions as you can see on the screen um the IDM used for this disposal will provide Provisions for the transfer of the ongoing use and management of the transfer area to utilities as well as the acquisition of the oso site and water rights for osmp man management and general terms and requirements related to the use of the temporary construction area and the oso site for the mitigation site all of which we'll discuss soon uh it will also include Provisions for reversion if the flood project is not constructed or if the transfer area is no longer used or needed by utilities for the flood project in the future next slide so additionally approximately 1.9 Acres of the open space property shown in red here will be needed temporarily for construction and then be restored by utilities and remain under the management of

[55:00] osmp next slide this area is needed for temporary access and equipment and material staging during construction of this spilt way outlet works and groundwater conveyance system and it's shown in the red rectangle again here the use of this temporary construction area will be formalized via a SE separate IDM oou and include Provisions for minimizing disturbance and full restoration by utilities under the guidance of osm staff which will have warranty periods for revation and wheat control this temporary agreement does not require osbt or Council action next slide if the transfer of the use and management of the approximately 2.2 acre transfer area is approved and the flood project is also able to be fully approved the land transfer elements of the CU South annexation agreement will become available which includes conveyance of a of 155 Acres of the ell property to the city with 80 acres being at no cost and an additional 75 acres to be paid for using utilities funds the

[56:01] flood project requires about 36 Acres of this land and the remaining 119 will be designated for osmp management for open space purposes these 119 acres are what's known as the oso site due to their Boulder Valley comprehensive plan designation as open space other and this is the area that is planned to be used by utilities for the mitigation of the flood project impacts in addition to this Oso site 30.2 ditch shares of Dry Creek ditch number two water rights will be acquired by the city from CU and managed by osmp to support the mitigation project and allow for future management and irrigation needs within the ditches service area while the oso site and water rights will be under the general management of osmp utilities will have the performance obligations associated with the mitigation project in the oso site until the restor ation and Regulatory and contractual requirements related to the flood project are

[57:00] completed again the CU South annexation agreement outlines specific milestones for conveyance of these land and water rights and of particular importance here for emphasis is that the city cannot acquire land and water rights from CU until utilities has a fully approved mitigation flood mitigation project and since the flood project requires the 2.2 acre portion of open space land approval of this transfer will will allow the permitting and Lane conveyances to progress next slide moving on to how the request has been reviewed within the framework of osp's license and Disposal guidance for osmp staff to provide a recommendation on a disposal or transfer request we consider the impacts and benefits to the open space land Charter purposes and resources as well as to the general public what alternatives may be available how impacts might be mitigated or restored and other site or Project Specific information consistent with the Department's license and Disposal

[58:00] guidance here I'll summarize some of the information assembled in the context of the guidance next slide please some of the impacts that have been identified to be associated with the transfer request include 2.2 Acres of open space land transferred for use and management by utilities for placement of utility infrastructure 1.9 Acres of open space land temporarily Disturbed during construction but then restored resource impacts including Wetlands habitat for threatened species and Scenic and buet impacts and the alteration of the existing public use patterns on the approximately 155 Acres of the CU South property that will be conveyed to the city due to the construction activities associated with the flood and mitigation projects for example the CU Levy which currently supports a walking trail used by the public under CU ownership will be removed as part of the mitigation project next slide some of the benefits identified to be associated with the transfer include acquisition of the 119

[59:02] acre Oso site shown in the blue oval in the lower right picture to be restored and managed for open space purposes acquisition of 30.2 shares of Dry Creek ditch number two water rights to be used for M the mitigation project and other open space purposes flood protection for Boulder residence and structures as described by branon addition of significant acreage to the osmp system in the South Boulder Creek flood plane and establishing flood plane connectivity reducing habitat fragmentation and improved hydrological function by removing the existing flood Levy the levy area is shown in red on the map on the upper Le hand side of this slide and also in the yellow on the lower right next slide under the licens and Disposal guns where impacts will occur the request must detail how mitigation and or restoration a might be possible in this case some temporary impacts within the 1.9 acre construction

[60:00] footprint will be restored under osmp guidance excuse me all temporary impact uh additionally contouring and restoration that can occur on the us36 side and visual design or painting of the osmp side of the flood wall will help mitigate Scenic viewshed impacts also the impacts to Wetlands and Upland habitat will be mitigated on the oso site in coordination with osmp staff as Don will detail next this use of the oso site by utilities for the mitigation project is contingent on the disposal of the transfer area to utilities and the designation of osmp management of the oso site and will be guided by an idou that includes details related to the mitigation design and construction as well as the monitoring of the groundwater conveyance system and mitigation project success it will also include adaptive management options for the groundwater conveyance system again this type of midou does not require board or Council action so now we're on

[61:00] to Don to provide more information on the mitigation project and monitoring plans I've just mentioned thanks Bethany uh so I'm going to talk a bit about the mitigation project and our uh monitoring plan moving forward um environmental mitigation is required by Regulatory Agencies to compensate for the unavoidable loss of resources as a result of the flip project in this case the regulated resources include Wetlands regulated by the city of Boulder and prebble's Meadow jumping mouse and youth ladies Tresses Orchid habitat regulated by the US fish and wildli service through The Endangered Species Act mitigation independent of that required in environmental permits is also a condition of transfer of open space land to utilities these requirements will increase the amount amount of habitat created restored or enhanced beyond what is typically set by city code and

[62:00] federal regulations next slide so this table which is table three in your memo shows the resources affected by the project and what is required to mitigate for those unavoidable losses from the project the important column to look at here is the last column which shows that mitigation our mitigation project will create additional habitat above what is required through permitting so for example uh as you can see in the first row under Boulder Wetlands we will be creating an additional 24 and a half acres of wetlands to compensate for the loss of 6.1 Acres which is above that required by the city based on the acreage impacted and the ratio of required mitigation um and through the planning the uh mitigation planning process we decided to maximize Wetland acre bridge created which um happened to reduce the amount of wetland buffer created which is shown here uh as netive .7 acres in

[63:02] the last column next slide please so the list of important environmental resources in the project area is extensive I mentioned uh the two species listed as threatened Under The Endangered Species Act prebles metal jumping mouse and latest Tresses Orchid and there are other species of conservation concern including northern leopard frogs uh Bobble Link which is the grassland nesting bird species in Decline and plains top meno which are found in South Boulder Creek and are a species of concern in the Colorado State Wildlife action plan the area also has some of the most productive and agricultural uh productive agricultural lands in the osmp system with uh hay production and great in being the primary uses in a nod to the ecological diversity and unique species and

[64:01] communities in the South Boulder Creek flood plane state of Colorado natural areas program designated South Boulder Creek as a state Natural Area in 1999 next slide so using data collected over the years by open space staff and supplemented with recent resource Serv by the city's Consultants we prepared this resource inventory map uh to identify important resources in the project area both on open space land and on the CU property so this map shows the various plant communities Wetlands Orchid habitat and PR's habitat in the project area we use this information in uh project planning for everything from providing a detailed understanding of where all the resources are found to permitting to developing our mitigation plan next slide figure four in the memo shows the

[65:02] area along us36 where the impacts on open space will occur ins set here is table one from the memo which shows temporary and permanent impacts to these resources as a result of the project and we focused a lot of our attention on the area along us36 where many of the resources I mentioned previously are located and where the spillway is proposed to be built open space and utility staff have been working with the Consultants to Res to reduce impacts to open space Resources by doing everything from realigning the spillway to be closer to the C dot right away to identifying construction methods and phasing to further reduce impacts next slide we've also been working with the city's Consultants to design mitigation to compensate for impacts that are unavoidable we started out by developing goals that we use to guide us through the design process uh these include creating and enhancing existing Wetlands

[66:00] uh to create a really diverse Wetland complex in the mitigation area creating or enhancing existing Upland habitat including potential habitat for prebles and ladies trust's Orchid and removing the existing Levy to increase ecological conductivity throughout the area this diagram graphically shows the design elements of the mitigation project the majority of the M mitigation will occur within the existing Levy in an old gravel Quarry which was mined from about the 1950s all the way through the uh 1990s it's a highly Disturbed area due to the rearrangement and removal of much of the aluvial flood plan soil and Associated vegetation and uh we've tried to um we've attempted to recreate natural features and habitats that existed prior to gravel Mining and that are common to flood Plaines along the Front Range of Colorado these include wet Meadows uh Willow shrublands

[67:00] emergent marshes and native grass grasslands arranged in a a matrix to maximize habitat for species uh that I mentioned before and others a really important part of the project will be to remove the flood control levy on the CU property and it'll be removed to reduce fragmentation of habitat between existing open space land and uh mitigation area and also just to improve overall flood plane connectivity next slide uh monitoring is also required as a condition in environmental permits it's necessary to ensure that the mitigation is meeting the project goals and monitoring falls into two kind of broad categories um regulatory monitoring as dictated by our environmental permits and monitoring required in the that will be required in the midou and specifically um related to the groundwater conveyance system it's

[68:01] going to be really critical to maintain groundw hydrology in the area because hydrology is the driving factor in the maintenance of wetlands and other habitats in the flood plane the groundwater conveyance system is designed to allow groundwater to flow freely through the spillway Foundation through a series um as you heard a series of underground pipes built into the uh uh the um C Camp pile wall basically the foundation of the FL of of the spillway open space staff is currently developing a monitoring plan for the system that includes a statistically robust study design meant to identify whether there are any changes to open space resources above and below us36 that can be attributed to the project we've um we've narrowed it down to a what's called a before and after control and impact study where we established vegetation plots in the groundwater influence area and also in a control area outside the area of

[69:00] influence so we monitor vegetation groundwater and other resources before and after the project is built to see if we're seeing any statistically or ecologically significant changes to open space resources and we plan on having everything in place to begin monitoring early this summer uh before groundbreaking for the project begins in the unlikely event that the groundwater conveyance system doesn't operate as designed uh will incorporate adaptive management uh to correct any deficiencies um in the system uh some options might include modification of the system uh extending the monitoring term acquiring additional water rights for the properties or and or creating additional mitigation so with that I'll turn it back to Dan and Joe for conclusion and next steps thank you great thank you Don uh yeah we just a couple more uh just kind of closing

