[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Annexations at 55th & Arapahoe in Aid of Municipalization Effort

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Yates, Bob

To Council Agenda Committee, Tom Carr, and Kathy Haddock:


In Tom's public memo to Council dated August 16, he advocated for the annexation of 15 properties at 55th & Arapahoe to aid the City's municipalization separation plan.  You have scheduled a vote on such annexations for next Tuesday, October 4.  I believe that this vote is premature, for three reasons:


First, over the past week, members of Council have been contacted by owners of at least four of these properties and a lawyer representing several others, each saying that the City has not yet reached agreement with them on the terms for the annexations.  While I understand that the City has the legal authority and power to annex properties without the owner's consent and over the owner's objection, it is not our practice to do so.


Second, with yesterday's filing of the City's amended separation plan with the Public Utilities Commission, there appears to be no need to annex these properties urgently.


Third, Council has scheduled executive sessions for October 5 and October 20 to discuss the municipalization effort.  The outcome of those meetings could determine whether the 55th & Arapahoe annexations are even necessary.


I request that you postpone next week's vote on the 55th & Arapahoe annexations to give the property owners an opportunity to work with the City on mutually-agreeable terms.  If we go forward with the vote next Tuesday, Council will be asked to hurriedly and forcibly annex these properties over the objections and concerns of the property owners, perhaps unnecessarily.  This is unprecedented and it is inconsistent with Boulder's community values.


Best regards,


Bob