[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: FW: Item 5C voice and site

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Darrow, Alisa

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Morzel [mailto:lisamorzel at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:35 AM
To: Council; Lewis, Alisa; Brautigam, Jane; Patton, Mike; Feinberg, Allyn
Subject: Item 5C voice and site

Alisa,

Would you please place this email to council on hotline as well as placing copies for council on the dais tonight?  Thanks, Lisa

Council,

While I will not be at tonight's meeting since I'm with my sons at my eldest son's graduation, I'd like to raise a couple issues regarding item 5C on Voice And Site tag revisions.  

I'm not sure what the basis is for the revised costs for tags but I think a lot of the conflicts between perceived and real problems w the voice and site tags has to do w too many dogs on the same space.  Right now, only 41% of Green Tag licenses are issued to residents of the City of Boulder while 59% are from out of the city. In addition, no other town or county in our area allows for dogs off-leash in their towns or on their open space.  The result is residents from outside the city of Boulder are having profound negative impacts on our residents of Boulder, their dogs, and the Open Space for which they have paid.  I strongly urge council to direct staff to begin discussions with government entities whose residents use city of Boulder Open Space with their dogs to establish reciprocal arrangements with those governments that allow Green Tag programs to be established on their Open Space lands and allow residents of Boulder to take their Green Tagged  dogs and access their open space off leash.  It's a fairness and equity issue.  The City of Boulder cannot financially nor physically sustain support of 59% of dogs from the region.  The additional 59% of dogs off leash on Boulder's Open Space degrades the Open Space experience for our residents.  This is not fair. These other communities need to change their policies to accommodate the desires/needs of residents in their communities. Boulder's Open Space cannot be all things to all people in the region and maintain quality experience for our residents. Other communities need to step up to the plate and change their current stance.

One other issue I'd raise for tonight has to do the fee structure as now proposed. As I understand it now, fees are calculated on number of dogs per resident plus a fee for each member of the family who make walk their dog on open space.  What happens when someone is out of town and has a dog sitter or friend take the family's dog on a walk in Open Space?  I could not find where that is addressed.

Good luck tonight with the discussion.  I think we should go forward with the elements of the proposal that are generally not so controversial but I think we may need additional discussion and consideration of some of the more controversial elements of the proposal by OSBT , our OSMP staff, and council.

Thanks

Lisa
303-815-6723

720-530-4080

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