[70:00] remarks from Joe and I and uh we can go to the next slide then I'm going to take the next half hour to read the staff recommendation actually I won't be doing that uh this is also in your packet it's it's quite lengthy it's a recommendation uh staff recommendation both to uh uh the osbt and Council and we staff arrived at this recommendation as I alluded to earlier through a lot of analysis and assessment of of all the materials and all the documentations that have been provided from utility staff that has been requested by open space staff and arrived at the recommendation of supporting the uh transfer request uh along with the other considerations that have been described uh by Bethany and uh uh don in terms of acquisitions mitiga and restoration so if we can go to the next slide there are a couple of more steps uh uh for the transfer request and uh

[71:02] they involved uh as Nua alluded to when we first started that tonight is about the staff recommendation clarifying questions and public testimony uh this public hearing item will then be continued uh first at the OS osbt will continue the public hearing at its March 13 2024 regular business meeting in which it will deliberate and act on the staff recommendation and uh it will provide Council uh it is the board is expecting to provide council with its recommendation I'll note that there will be no further public testimony at at this uh at this continuation uh upon the receipt of uh obt's recommendation on March 21st 20124 Council will continue the public hearing it will deliberate and act on the osbt recommendation I will note that there'll be limited public testimony provided and taken at that uh uh council meeting in

[72:00] relationship to the osbt action and recommendation and one final note in regarding the uh uh uh how uh disposals work is that no open space land shall be disposed of until 60 days following the date of city council approval of the disposal and uh and that is to allow for a a petition period so even if this is is approved by both the board and the council uh on the 21st of March uh there'll be a 60-day period uh before uh the execution of of of the disposal can take place so next slide and I'm going to turn it over to my colleague Joe to uh bring our presentation to a conclusion yeah thank you Dan and I want to wrap things up tonight by talking about the images on on this slide this is the last slide of our presentation on the left is a photo of the car on uh a car on koala drive and koala Drive is

[73:01] just on the north side of us36 near The Table Mesa parking ride I've I've referred back to this photo often through the years that we've working on been working on the project as it just a reminder of what we're really talking about and how intense the flood waters were back in in 2013 this is what it looked like when the water spilled over us36 in the middle of the night and onto those streets to the north not far from where this photo was taken was the Frasier Meadows retirement home and I was in a different role at the time but uh I'll never forget going to Water Resources Advisory board meetings and and Council meetings and hearing the public testimony and the harrowing Tales of what it was like to evacuate residents from that facility in the in the middle of the night on the right side of the screen is an image of of some pages that we

[74:01] prepared in a council information packet memo a few years ago this was at City council's request to document the Alternatives that had been studied over the years and I don't my intent of including these on these slide is not for people to be able to read it line by line but just to show the the volume of it and there are three pages uh of tables on 11 by 17 sheets of Alternatives that have been considered over many years I counted them up and there are 58 of them some of them go back to 1973 so this this project and the Alternatives really have been studied and um in Brandon's presentation he showed the schedule slide and how the things work together the the Crux of that schedule slide and how that relates to tonight is that doing this disposal now really allows us to proceed on this

[75:00] project as expeditiously as possible without any additional delays the last thing I want to mention as as we've gone through a process of elimination of those 58 Alternatives and have landed on a single alternative that we're now designing around I hope our presentation tonight gave people a sense for the way we have Des designed for flood protection and as the mitigation tables showed in Don's portion of the presentation we have mitigated for the unavoidable environmental impacts and in many cases have gone well beyond above and beyond the regulatory requirements so Brandon I think you can take the slides down uh now and uh mayor Brockett that's the end of our presentation and we'll turn it back over to you thanks so much Joe and thanks to all of you uh it was extremely detailed but well-presented information shows how

[76:01] long the road has been that we've been on for this project um I'm not sure that we got a formal introduction from some of the presenters uh Brandon Bethany and Don would you mind each of you in turn just introducing yourself for the record sure um I'm Brandon Colman I'm the engineering project manager in the storm flood utility and the project manager for the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project Bethy hi everyone I'm Bethany Collins the real estate senior manager for open space at Mountain parks and Don hello um Don Deo Senior Resource project manager and Wetland colleges for open space and Mountain Parks great thanks for dotting our eyes and crossing our teas there guys um and with that it is now time for Council and board questions so any clarifying questions that people have now is your time to ask them for clarity Aon we'll get we we can

[77:01] ask other questions to clarify after we have public comment is that right this is we we get a we get another chance correct you do although if you have any questions in your mind now please ask them and that just if the public testimony brings up any additional questions we could ask those at the end okay appreciate it thanks for clarify thanks and if you can use your Zoom raise hand function please I can keep in order I got Tina and then Mark hi thank you for um all the information I just had a quick question about the timing of Permitting versus the disposal of land that's come up a couple times um and it's just to to understand at a high level how the engagement with the different groups like The Fish and Wildlife or um whichever groups that need to authorize the flood project um when do they come in exactly in terms of when we can actually start doing the work which I think is slated for early

[78:01] 2025 so um it seems like all the permitting has to happen in the next seven months am I getting the timeline correct that I can answer that and Brandon can fill in details but yeah you you do have that timing correct and as Brandon mentioned in his in his explanation of the project Det details we've really been focused on the footprint of the of the flood project infrastructure to inform this disposal process and that also allows us to now go forward with the permitting agencies because the same footprint information and the area needed and the acreage of impacts is really important to those permitting activities and then my second question is will we um have any type of um Community dashboard or timeline line so that the community understands which Step we're at and who we're engaging with and what the outcomes are um given that as Nua pointed out at the beginning

[79:01] of this meeting that there is such a high Community interest um it might just be helpful even for myself to point people to where you know what's happening and who we're talking to and what are the outcomes yeah for sure and um others can again add to that but we have a project website we've been meeting regularly with our communication staff uh and Department team members and Our intention is to do regular updates when they're when we do hit one of those milestones and for example Brandon mentioned the 60% design package having just been completed um as we're getting ready for this meeting tonight and within the last week that information got updated on the website so really would Point people to that if there are if there are more significant activities we can certainly use use other means to inform the council and the board and Community thank you so much Mark and then Dave and then

[80:03] John okay thank you um just a couple of just really a couple of questions I see that the the uh bids are to go out for construction in the first quarter of 25 is that correct correct do you have a a sense of uh um how many firms you're going to be uh expecting to respond to our RFP on this you know I might defer to Brandon on that one a project of this complexity we would sometimes pre-qualify contractors and and establish a number of them who can bid on the project in advance I I'm not sure if we're planning to do that here but I it's it's a big uh important project so I would expect interest to be high Brandon I don't know if you want to add to that um sure I I

[81:00] think um one of the benefits of working with open space and also focusing on the spillway is we were able to bring in a construction consultant to kind of review how we've structured our Bid And also the constructibility of our project so we did get a lot of good feedback on there um and I think that also makes a project very attractive so the way this project is going to be designed it's a High Hazard Dam and we will need to do a design bid build so we'll only be able to bid it after the design is complete thank you and Joe you know we we've had this conversation previously about the cost estimates for this project and I guess I'm going to ask the question again which is do you have a contingency plan if um it turns out it's not a 60 or 65 million doll project at all but something um much more expensive course sure sure and that that sometimes happens on capital projects and we have we have options to deal with that if something comes in um much larger than

[82:02] what we were expecting we have been carrying a fairly heavy contingency in our project cost estimates to date of course as we get more detail that as is a normal practice on a on the design project will shrink that contingency and and Mark I know you have and uh really interested in the costs and appreciate that and we just had a flood study session a few weeks ago we have um received updated costs as part of the 60% design package we haven't posted that information yet on the website because we're we're going back and forth with the the consultant on some of the details of that but the costs have not substantively changed from the 63 million that we've been sharing with the council in the public for the last few years I I I can't tell you how much I hope you are correct and and my skepticism is Mis blazed um my only

[83:01] other question is um uh as I recall the provisions of the annexation agreement which I think are burned into my head um that is effectively contingent Upon Our getting our approvals correct um correct and I assume this um and I may have just missed it I I assume this disposal is similarly contingent Upon Our getting our approvals that is correct I might um offer Dan and Bethany to weigh in on that but the way we've structured this and we've done this on past projects we're getting in advance in well in advance we need the we need the open space um disposal and landowner approvals um to demonstrate to the permitting agencies that we have permission to use the land we could go forward without that but it's a it's a much better position to to be in and so

[84:04] Dan Bethany I don't know if you have anything to [Music] add yeah I'll let Bethany Bethany you want to talk about the relationship of this regarding and then the acquisition of the water rights and the and the land yeah sure I think um Mark is getting at that um the the transfer would be contingent upon An approved flood project and yes if if if the flood project was not approved then the the the transfer would come back the land would come back to open space okay thank you you've answered my every question I appreciate it a great presentation thank you again um Dave and then Matt it looks like John youve lowered your hand let's go with Dave uh I have two questions uh Joe as we've been talking that the timing on the disposal decision in the relationship to the pering permitting process um I think is still causing

[85:02] confusion can you uh give us a little more detail on the status of the permits that we need to acquire for the project I can for sure do that and uh Brandon can probably fill in the details because he's closer to it than I am so we have had uh pre pre- permit process meetings and discussions with all of the permitting agencies and have gone through with each of them uh what what the project is what our intention is that's a common practice and a common step for a large complex project so the agencies know what we're planning and that that's an important step because we would we would get information back from them if they were concerned about something we were doing or if there was a red flag in the permitting process so we've we've taken that really important step in Consulting

[86:00] with all of the agencies and then really having the team focus on the the impact area and the footprint of the the uh detention Dam and flood wall and and Spillway to get ready for this disposal process has been an important step and that will now allow us to um in the real near term be submitting those permit applications and Brandon I'd invite you to add anything you'd like to that sure and and I'll just walk through how the disposal I I tried my best on that schedule slide how it feeds into information that we're using for a lot of these permits um so the disposal area does parallel us36 so impacts to the C dot Right Way having Clarity on the spillway location and also the disposal helps us acquire the C dot special use permit which is the uh Colorado Department of Transportation and that's

