[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: South Boulder Creek Flood Mitigation

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Cowles, Macon

Dear Jane:


Yesterday, I had the chance to meet with a number of people from the South Boulder Creek Action Group (SBCAG) at the Mountain View Church, across the street from Frasier Meadows. This Group represents the interests of 1,400 homes that were flooded
 in 2013. The people I met with are copied on this email. They have met with other City Council members as well.


They gave a short and moving presentation about the impact of the flood to their neighborhood and homes. They want to work with the City in securing flood mitigation that will prevent a reoccurrence. And they wanted to know what could be expected
 of the City.


I told them, first, that it was Jeff Arthur who made me arrive at a deeper understanding of the importance of doing flood mitigation to protect these homeowners. Jeff quickly got me to appreciate the view that we are all in this together, and
 that we need to work together, as a community, to make the hard decisions necessary to provide flood mitigation. The SBCAG people are appreciative of the contacts they have had with Kurt Bauer in Utilities.


We all discussed the values and issues that are at play here: personal safety, protecting homes, loving our Open space, unresolved development issues surrounding the South Campus, working with CU, likely doing a CEAP (the City’s version of an
 EIS), and lining up financing. In my opinion, this is a 10 year process to get to where the SBCAG would like to be.  I told them what I think is correct: mainly, that it will be the second quarter before any additional information or alternatives are going
 to be supplied to Council.


To get us on the path, I suggested three things:


1) The people represented by SBCAG should have regular communication with Public Works so that they can follow and shape the alternatives that are being worked up by staff. Perhaps these should be quarterly. But at the least, at the end of one meeting there should be a clear understanding about what the next steps are that will be taken, and when the group can reconvene with staff.


2) The City needs to open a sustained dialogue with the University about the South Campus, and the use of this land in furtherance of University goals but also as an area that can contribute
 greatly to flood mitigation. Part of our discussion yesterday was the opposition that has long existed about development of the South Campus, and how that opposition may have to give in order to accomplish the other goals we have of providing flood mitigation and protecting Open Space. City Council has an annual meeting with top brass at the University. It occurs to me, however, that we should schedule a City-CU meeting that is focused specifically on the South Campus issues. This meeting can be the opener for
 that sustained dialogue.


3) Building a relationship with other interested neighborhoods, and in particular Majestic Heights, in order to avoid further down the line having neighborhoods lining up against each other. In particular, I recommended that they reach out to Ruth Blackmore, who has such long experience with respect to the South Boulder Creek flood plain mapping and South Campus issues.


The reason that I am writing this email to you, copying Mo and Jeff, is to encourage the City to set up regular meetings with SBCAG in order to receive their input and to provide them with information about what is happening with this process.


I do share Jeff Arthur’s view that we are all in this together, and believe these things that I have outlined can lead to an orderly, if not speedy, mitigation of the flood risk that is presented to so many of our neighbors.












Macon Cowles
Boulder City Council Member





1726 Mapleton Ave.








Boulder, Colorado 80304
CowlesM at bouldercolorado.gov
(303) 447-3062
(303) 638-6884