[87:00] allowing us to do work in their right of way so um a portion of the project will need to be done in C right of way and that's what the special use permit will get us um the next permit would be the 404 permit which is a Waters of us permit um kind of it's regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers and we have gotten a jurisdictional determin from them about what is Waters of the US and what wetlands are jurisdictional at a federal level and we do have Waters of the US uh that are going to be impacted by the project so the core will be our lead Federal agency and they'll be responsible for consultation with us fish and wildlife related to threatened endangered species and this Spillway location in the transfer area is actually located in preville Meadow jumping mouse habitat and also youth lady trust Orchid habitat so having these impacts defined through this disposal actually helps us um determine what mitigation we need to do and also what impacts we have associated with the

[88:00] project uh the other one is the facility is a high-hazard dam so as a and we'll be submitting our PCN um very soon which is a pre-construction notification to the core which also includes our biological assessment um which they would submit to the fish and wildlife service on our behalf the dam safety Engineers office would give a design approval at the end of final design but we have multiple meetings with them throughout the process so we've had a meeting with them at 30% design we'll have another meeting with them at 60% design and we'll also do a risk analysis with them which is a multi-day workshop with a bunch of professionals from the dam safety world to evaluate the safety of the facility and then lastly FEMA um we have completed our FEMA chomer application and we'll submit that to the city first and then they would review that and if they um give us approval that would then go to FEMA and then mil

[89:00] High flood District would also be a reviewer with FEMA uh for that permit so all of those things um can be defined very well with this disposal so it actually helps us be able to submit those permits and actually have those conversations and have a really meaningful review from those agencies because if we were to get those permits and something were to change that could then restart the process which is actually a risk to the schedule uh that I presented before so um hopefully that's comprehensive enough but happy to answer any more questions great uh thank you um and I have one other question for Don Don we talk a lot about the uh monitoring plan and and environmental assessment plan so what are some general measures of success that uh we are going to employ in the monitoring plan for the mitigation how will we determine that the mitigation is

[90:01] successful well there are a number of ways that that can happen typically the regulatory agency um uh specifies the criteria and the success um parameters associated with the mitigation um when when the applicant submits a mitigation plan and um sometimes the uh application includes measures of success um they are reviewed by the Regulatory Agencies sometimes they're modified uh depending on uh specific um resources in the project area but um I guess your question about specifically what parameters are measured um it's um vegetation Nativity which is the uh native to non-native component certainly for um Wetland mitigation it's whether the mitigation meets um the

[91:00] three parameters that are typically used to Define wetlands uh soils hydrology and vegetation so um there in the um delineation manual there are um uh specific things that that uh parameters that need to be met percent cover say for instance of obligate or facultative wet uh plant species for instance or water within a certain uh distance of the ground surface for uh significant enough amount of time during the growing season to create Wetland um hydric soils Wetland soils and support Wetland vegetation so a lot of different things go into the success criteria and they're um often times dependent on um the resources impact and you know on this project you've heard there are a lot of lot of important resources um federally

[92:01] protected uh City regulated um there just a lot of a lot of things going on out there that I think will will necessitate a lot of um pretty stringent um uh monitoring success criteria that'll be included in the permits so in the we the federally listed species the the threatened you ladies threes Orchid and the prevel meadow jumping mouse are concerned how are we going to determine the suitable habitat for them is it present present absence or what's going to be in the monitoring plan for that as far as you know well uh yet to be determined but I would imagine um for youth ladies tr's orchid in past projects we we've looked at um the actual uh um uh colonization or establishment of that individual plant individuals of that of that plant

[93:01] on site um that that's that takes a long time it's not like um you spread a little seed out there and they pop up the next growing season it's a it's a challenge and it has been a challenge in uh projects that were designed to mitigate for the impacts and to create a habitat that would support um the Orchid in the past um for prbl metal jumping mouse it's um there are habitat characteristics of prebles habitat that uh have been used in the past to Define in identify whether habitat for that species has been created a lot of that focuses on the establishment of native shrubs which um they use to um hibernate underneath during the during the hibernation season so uh for example the the uh percent cover or the density of say um you know

[94:00] two or three native shrub species that were planted as mitigation could be monitored and measured um and their their growth documented their survivorship and their growth documented um another another options include actually know trapping in the future trapping live trapping obviously for prebles to determine whether they have become established in the habitat that was created or restored great thanks Matt thanks Aaron my question is for Joe um and I know you sort of brought this up in our last meeting talking about some various flood projects but here we are talking about uh the South Boulder Creek and I wanted to see if you could remind us of the newly formed prioritization Matrix that um Community spent a lot of time developing in Partnership obviously with the city um a couple years back and I just wanted to kind of get uh if you could sort of remind everybody where would the South Boulder Creek flood

[95:00] mitigation project stack up in that new uh um established prioritization Matrix yeah sure happy to do that and um thanks for the question Matt and what what you're referring to uh we had a 2022 uh comprehensive storm water flood plan that city council and the Water Resources Advisory Board weighed in on and took action on and that plan included a new way of prioritizing flood projects and it included a whole bunch of additional factors over over and above the benefit cost ratio that had been in the past and the community really informed what the prioritization of those factors were Life Safety was was one of them and was at the top of the list Equity was another one and so we ranked uh over 30 projects 39 if I remember correctly and the South Boulder

[96:01] Creek flood mitigation project was the number one project on that on that list of projects so it came out on top wonderful thanks for that reminder Joe appreciate it right any other questions seeing none we will now move to the public hearing and so uh Council and board members we're going to hear from each uh test fire for 2 minutes each unless they're cooling time which they will get five minutes and if you have a question for specific test fire you can raise your hand and ask them at that time otherwise any clarifying questions that are raised by testimony should be asked at the end of the public hearing so uh with that Elisha if you could read our public participation guidelines please yes sir thank you good evening everyone Elicia Johnson serving the city as your city clerk and Records manager thank you for being here tonight those that are virtually and watching on other

[97:00] medium we will now review the public partici I'm sorry the public participation guidelines at our City Council meetings the city has engaged with community members to co-create a vision of productive meaningful and inclusive civil conversations this Vision supports physical and emotional safety for community members staff and Council as well as democracy for people of all ages identities lived experiences and political perspectives for more information about this vision and the community engagement processes please visit our website at boder colorado.gov servicesresume Revised Code and other guidelines that support this Vision these will be upheld during the meeting all remarks and testimonies shall be limited to matters related to City business no participant shall make

[98:01] threats or use other forms of intimidation against any person obscenity racial epithets and other speech and behavior that disrupts or otherwise impedes the ability to conduct a meeting are prohibitive participants are required to sign up to speak using the name they commonly are known by by and individuals must display their whole names before being allowed to speak online currently only audio testimony is permitted online again thank you for being here and mayor I'll turn it back over to you thanks Elicia all right um our first three speakers are Dan Johnson Sam Weaver and Leslie durgen Dan you can get us started please Dan it looks like you're

[99:01] muted if you can unmute you can start your testimony I am okay let me about that anyway just U um thank you to the city council and the osmb board for allowing me chance to speak tonight uh my name is Dan Johnson I'm a water resources engineer practicing in this area I was on the WFT uh during the 2013 flood and continued on the RAB through the initial approval by city council of this concept in 2015 uh since then I've been quite interested in seeing how the project progresses of course what I've noted and been mentioned tonight and and we all know this has been a very long process it's taken considerable time to get where we are today many many Concepts have been studied as Joe indicated and out of those they've been so well vetted that I think it's going to can be very challenging to find something that's better there were many technical issues that came up uh were resolved and and put away uh I thank uh Joe staff and

[100:02] prior to Joe uh working on those issues as well as their Consultants there are a couple of technical issues that I think have misconceptions uh one is the groundwater bypass which was discussed and and uh those systems seem to be solved quite well but another one is the 100e versus the 500e capacity for this system and that there's some misconception in that and the most recently was stressed in the um uh Tuesday's camera and that is that the dam would fail that's not going to happen because as mentioned this will be designed for the full flood so that misconception is not a problem anyway um that 100e flood uh actually what will happen with that is that even for floods in excess of 100 years the dam will stay in place the spillway operate and actually any flood in excess of 100-year

[101:01] flood will be reduced what it would be without that storage Bas in place so all the floods up to 100 and Beyond 100 would be well fixed thank you very much for the time thank you Dan uh next we have Sam Weaver who is pooling with Andy schwar and Ryan Bradley can we just get a confirmation that Andy and Ryan are here please this is Andy Schwarz and they are all here okay great so uh Sam you have five minutes and Mayor Sam has two videos that he has requested to be played and so as soon as he accused me to pull those up we will begin those videos very good well good evening everyone thank you mayor Brockett and council members for your time as well as chair Carol and the OSB trustees my name is Sam Weaver

[102:02] and in September of 2013 I was serving on the planning board when the flood occurred and in November of that year I joined Council where I served through 2021 so I have a lot of personal background with both the flood and the work that we've done at Su South since and I got a visceral connection to this and so I'd like to start with a couple of videos to remind us of the context of what was happening in our community um when this occurred and I will say that the car which you saw in the photos that was trapped in the flood is owned by one of the people I'm pooling time with so there's a lot of actual touches here and so uh Alicia if you could show those two videos please

[103:13] you can sort of see where the dividers start to show up it's running through the neighborhood Pima and quala about 5 ft deep and this is the white water that's right on uh uh Apache and uh and Thunderbird uh we can't even get any closer than this or get into the neighborhood overnight flash flooding in Boulder Colorado the sirens have just sounded again in Boulder as growing floods have cut off almost every road to this city of nearly

[104:00] 100,000 people this is uh at 36 in Apache and Mohawk 2013 we had a major flood event it happened in various parts of the city but the worst was the South Boulder cre and we had people who literally were in danger of losing their lives during the 2013 floods the water in our neighborhood Rose so rapidly that my husband and I were forced to evacuate our house waiting out in five deep water it was the most terrifying Night of My Life The Night of the flood we had people 56 I believe that night half of them with Alzheimer's someone came running down the hall saying get to Higher Ground get to Higher Ground the last people I remember being pushed out the water in that courtyard we were pushing with wheelchairs was thigh deep we're very fortunate that nobody

[105:00] died during the evacuation Boulder County was considered a disaster area was one of the first non-jewish converts to Christianity a valued and loyal companion of the Apostle Paul he traveled extensively with him throughout the Middle East and Europe thank you Alisha um can you all hear me just give me a thumbs up somebody if I'm back on okay very good um so just a couple more minutes and a couple more points um I would say that uh the decision which is before Council and osbt in the question that you've got to vote on when you reconvene is pretty simple will the mitigation um that is planned by staff uh address the Environmental concerns that uh occur if these four acres are transferred and two of them are used to build the flood project and I think the answers are resounding yes that um the

[106:01] environmental concerns are quite able to be mitigated on the 120 new acres of land and the 30 shares of water rights which we will get as part of the overall context of the annexation agreement with the land owner of the university and our osmp uh Department the 120 Acres which will be newly rewatered When the Levy is taken down is land which was you know essentially ruined as a gravel mining pit as habitat and will be restored and rewatered as part of the overall agreement that we've made um the question the only question I've heard that is substantial about making this disposal is is it reversible if the flood project doesn't happen and the answer is yes this is a conditional approval for land transfer from one city Department to another and if the flood project doesn't happen it's reversible so if for some reason something unforeseen prevents the flood project

[107:00] from occurring this land will transfer back so with that I think I'll just stop and let you move on to the rest of the public testimony but I will say that I've heard hundreds of hours of testimony from people who very very dearly would like to see um this project come in place and protect the lives of the people down down stream and in particular protect us36 and foothills from being closed both of those roadways in and out of Boulder were closed for more than 24 hours during the flood of 2013 and that meant that the city was isolated and so I will stop there and say please vote Yes on this it would be great if there were unanimous decision on both open space board and Council to proceed with this flood Safety project and thank you very much to staff for all the work you've done bring this forward thanks for that Sam and I'll just note I gave Sam a little extra time because we had some pauses while we were waiting for the videos to get started so um Matt did you have a question for Sam

[108:00] I did um Sam thank you so much for uh want your work and your service during this incredibly difficult time and certainly countless others that our community's experienced um I I did want to ask a question as as a one of our uh City Council Members sort of leading the negotiations for the annexation agreement um and how much time you spent with this what are the pieces of this agreement that you are most proud of through the lens of how they benefit our city and so I just wanted to kind of get your having work through that what are the pieces you're most proud of that benefit our community well thank you Matt I appreciate the question I think one of the things I'm most proud of is that we brought 120 acres into our open space system and I think one of the things that goes along with that is the water rights as well so without being able to get the the sh shares of the water that flow through that property we wouldn't be able to rewater it and that was a key part of the negotiations with the university it was the one you know as they say in the west um whisky for

[109:02] drinking and Waters for fighting and that sure was the case in the negotiations because that was the hardest thing for the University to part with and it was the thing that we most needed so that we could do good environmental mitigation so one of the pieces I'm most proud of is that we get both 120 acres and the water rights to be able to do something good with that I think the other thing is that the deal is reversible the annexation the development this disposal all of those Provisions can reverse if for some reason we can't build the flood project so I believe the community was making an agreement here that says we will give up some of the land that we like to walk our dogs on and enjoy in exchange for getting 120 Acres of really good pristine habitat land that we can enjoy and the flood wall and if the community can't get the flood wall and the flood safety is part of it it can all be reversed so I guess Matt the other element that I think is important about this including this

[110:00] disposal is that if the whole agreement doesn't come to fruition then we can all back out of our parts of it so I think that's it Matt appreciate it thanks so much Sam very good okay our next three speakers are Leslie durgen elar dornberger and Margaret LM great thank you very much for the opportunity to speak I I acknowledge uh the importance of the prebble's jumping mouse and the youth ladies Tresses but I have a different point of view that I would like to stress tonight and that is the impact on people in our community which Joe mentioned in his remarks but we've really focused on other issues tonight I really want to encourage all of you to approve the disposal when it becomes before you in March and the impact on the flood protection and safety for our community is utmost in my

[111:01] mind 2300 households will be impacted by the flooding if it is not corrected in that area of Boulder 400 elderly residents at Frasier Meadows including as you heard about half of them in dementia and memory care are at risk and all of the boulder citizens will need access on 36 Table Mesa and Foothills Drive in an emergency the annexation and its contents have been reviewed and adopt by Council they have also been solidly approved by the citizens in 2021 and 2022 in two general elections that I was honored to chair the disposal is reasonable it's practical it's ethical and it's beneficial to the community we in the Frasier area are very excited about the gold standard of a 100-year

[112:01] flood protection that this disposal would allow and urge your support next month thank you very much thank you Leslie now we have elar dornberger Margaret lmpt and James Morris good evening my name is elar dornberger I live on 4890 quala drive it's exactly diagonally across from that red car that you just saw several times 2 minutes are not enough time to tell you the horror that I went through going through a flood so this is kind of hard for me to tell you in two minutes why we need flood mitigation I'm going to try to focus just on one thing one aspect so this happened 10 years ago and the last meeting public meeting I was at about flood mitigation I asked the question again

[113:02] what is the rescue plan for our neighborhood and nobody had an answer so I asked again what is the rescue plan what are we supposed to do if this happens again and then finally somebody said to me you need to have a ladder and an axe a ladder and an axe it's a rescue plan so I asked what is that for well the ladder is you climb on top of your house and in case you need to get back into your house then you use your Axe really that is the solution for people who are in the flood plane so please approve this make this happen People Like Us in this neighborhood we need more in just in Acts in the

[114:00] lad we need protection thank you thank you elar now we have Margaret LMP James Morris and Peter Dawson Margaret your mic is muted if you'd like to unmute here are some facts about the 2013 flooding the flash flood that inundated Frasier Meadows in 23 is a personal for me like the previous speaker I live two blocks from that red car that you've seen pictures of and my mother lives in the Frasier Meadows retirement community on the first floor in her apartment her house her one room

[115:01] filled up with water but that flood came from a bank collapse near dowy draw not from South Boulder Creek and South Boulder Creek wasn't the full Clause of the 2013 flooding despite that the open space board is being asked to give away highly protected wetland Habitat to build a hundred million project for South Boulder Creek that will not protect against another 2013 style flood will be inadequate against future floods will fail to control the streams that did in fact caus the 2013 flood and therefore worsen future Downstream flooding all at the same time risking destruction of Highly protected wetlands in the state Natural Area open space and the threatened species that rely upon them which is why the open space Board of Trustees should reject this disposal the South Boulder Creek project design is still incomplete has

[116:02] obtained none of the permits required for its construction even from seedot its mitigation and restoration strategies are still unproven the problem is that the plan's design has been dictated by C cu's real estate interests and desire for an unneeded third campus therefore it has never fully prioritized human lives property and Public Safety or the environment in South Boulder utility says its plan is the best they can do to protect Boulder citizens but this is demonstrably false it's just fear tactics to disguise the real agendas costs risks and consequences of the project to humans and environment the up but thank you for your testimony next we have James Morris Peter Dawson and L

[117:00] seel hello I'm Jim Morris Whitland and prairies store greenhouse gases and catch and store flood waters there's a quote from a Brazilian neighbor uh Native it's only with protected territory that will be able to stop climate change from happening and preserve our biome these areas were supposed to be protected this open space but see used the loophole saying that the state didn't have to follow city and county comprehensive plan regulations let's call this what it is it's a land grab it's taking the aquifer the flood plane South Boulder Creek the Prairie the wildlife and the places for people to recreate it's taking all of this and turning it into development in a dam and we're losing the absorption that you have when you have wetlands and ponds you can sort of stop floods and they gradually release things transplanting doesn't work in general for Wetlands you

[118:00] just build something you can't make the same plants animals and fungi happen in the same place NOS with people say we should have Flood Warning Systems and flood plan critical infrastructure improvements done and we should also have done a 500y year flood Dam a land exchange or a dam Upstream but see you wanted the maximum amount of land to build on another Brazilian native said if you continue this way the wind will increase the sun will grow very hot the Earth too all of us will be unable to breathe we will all be silenced this seems just crazy I mean see you back in 97 filled 40 ponds bulldo the land dit and drained Wetlands throw 40 pounds yeah straighten the stream scrape the land there I mean this is a selfish real estate interest not caring about people or Wildlife for

[119:01] our future thank you thank you Jim now we have Peter Dawson ly seagull and Michael Browning sorry I hope you can hear me U I'm Pete Dawson a um resident of Frasier BS retirement community since 2015 in order to get some of the details straight I consulted a transcribed interview of our chaplain Bob britson that was done in 2014 that'll support some of the details I speak of I have oh yeah there's my uh paper by PDF to show at the end the history shows three things about the flood it was dangerous it disrupted people's lives and it

[120:01] caused a lot of damage at Fraser people with dementia and medical problems lived in a separate building there were 108 of them these people had to be evacuated across the courtyard to the main building the police and the fire departments couldn't come because of the flood the electricity went out in the dark some residents could walk and others were take it in wheelchairs the water was de deep and you couldn't see through it staff did frequent head counts and no no one disappeared the underground parking garages filled to the top with water you could hear the cars bumping up against the roof as they started to float we lost 83 cars Fraser had to replace the Assisted Living building and skilled nursing at a cost of millions of dollars those were completed several years ago Bob

[121:01] Ritson said in his uh transcribed interview a good thing came out of this we're really going to make sure that the damage doesn't happen again not just to Frasier Meadows but to the town of Boulder how could we best make sure that this doesn't happen again the residents of Fraser meow haven't answered 300 of us signed a newspaper ad at 2021 asking Pete I'm afraid your time is up but thank you for your testimony now we have ly seikel Michael Browning and Francis harthog my brother bought a place on Berkeley in 85 um he was watching the flood plane from South Boulder Creek and vely but he missed Bear Creek as a result he backed out of the deal and lost thousands of dollars in closing costs so you know if

[122:00] people live in a flood plane they're asking for it Gilbert white is our the guy who started the natural Hazard Center and this is just a land grab on the part of Cu it's it's all about the money um it started out in 81 There Were Three Lakes there was 41 and2 Acres of water coverage and then after it changed hands with Western um in 97 it became four acres 41 and a half to four acres um this is like a mole this thing that sticks out if you look AER aerodynamically at the space it sticks out we need to include we need to we need to establish reestablish the natural ovium as much as possible

[123:00] otherwise it goes tops over it's not a 500e plan tops over and it's going to do a lot more damage to people Downstream and so it's a matter of who it does damaged to and I saw this happening in the 2013 flood when people set up sandbags and redirected water um dams are bad in a flood and this is basically a dam and it overtops and then it causes much worse damage and much worse loss of life so it it's it's almost like Israel Palestine people on both sides want peace right they all want to be safe but it's a matter of how you get SA safe and I say we don't do it by Lynn your time is up but thank you for your testimony next we have Michael Browning then Francis harthog and Karen

[124:04] HG can you hear me yes thank you um I live at 3186 Galina way in Boulder uh I'm an attorney who specialized in real estate land use and water RS for 40 years over a series of meetings in 202 2021 the open space Board of Trustees carefully and thoroughly considered what conditions needed to be satisfied before the land desired by this city for the flood project is taken out of Open Space Program you know the these conditions are largely consistent with the broad brush of the required mitigation planed by staff tonight but provide critical details that are necessary to make that plan successful I really have three major points to to make one the the real issue tonight is not whether osmp should dispose of land project but when that transfer should occur there's no legitimate reason for the transfer of the lands to be made now such a transfer

[125:00] is not I repeat not required for the city to apply for the permits as the staff has conceded um so there's no need to transfer the planning for the project can proceed just fine without transferring the lands right now to utilities my second point is that to staff concedes that many additional agreements between utilities and osmp still need to be prepared these agreements will set forth critical terms about the monitoring plan the criteria success Etc after the lands are transferred to utilities Mountain Parks will have no leverage to ensure that those Agreements are consistent uh with the required mitigation measures um and the required me medication measures will be funded and completed the staff says don't worry we'll prepare those agreements later but there's no reason those agreements cannot beared now and may be aailable for the trustees and the public to review before management a lands is transferred in summary the city wants

[126:00] osmp to go first in fact osmp should go last after all its osmp land is being sacrificed uh the current process puts the cart before the horse so the current motion should be tabled until all the necessary details and permits have been hammered out your time is up but thank you for your testimony and uh next we have Francis harthog Karen hwg and Ben binder can you hear me yes um so I'm reaching out to you tonight as a former open space trustee and a 40-year resident of the city of Boulder open space trustees are entrusted to protect our precious open space lands a utility staff member has said that this disposal is no different than disposing of EGS to build a

[127:01] pipeline it that board is a bit un insulting to be told that disposing of dedicated open space land for Dam construction indeed land that's habitat for threatened species is just like disposing of egland for pipeline construction it's not and that statement is indicative that utilities shouldn't manage open space lands pending permit issuance open space trustees passed a 2021 resolution stating what needs to be done as a condition of disposing of the lands that resolution was drafted and adopted based on significant research and consideration apparently Little's been done to comply with that resolution at the very least as trustees I implore you to insist that flood Dam permits be received before you transfer the property a reversion to occur if utilities fails to obtain permits or has no other use for the property is a violation of the public trust in concluding I'd ask the trustees and our council members to please make

[128:01] public all Communications with the state and the federal government on this matter so your constituents can evaluate any requirements and not have to rely on what we're told after all it's over two years since the deal with CU was approved and the staff should have received some defin of communications by now thank you for your service and thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important matter thank you Francis now we have Karen holg Ben binder and Ken Vel hi Karen bwig I served on the open space Board of Trustees from 2018 to 2023 in 202 1 the open space Board of Trustees was asked to approve a conditional disposal of open space property South of Highway 36 for the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project we looked in detail at the work

[129:00] done eight years earlier concerning the construction of a Bikeway on the south side of 36 as a clear precedent for what's needed to start the construction of the flood wall here on this first slide uh is what was done and presented to osmp in March 2013 to prepare for the Bikeway construction and mitigation all the steps that you can see were contemplated were completed in writing by C RTD Federal Highway Administration us fish and wildlife service and osmp so that the uh monies could be available the environmental impact statement was prepared us fish and wildlife service had created a formal biological opinion and on the next Slide the um compensatory mitigation property was acquired and US fish and wildlife

[130:00] service had designed this success criteria that we asked about earlier all of this was done four months before c do came back to osbt with a formal request for disposal of the land for the bike way this process served as a precedent for creating the June 2021 resolution that you have in your packet tonight and that has been mentioned by others the need for an osbt disposal motion is not stopping progress for this flood wall the lack of progress in Consulting with relevant agencies and gaining the written documents described in the 2021 resolution is what is holding up the construction of the flood wall and until that work is done an osbt disposal of the van vet acreage is not yet needed thank you for allowing me to show you the the procedures open space used to dispose the land according to the city Charter and I'll be G glad to answer any questions you have thank you Karen next we have Ben binder Ken Bell

[131:02] and Richard Harris my name is Ben binder and I live in South bowler as you know a dam permit must be obtained from the state of Colorado the city would be wise to delay open space disposal until application was made for the permit state Engineers have had an opportunity to review the plans and a permit was granted the city has not yet uh submitted a per permit application to the office of dam safety during the permit evaluation process open space needed for the flood wall might be significantly altered so it is premature to develop legal documents to transfer the property given the history of of past inexcusable engineering errors on the property um it would be wise to wait until this Engineers have had an opportunity to review the city's plans before disposing of open space some of the past errors that have taken place on this property

[132:01] the V Channel Fiasco in 2017 the city council approved a flood control plan with major flaws for example Billy Channel ran right into the side of the dam with no place for the water to go except back up into the neighborhoods the blunder was corrected by moving the project onto land designated for CU development as a result in addition to paying hundreds of thousands to revise the plans we will pay $4 million to import 150,000 cubic yards of Earth fill to raise a portion of cu's gravel pit above the flood plane see you right of way at a city council meeting in 2017 Boulders project manager falsely stated that sedot had agreed to allow Boulder to use its RightWay for the flood wall in fact SE seedot never granted bowler the use of its land engineering plans had to be modified at significant cost and the city is now in the process of disposing of open space this Pro problem could have been easily avoided if the city

[133:02] council did its job and asked hard questions instead of rubber stamping staff recommendations given the likelihood of plan revisions Boulder would be wise to display disposal of open space until State Engineers have had an opportunity to review and comment on the city's plans thank you thank you Ben uh next we have Ken Bell Richard Harrison Steve pance yeah before we begin Alicia can you uh Show a slide every 10 seconds and then stop at the Majestic El Grazing In the area to be disposed please thanks honorable open space Board of Trustees thanks for your dedication and service I've had the pleasure of discussing this with you since 2018 I'm

[134:02] chair of the uh Wilderness conservation for the metal Arc open space just to note this is the last chance for the public to provide input before your vote on March 13th and that vote on the 1 is not a recommendation it is a legally binding decision that both Council and staff must follow I'd like to quote one of my favorite people on February 2020 Mayor Sam Weaver for what it's worth the 500-year plan is the most cost effective per person protected Mayor Sam Weaver noted now public safety is being used to justify the disposal of Boulder open space that contains federally endangered species since osbt is being tasked with protecting Public Safety I ask you to do one step better

[135:01] let us make sure any proposed plan will provide 500-year flood protection there's missing Alternatives in this case Boulder City Council refused to conduct an environmental impact assessment the community suspects there's prevel habitats on the CU self proposed property also there is the missing alternative of what would flood mitigation look like if there was a CU land Swap and the entire area remained open space we believe that would be the most coste effective alternative and from Public Safety it would also provide 500-year flood protection and you can make this happen by voting to protect Boulder open space on March 13th thank you thank you Ken next we have Richard

[136:00] Harris Steve pomerance and Bev Baker can you hear me now yes I'm Dick Harris 2645 Brierwood plan Boulder County opposes the disposal of open space land to the utilities department prior to the receipt of all the required permits for construction of the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation as always the disposal of this open space should be contingent upon obtaining all necessary permits and funding the land to be dis disposed of is being treated as though it's insignificant that it's just a small piece and will be more than replaced by by the addition of 119 Acres of a mindout gravel pit that will somehow be restored to a functional and valuable part of the open space system while improving that ruined land will

[137:01] certainly add value it is not of equivalent natural value to the critical land that's being lost the land to be disposed of has the highest concentration of ladies Tresses orchids as well as prebles jumping mouse uh habitats so far all efforts to transplant the orchids have failed because of the high value of what will be destroyed by this part of the flood mitigation project we strongly urge you to hold off on the open space disposal until the utilities department can present permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers FEMA us fish and wildlife C dot the state Engineers office Dam safety branch and the City city office responsible for the city's Wetlands ordinance we also strongly request that the negotiations with all these agencies be announced to the public and be open to public

[138:01] attend public observation so that there will be no questions about sweetheart deals with these agencies um and we we as a public-minded organization can witness that those discussions and uh thank you thank you dick next we have Steve pomerance Bev Baker and Harold hollstein oh there we go can you hear me now yes right thank you Steve pomar 3351 17th Street given all the comments I'll just make a few points here uh Joe tushi says we could go forward without the disposal and the staff person says the disposal could be contingent so why are we talking about disposing of it with regard to all the permitting there's been a total lack of transparency not one single document from the feds or the state have been made available to the citizens you should reverse

[139:01] that the uh there's a total lack of clarity with what could go wrong with all this both in the permitting and in the flood control itself for example as somebody brought up fley Lake Area will flood the same area if you get a big storm over with that those people will be screwed just like they were in 2013 and all that money and all that effort would have been a waste what's the city's liability with a high Hazard Dam No Ex exploration of that certainly not in public lack of serious analysis of the Alternatives like a land Swap and using the old gravit pit for holding the ponds that never really got looked at carefully and with regard to some of the presentation point out that a car that photograph of the car that could have been on Bluebell Avenue right behind my house there's a lot of water came down a lot of other places um about Frasier Meadows since 2013 Frasier Meadows Retirement

[140:01] Community has flood proofed almost all of its buildings with regard to Sam Weaver's comments about see you giving up the water yeah except that it got City Water instead which was a hell of a lot more valuable than what it gave up so that so much for that point and CU intelligently demands 500e protection and the city's going to have to pay for all the gravel fill for that while the citizens only get 100-year protection this is a bad deal I wouldn't sign anything thank you Steve now we have Bev Baker Harold hollstein and K Brown hi this is Bev Baker I'm speaking on behalf of Boulder County audabon this evening the decision to dispose of 2.2 Acres of South Boulder Creek open space and allow use of 1.9 Acres during construction is about loss real losses of biodiversity globally imperiled

[141:02] plants communities and the insects depending on them and the loss of individuals of ferally threatened species the city open space land is so unique with highquality functioning ecosystems that it's part of a designated State Natural Area as you're aware among its most significant values are exceptional Tall Grass Prairie the highest quality remaining Tall Grass Prairie in the state and region Wetlands that are among the best preserved and most ecologically significant in the Boulder Valley a breeding population of the federally threatened kbl meow jumping mouse and an important occurrence of the federally threatened youth ladies trus Orchid that's one of the largest populations in the entire range for the species with the highest density of orchids right in this 4 4.1 parcel of land these losses may not all be mitigated by the work that osmp and the utilities department are proposing because as had been mentioned previously no one has yet proven that it's possible to transplant and recreate populations

[142:02] of Youth La ex stress orchids or the functioning wet Meadow ecosystems in this area as listed in your packet permits required by federal law include the Army Corps of Engineers for Wetlands impact and the US fish and wildlife service for fed threatened species us F and Wildlife service will issue a parent to proceed if they accept the losses of orchids and mice and adverse changes to designated critical habitat for the mouse we believe that it's important to have these and other required permits in place before asking the OS and city council to vote on build a Leed wall thank you for your consideration thank you Bev now we have Harold Hollin Kurt Brown and Harlem Savage I do not see Harold online um Harold if you are here please let me know by using the r hand function or reaching out to me in the Q&A

[143:00] box um I believe it may be the individual labeled how yep I will let them in now good evening osbt and Council um I was the osbt board chair during a good portion of the annexation agreement negotiations um I'm going to take this opportunity to discuss the political side after my diligent focus on the environmental technical side for many years um I was unceremoniously non- reappointed to the osbt board for fear I might vote against this project to protect endangered species the real actual life safety concern One technical comment Sam and Rachel are wrong about permits all the land is in the name of the city of B older deeded and permits can be applied for before disposal um there are a couple facts about the trade down from 500 years to 100 years the lack of Roi on this project which everyone should understand

[144:01] the only positive cash flows are represented by the cost Savings of flood insurance by the a thousand or so homeowners who will be lifted out of the 100-year flood plan which essentially will make this a 60-year payoff I will apologize publicly if you're able to complete this project for less than $880 million after the recent bout of inflation um there is no ability for the city to make similar investments in the dozen other drainages across the city so how are you going to deal with the equity problems that are created by putting that kind of boond doggle investment in this one location without considering all the other drainages that are at risk um I think it's pretty clear to any uh person observing this process that that trade down the lack of Roi the lack of actual human uh uh safety concern the serious endangered species re Life Safety loss that this decision is 100% political and is about opening up Development Council no longer needs

[145:00] to take my thoughts seriously I'm moving out of Boulder because the place is becoming boring and undifferentiated in the pursuit of pro-development policy everywhere you as you cast aside the environmentalist agenda for the pro development agenda I do encourage osbt members on this call as environmentalists to study closely you have the decision-making power here not the current majority politicians thank you very much thank you Hal and our next speakers are Kurt Brown harlon Savage and Kirk Vincent her your mic is open good evening Council and open space board uh I'm kurk Brown I'm a former osbt member uh I like others notice the statement in the paper that the city cannot even begin the regulatory process

[146:00] until a disposal is first granted that certainly at odds with my 35 years of experience in federal Water Resources planning including working with both the core of engineers in the fish and wildlife service on clean waterer act and Endangered Species Act consultation the fact is that Boulder already owns this property internal issues with the city like do we have enough money to pay for the project these issues are not of concern to the Regulatory Agencies they will grant or not Grant regulatory permits based entirely and only upon the fall and complete description of the proposed project plus the environmental assessments needed to support a 404 permit and the Fish and Wildlife Services biological opinion I I see no reason that the city shouldn't immediately enter into formal permit consultations with the agencies and the reality is is that no implementation of the project on the ground can begin without those permits having a Disposal

[147:00] today does not in any material way Advance the project that can only be done through consultation I would therefore recommend that the open space board and Council consider adopting a conditional disposal such that the disposal would become effective automatically upon the city's receipt of all regulatory permits this approach would honor the first requirement laid out in the board's June 9th 2021 resolution while at the same time providing certainty about the disposal thanks very much thank you Kurt our last three speakers are harlon Savage Kirk Vincent and Laura Tyler I do not see a Harlin online uh but if you are here please let me know by using the raiseed hand function or reaching out to me in the Q&A box okay while we're waiting to see if

[148:00] harlon will appear let's hear from Kirk Vincent and Laura Tyler oh thank you I'm Kirk Vincent and live in West Boulder and am a research hydrologist geologist who in 2016 was appointed to the Water Resources Advisory Board and served into 20121 I studied the more than dozen officially named mitigation options and their variant uh from 2015 onward and those are obviously aimed at protecting the West Valley the uh these were both on and off SE South and both 100 and 500y year levels of of protection were considered the only viable option turned out to be the current approach located

[149:00] mostly on the abandoned gravel pit at CU South after Council approved the an annexation they also requested that a so-called Upstream option committee be convened the committee was composed of utility staff the Board of Trustees chair and the RAB chair which was myself and one other uh member from both boards who were not thrilled with the current plan we met a half a dozen times and concluded that there was no viable Upstream option that would lessen the landscape disturbance I also observed that that Wetlands that are away from the creek are apparently man-made for example in the northeast corner of the study area on open space are a pair of parallel strips of wetland located on both sides of the US 36 Phil Phill section I believe that the weight of the fill caused up Will and the groundwater creating um the wetlands therefore in my opinion the mitigation infrastructure meaning the SE wall will not touch

[150:01] pristine Wilderness Thank You Thank you Kirk we'll end with Laura Tyler hi everyone my name is Laura Tyler thank you so much for this opportunity to speak I absolutely support disposal for flood mitigation um I if I'd known how many times this car picture was going to show up in this presentation I wouldn't have picked it um except that this is my front yard and and um this car belonged to my to to me and my husband Andy so anyway we were part of the 2013 flood um I've been advocating for flood mitigation since I

[151:01] learned that the city was responsible for caring about the citizenry in this area um I remember really clearly like it was yesterday the um first time I went to osbt it was you guys were in a tiny building off of Cherryvale and at the time I was so naive I didn't know the difference between osbt and osmp and I've learned a lot since then um I've learned uh that part of the reason why this has taken so long is not just all the processes that we've had to go through it's the fact that this project touches the white hot Center of Boulder politics and that land use and so the question before you today is can you dispose of osbt land for a Public Safety project and yes there is precedent for

[152:00] this on October 27th 2010 uh there was an osbt meeting where the discussion of the possible disposal of 2 and a half acres of land um in Eldorado Springs for a fire station was discussed and it was ultimately approved and I encourage you to do the same today so thank you very much thank you Laura um have we seen Haron Savage at all in the meeting uh har has not shown up okay uh in that case that's all of our public testimony uh thanks everyone who came out to SP to speak with us tonight and I will go ahead and close the public hearing uh and come back to uh Council and the board as we talked before we are not deliberating it all tonight but does anyone have any follow-up questions based on the testimony that we just heard from the public nicolea yeah thank you and thank you to

[153:01] everyone who came out to speak with us tonight um I have a question probably this one is for Joe and his team um so this project is getting some funding from the mile high flood district and from what I'm understanding about the Mile High flood District every time they're giving out funds um to uh local governments for flood mitigation work um it has to go through a pretty thorough review process and if I'm correct about that Joe I was just wondering if you could speak a little bit to what that review process entails and then the um credentials and the expertise of the people who are involved in that yeah sure thank you for that uh question Nicole and the mile high flood District just for for reference is a regional entity that coordinates and funds flood projects and and maintenance work across jurisdictional boundaries in the Denver

[154:00] metro area and and a number of surrounding counties and Brandon can probably talk more about the the details so I might um ask for his assistance in in how they partner with us but they do have technical staff and um people who are assigned to each Watershed or drainage they are Professional Engineers who are experienced in in flood project design and they really become embedded in our work and and follow along with our projects whether it's a major flood project like South Boulder Creek or or maintenance activities which they actually lead on our behalf and so they will um sometimes attend agency meetings with us and um follow closely what our our plans are for design of something like South Boulder Creek and I know they've been really supportive of of this project a couple of different uh individuals for the flood District as

[155:00] they've transitioned have have followed this so we've gotten that independent verification and I can't remember if it was last year or the year before but I know they have an annual Symposium for the whole area and um they they really highlighted the South Boulder Creek project and and the importance of it to the region as it as one of may have been the most important project that they noted but it was definitely um among the more important ones and Brandon maybe you can speak to their their review activities specifically sure um so the South Boulder Creek project is not only important to us as a city but also to the district and the way the district operates is the South Boulder Creek project would be considered a capital Improvement project for the district so annually they will contribute funds to projects and the way their structures are broken up by Watershed so they don't just focus on the city solely in Boulder

[156:00] but the Boulder Creek Watershed which includes Boulder County um Lafayette Lewisville a lot of the communities around here and from a watershed approach is really what they provide to us and helps us coordinate regionally with our partners and um even with within that coordination the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project in the boulder Watershed still um probably the highly most highly important project within our Watershed and also um they are contributing um about $6 million of matching funds to the project for us um so they're also financially contributing to it great thank you both so much um you got my other question too which was just from a regional perspective where does this project fit in but um what I heard you say Joe is that this is what they consider as a regional entity one of the most important projects in the region right now great thank you now we have Tara Matt Michelle and

[157:03] Taisha hey does anybody on City staff want to comment on Kurt CT's uh suggestion about the conditional um disposal I'm just wondering if there any thoughts about that I yeah Joe you want to go first I'll follow up no no go ahead Dan yeah I I would say um for how we are suggesting lining up uh this disposal action is is that the actual execution that will uh formalize the transfer from open space department will be conducted through an idou which will have a number of of of steps and requirements uh outlined in the staff recommendation um um and so it will be and if those if those steps AR aren't able to be met um uh then the action

[158:01] doesn't go forward um and so there are a number of requirements that would be in place uh uh and if those uh even if the idou is is is signed and executed that has other steps that aren't in place yet if those steps aren't able to be uh had such as permitting uh then the reversionary uh uh Clause will come into play in which essentially the land will come back to open space so there are a number of conditions or requirements that would be Associated uh uh for uh for the disposal action great uh Matt Michel tasa awesome thank there I've got a couple questions here but just to because and just sort of tie that last piece on effectively this disposal um uh agreement that we're embarking on is conditional by the

[159:01] nature of so many of these facets being reversible and the fact that it's contingent on the flood project going through to begin with so I think all of those facets effectively make this a conditional disposal at face value so I just want to sort of get the sort of clarity that indeed that's what this is right yeah I mean you are you would be approving it based on an idlu which will lay out a step of steps and requirements that would need to be fulfilled perfect thanks Dan yes I just want to be clear because I don't want people to think that these are apples and oranges when it's kind of apples to apples uh comparison I appreciate that um so a couple questions here um since Dan since you answered that I'll stick with you um does osmp ke because one of the things that I I know comes up a lot with regards to disposal and the overall system of open space that we have um the immense complex that we have in the city the the word uh is is is the system made whole often comes up a lot in these

[160:01] discussions and so I just want to ask that you know in the uh transferring of 2.2 acres and in the product of receiving you know perhaps 100 119 acres and water rights is it the view of staff that that and and maybe that OS that the open space system is is is not only maybe made whole but is more accurately um taking a net positive um in the aggregate through this agreement yeah thanks for that question Matt um it is difficult to answer I I I would say I'm going to answer it in two parts one is the 2.2 Acres right now is a very high quality habitat the 119 acres is of relatively low quality being a former gravel line if it just was that equal exchange of 119 to the 2.2 I probably would be having some heartburn but the fact that that 119 acres is going to be fully restored and and is probably going to be the largest and

[161:00] most ambitious Wetland restoration project in the city of Boulder's history uh to me that's where the big the big benefit to the open space system comes in and of course the water rights uh to help make that ongoing rest restoration become viable in the long term is really key so um yeah I I would I would say that there's some there's some big benefits that Bethany outlined in terms of what does this transfer how does this transfer benefit uh uh open space but I I don't want to just Overlook the fact that there's heartburn in 2.2 Acres of very high quality habitat being uh being lost here and uh but the ambitious nature of that mitigation project is certainly an exciting one I appreciate that Dan there's no doubt that there's certainly some differences in the quality of that open space and since you brought up the restoration sort of the followup to that is would osmp even be

[162:00] in a position to do this really ambitious and and perhaps have these immense benefits with regards to Restoration of these Wetlands if we did not have an annexation agreement with the University of Colorado would we even have access to the ability to do that restoration if if it weren't for this annexation agreement in this partnership well I mean uh putting my cryst ball hat on it's not under City's ownership it's under another owner's and and um for decades that land was not available to the city to be able to do that work so I mean it certainly was a trigger to release land that and otherwise would not be available for us to do that work um we are doing some very large restoration projects on formal gravel ponds upstream in Boulder Creek or Downstream in Boulder Creek that provides us with a road map for what this area could look like so some of the Notions that this is sort of un

[163:01] untested type of uh mitigation project we are we are taking formal gravel areas and restoring them to uh uh functioning uh Wetland areas and other places and to have that opportunity with uh what will be within the city limits is is really a unique opportunity that probably would not have been afforded to us in the short term um in any other ways just because it's it's under another ownership it's you know we didn't have control over that so appreciate it thank you so much Dan um I appreciate those responses because those have been sort of issues that have been brought up as as you know well for for some time um I've got just a couple two and I I want to pass obviously let let Michelle and and TAA take a track of this um but my next qu questions are for Joe um it's it's you know the issue of 500 year and Upstream have been brought up I know that you threw that laundry list of 50-some other proposals um and I and and mitigation strategies that had come up of those two particular C could

[164:01] you explain why certainly the 500 year uh was studied and shown not to be viable um so we can kind of put that to bed um in relation to why the option we have is the most viable um just for the record on that please yeah thank thank you Matt and thanks for the opportunity to answer that question and um really do appreciate all of the public feedback tonight but um the the suggestion that 100-year flood protection in the city of Boulder is is inadequate is is one that I actually find quite Troublesome um with the level of development and as old as the city is that really is what we can obtain as as has the highest in a lot of cases and in some drainages we can't even um get to that level of protection to answer your direct question um there's a lot of different bases that we cover in utilities and and not every single thing that we do is in

[165:01] my own personal technical wheelhouse but a lot of this flood project and the hydrology and hydraulics is and so Brandon and I were uh working and communicating really closely um back in 2000 I want to say 2019 looking at alternatives for different levels of flood protection 100 2 200 and 500 and actually getting into the analysis that the Consultants were doing and being able to match existing conditions and not make things worse for other properties Downstream is a is a critical element it's a fundamental condition and for those higher level higher levels of flood protection above 100 we can't make that we can't meet that condition and so for me when I saw that and Brandon and I talked about it it's technically infeasible and if we continued to pursue it we would ultimately run into that issue and and wouldn't be able to get it permitted and

[166:02] the approvals that apprciate it thanks thanks for that answer Joe um my my last question is kind of a one and a b there is you know if we re if if we were to reject disposal uh does this stop cu's ability to develop their agreed upon section of the property in any way if you were if you were to stop it for good and the and the answer was that there was no disposal then there wouldn't be a flood project and so that that is a fundamental condition of the conditions of that annexation agreement um going into effect so it I others may have a different answer answer or a more nuanced answer but in at first blush it would it would be a big barrier to their development plans and so and really the last question in there is then who is ultimately harmed by not approving this

[167:01] disposal well so again other team members may have more to add to this but our our team across departments has been really working hard to think about Community input and the different perspectives and feelings on this and we've really tried to structure this disposal action to give ourselves the the most expeditious path to um flood protection but do it in a way that if something unforeseen falls through and I don't know what that would be because all indications are that we're well positioned with the permitting agencies um there's really no risk to the city because it reverts back to open space so as as one of the lead staff members on that that's my perspective but um Dan or or Teresa or others may have more to add I appreciate that Jo yeah I mean certainly it's the 2300 homes that are

[168:01] Downstream that would be certainly most harmed by not pursuing that but I appreciate the answers and lastly I just want to say thank you for all your great work both Dan your teams and and Joe and your teams for doing all that so and thanks for fielding my questions in response to some of the public testimony so thank you so much thanks we got Michelle and then Taisha hi um thanks for the presentation thanks for all the public input um and the followup questions and answers um Matt I'm with you um the way the recommendation is structured it actually sounds like a conditional disposal and is actually pretty similar to the one that Hal hollstein and I had worked on and proposed a few years ago um but Joe I have a question about that so we have a lot of people talking about um you know the timing of requesting disposal um you know it coming before the the permitting um I just would like to understand like what would delaying

[169:00] the request and approval for disposal due to the Project's timeline well if um it would add considerable time because we would we would get to the end of the permitting process and and one of the last permits that we would obtain is the one from the state Engineers office that Brandon described and just the way their process works you you don't get that until the very end when all of the details are available so would we would normally if we had the disposal in hand we would get that permit and and others that were coming to fruition at that point of the project and then we would immediately put it out for bid and go to construction and so um there are so many elements of schedule risk to me if we delay the the disposal and um we would

[170:00] have to go through that process and then similar to the position we were in with the annexation agreement what if we start having those disposal discussions and something in that process and what gets approved changes is the footprint of the project now we have to go back to all of those agencies and and and work through that with them again and um some of the activities that we are bringing forward here in the first quarter are are also subject to a referendum and so there there are those elements if if those are pursued by the community and so it could be it could be a year or more delay in my opinion so this this is really important to to me and the and the project team that we do this now the last utilities project um that I have that I worked on and had a role on was the Carter Lake pipeline several years ago

[171:02] and I apologize if if I made a comparison to to that or if it was me or somebody else and and presented an equivalent in habitat I'm I'm sure we were talking about process but for that particular project I I kind of went back through my notes as this discussion has been unfolding and the the open space board took action on that disposal in March 2017 and construction on that pipeline actually started in August of 2018 so 16 months later it was a very similar position we were in there and so if there are a number of capital projects in the city that um the the open space is such an asset and it's so important but we have other other projects Transportation utilities that may need disposals in the future so I would be really concerned if that became the

[172:00] precedent that we had to have all of the permits in hand before we could start through this process okay so to sort of recap that delaying the disposal process would significantly delay the project timeline um which would delay protection of the those 2300 residents um after all of these years on the other hand we do have the ability to reverse it if we don't get those permits yes okay thank you and we've structured it that way by Design okay that makes sense thank you um also Joe and I know that you had mentioned and showed us those three spreadsheets of the 58 different Alternatives that you all had considered in in your wildest estimations could you ballpark how many staff hours that would have taken you well for fortunately because it went back to 73 I would have been five years old so I

[173:01] didn't have a I didn't have an engineering license and didn't have a role in all of those but um I I can't even Venture a guess I I will say the capital projects we have across all of all three utilities water Wastewater storm and flood and I I think I'm in my 18th year at the city I've seen some that have have been long duration in approvals but I have never seen anything to this magnitude of the even even the position we're in now the number of Staff hours and the amount of public process that we have that we have done so I I can't even Venture a guess it's amazing I know I've only been part of the board since 2021 and I know it's been a lot of hours um I I have a question for Dan and Bethany um that addresses um Community member Laura

[174:00] Tyler's comments about um the the precedent of disposing open space lands for the purposes of health and safety she had mentioned a particular instance um and was wondering if you could validate that and um perhaps Enlighten us on other cases that we've disposed osmp lands for the purposes of health and safety yeah uh I I'll I'll start off and then I'll let Bethany chime in Bethany is with our head of our real estate area which is the one that coordinates uh the disposal requests that come in so she probably would have her fingers at at some of the details but yeah it is not first I would say that the uh the reason that there's this disposal language in our Charters probably the the uh uh the folks that had a vision for what this program realized that we are in a urban Wildland interface you know we have over a 100 miles of of open space that butt up against some form of development

[175:00] which is then uh we have a number of different e uh utility rights and ditch easements and utility easements across our system so to think that we could just be sort of null and void of any disposal request uh is wishful thinking in fact that on average uh the board and the council and the staff uh administer and consider probably three to four disposal requests on average in a given year some are some are very minor and occasionally there's there's some big ones like this and there has been occasion where there's been some big ones that have to do with uh uh Health uh life and safety Carter Lake pipeline was one uh we had a big one down in uh El elado Springs Drive regarding uh disposing of some lands for the construction of a a rural fire district uh uh uh presence in office one for a wastewater treatment plant uh there's been some roadway safety improvements which required uh ex uh uh

[176:03] uh disposals of open space so it is it it is not unusual uh for health and safety related disposal requests to come our way I think what we want to do is treat these consistently to make sure we're really assessing what the impacts are to making sure that Alternatives were fully vetted and to actually look at what possible benefits there are to the open space whenever we have a disposal request that comes our way so uh bethan I don't know if you have anything to add to that I think you pretty much covered it I will um I I do know the one you were just asking about Michelle and that Dan mentioned for the Rocky Mountain Fire uh uh station in El Dorado or on El Dorado Springs Drive it actually was in existence when we acquired that property um it wasn't it wasn't a disposal to construct it but it was a a disposal to resolve the fact that there was a fire station which is not an open space

[177:02] purpose and not an improvement that would usually be required allowed under our Charter or open space Charter language to continue on that property so the property did have to be disposed to to allow that um very important uh Public Safety facility to to continue to exist out there um but I think Dan Dan did Cover a lot of the um the good examples we have that would be similar to this example thanks that's really helpful I think there are about seven examples of that and if um we can get additional details in by the March meeting that would be helpful that's all I have thank you thanks uh now Taisha thank you um thank you for the presentation and thank you for the questions and comments from community and I wanted to actually one of my questions uh Michelle was around the pro

[178:02] permitting process rationale um and as somebody who's coming swiftly off of the commission for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and was in a similar situation regarding the free introduction there was a lot of planning that needed to happen before some of the permits could be done and so it was really helpful Joe to hear um some of those rationals and particularly the one that stood out for me the most was uh Expediting opportunities to um mitigate uh for the 20 you know for all of the community members that um are currently um you know exposed uh in ways and again I was here in 2012 uh 2013 so um but I did have another question or or um comment a question related to some of the comments that came from um public comment and that was just around the emergency response planning and um scenario planning and just wanted to lift up and would love to hear uh be

[179:00] reminded of the uh collaboration with the Emergency Response Team and um both in the um different scenario planning the rescue plans just uh love to hear a little bit more about that um f said that was a concern brought up in a in a couple of different ways thank you sure I can start with that and um when we were talking about the project prioritization I I mentioned a 2022 um comprehensive flood plan um it was two volumes and a big part of that was emergency response as well as well as um information for the community on on how individuals can um prepare prepare their own property and important documents and things like that and we worked really closely with Mike chard and and at the director of our um Emergency Operations Center in developing that content um it was we

[180:01] were developing that plan at the unfortunately the same time that the Marshall fire was happening and so there was a lot of information um and question about how how people could um sign up for emergency alerts and as that was as that information was coming out we were building that into the plan and then in our in our department we have another a number of uh drinking water dams and and reservoirs for water supply and we're already under state regulations and jurisdictions and and there are so many different scenarios that we we run through drills not just our department but we work with Mike and his team and we run through drills around drinking water quality or or a dam event or a flood event or fires and things like that and we actually get people in the in the room and do functional exercises

[181:00] and so I I I do think the the 2013 flood and the and things like the Marshall fire do do show us some things that we need to work on and and we we build on those things and and run through drills and practice them thank you so much Jo oh oh sorry sorry to interrupt Tanisha I just um I I have a special place in my heart for emergency preparedness and I did just want to highlight we have heard this comment throughout this process and some of the things we've been doing as a utility to help respond to that um so the first one is us36 is a major roadway so um the greatest risk to life safety and another reason why the Project's so important is uh most people that die in flooding are typically in vehicles and um so us36 being such a major roadway that really flagged this as a high priority project for us as well as an evacuation and emergency access route in a flood um having that be accessible to

[182:00] the city um the next thing was we did install a camera um Upstream of us36 uh near the C CU Boulder Warehouse um to try and visualize the flood plane and give us um we found cameras very valuable during the 2013 flood to be able to view flooding areas that we weren't able to reach um because roads were washed out or things like that so that's something we have done in response to some of those concerns from the community um I do want to address Sirens so there are Sirens located in the area Sirens are um not meant for people in their homes they're meant for people that are recreating Outdoors so I always like to clarify that point uh to the public that that if you do hear a siren while you're outside it means get to Higher Ground immediately and those Sirens you may hear them indoors but they're not meant to be in heard indoors um the best way to stay informed in a flash flood situation is to go to boo 911 and sign up and you'll get emergency

[183:00] alerts uh immediately as they're issued we've also Incorporated the everbridge system which is um oh that is the everbridge system that's what I meant to right there and then lastly as community members we do consider the Community as part of our flood response and if you go to Boulder flood info.net you can find resources for as a private property owner for how to be prepared and also uh insurance requirements things to do before a flood during a flood and after a flood so I would just encourage people to go uh use those resources so just wanted to it was a good opportunity to uh just kind of highlight those for the community as well absolutely thank you so much thanks Taisha uh now we have Harman yeah um so Brandon you just brought up something um that that I've been thinking of since Hal hallstein mentioned um the the issue of equity and and ask the question you know why save

[184:01] this neighborhood instead of you know other neighborhoods and and listening to you talk about the critical nature of uh protecting Route 36 from overtopping um you know gave me a thought about why why this beyond the the 58 studies that uh that Joe referred to and time I spent on planning board doing guiding principles and looking at this the first time around and well the fifth time around um so just with all that as a backdrop um could you or or somebody else from staff uh talk a little bit about um this election of this and and and in in an equity lens through an equity lens yes I can and I I'll uh I'll give Joe first stab if he would like to answer that question but um we did our comprehensive flood and storm water master plan was updated in 22 uh 2022

[185:00] and approved by city council and we did a lot of community feedback um a lot of community engagement to get the criteria for how to rank these projects across drainage ways so we have 16 major drainage ways in the city and each drainage way mitigation plan is specific to the people in the neighborhoods in those drainage ways so it's very difficult to compare those across drainageways for us as a utility to Define what project is the next project we need to implement so um life safety was obviously a very high criteria uh which includes uh Transportation routes uh structures in the high Hazard Zone structures in the 100-year flood plane there's also effectiveness of of how many structures the project would remove and those were the top two criteria and then the third criteria was actually equity which we use a social vulnerability index for and that's a census-based um metric and it really gave us some quantifiable data that we were able to evaluate across the city to

[186:01] make sure and it actually did change how the results would have come out from the historic analysis of just looking at how much money you spend and how much benefit you get back out in a dollars which um we found to not be the most Equitable way to evaluate projects so um those are the criteria there's more criteria beyond that but those are the three main criteria that we're ranking projects on right now thanks thanks a lot for that explanation um TAA did you have another question no okay no I thought I put my hand down my apologies don't worries and was that all sorry I'm not used to using the hands I should put mine down too thanks Aaron okay great all right uh last call for any other fa questions all right seeing none uh as we mention we're not deliberating tonight

[187:00] so our next step would be to continue the hearing uh separately for the open space board and for city council so Dave if you would like to uh maybe look for a motion to continue your meeting thank you Erin uh I will I want to reiterate again that we will not be taking any further public testimony at the March 13th open space Board of Trustees meeting we will be uh considering and deliberating on the information that we have received and making a decision uh at at that time to then forward uh to city council so um there there will be a public comment period at open comment for the board meeting but um this item will not have any further public comment uh so I would entertain a motion uh to continue the public hearing and Michelle if you are willing to do that

[188:00] that'd be great I'd be happy to I move to continue the public hearing to the next regular open space Board of Trustees meeting on March 13 2024 all second thank you uh for the motion in the second um I will call the role uh for the vote um uh board member zerman yay board member Australia yes board member Carol yes and I vote Yes as well so that's a unanimous vote for the open space board to continue the hearing to the March 13th open space Board of Trustees public public meeting thank you very good thanks Dave and then I would invite a similar motion from a member of the city council I'll make a motion to continue our public hearing till a date certain of March 21st council meeting second second

[189:01] third I've got a motion a second Nicole looks like we just just got beaten to that one um and Elicia can I do a show of hands on this one yes so you can all right let's have a show of hands all in favor okay that looks like everybody that passes unanimously and the uh public hearing has continued to March 21st okay well let me just say uh osbt members it's been a delight to have you with us here this evening um thanks for your service and all of your attention to this matter we very much look forward to your deliberations on March 13th and receiving your decision and recommendation and again a huge thank you to all the staff who uh did such an amazing job tonight and have done such a phenomenal job on this project for so many years and we appreciate all of the public comment as well absolutely any final thoughts seeing none I'll go ahead and G 05

[190:01] p.m. thanks everyone have a great night I