u/kindness_is_free11

For the full recording of the meeting: https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3340/media

Big items to note:

- Civic clerk portal was down for the meeting so people could only join through zoom.

- One speaker called on the City to honor ADA and allow more time for virtual audience to speak as many are not able to raise their hand or are not called on to speak. The staff member in charge of the zoom this week, allowed ample time that has been provided.

- There were 34 people who spoke during public input, the big topics were the sales tax increase proposal, flock cameras, and budget cuts to the trail and natural area and museum departments. There was a lot of clapping which appeared really frustrating for the mayor as this is not allowed.

- The Mayor of Windsor and one of their town board members both spoke during the public hearing for the GWIP property annexations requesting Greeley please not proceed and requesting that Greeley be a good neighbor as they have been in the past. The annexation passed 7-0

 

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/moSMRTq9lbI

  

* Citizen Input

- Spencer Milne – spoke about Flock cameras and that fact that there was no vote to approve and in 2 years, it has cost the city $166k. Discussed that it isn’t just public safety as it creates a database, and the contract gives full access no warrant needed to Flock and any law enforcement agency. Noted there has already been documented misuse, and shared concerns that this past June, Alex Porter (former GPD) was arrested for stalking and may have accessed Flock to aid him, we don’t know as you have to intentionally search into this to find it. Already, there have been 90 municipalities who have canceled, called on Greeley to do the same.

 

- Kevin Freestone – spoke about flock, and how it violates the 4ᵗʰ amendment, as well as the fact that instead of having to have cause before investigating, flock allows law enforcement to “investigate” first and find a crime or alleged crime, called for city to end contract.  

 

- Kathy Hasch (whose name Hall mispronounced again, despite her speaking at least 10 times over the past year) – discussed that Catalyst has saddled the city with debt and stated that the February vote is  

not the cause. Shared she has attended meetings beginning with the 2024 first meeting, and accused city of trying to confuse residents by repeatedly changing the name used for the project. Stated the debt is not tax payer debt as council didn’t listen to tax payers.

 

- Pam Bricker – stated that there isn’t always enough positive and took time to thank Councilmember DeBoutez. She encouraged chambers to clap for Deb and was told by Hall this was not allowed and it needed to stop.

 

- Soraya Mauer – shared her personal story with depression and the positive impact on her mental health that being able to be on and photograph our trails and natural areas have had on her. Also shared that bio diversity greater in natural areas and asked that council keep in mind what our trails and natural areas do for our residents when deciding budget cuts.  

 

- C. J. Mauer- mom of previous speaker, stated that trails need saved, and the positive impact they have had on her, her family and others. Also shared concerns that already nature and wildlife are decreasing w/ development

 

- Chris Johnson- called out council for continuing to not look at or give respect to residents as a whole and thanked Brian for continuing to make warm eye contact. Then discussed Cascadia & Flock and their similarities as the city avoided a vote on both. Discussed lack of privacy due to flock that is guaranteed by constitution and challenged the city to let flock go to a vote, except they know it wouldn’t pass. Called out council for “running for the people” while campaigning and yet not asking the people before making decision.

 

- Ripley Kasdorf- stated he plays hockey in Greeley at the Ice Haus (great venue) as part of an adult’s league and that their ice time has been pushed back to an even later time, which will lead to a loss of revenue for the city, as many of the adults can’t stay up that late during the week, and asked council to consider looking into other options that don’t involve pushing their ice time.  

 

- Ulli Lipitlaw - advocated for trails and natural areas, and that they “keep things wild”. She noted that they were at the top of priority list for residents and yet their department is treated like a "reward child"/after thought. Shared that 17/20 municipalities locally that have dedicated trails and natural areas have a natural are tax, but Greeley isn’t one of them. She also called out the council as only Huddleston and DeBoutez have taken her up on her offer to tour Arroyos del Sol.

 

- Dan Ganskow- stated in the 80’s he moved to Greeley because of the openness and later the trails/natural areas He has volunteered w/ trails and has found them to be well maintained and safe and something that benefit our souls.

 

- Tom Phankluch – shared he was a member of the West Greeley oversight committee and that the committee’s recomm­endation was to move forward with finding a partner and doing the tax. Discussed the need for resources for deferred main­tenance, and that despite being  the 8/10 largest city in Colorado, it is 10 out of 10 for sales tax rate.

 

- Mary Metzger- discussed consent with a definition  and the act that the city has not sought our consent with project, and even when Catalyst was voted down, the city continues to push forward. Called out the council for the fact that they can’t make a decision for us and then say we consented. Then discussed the woman who died in the fire and her boyfriend who was injured and questioned where the council’s urgency for human life is by prioritizing housing for all. Stated that homeless pay taxes also through sales tax and yet aren’t being served.

 

- Tiffany- I spoke about the time line for Catalyst and the money spent despite petitions and elections, calling on the council to take responsibility and quit blaming voters, with how much could have been saved had they not continued to spend (https://youtu.be/gPlANPB0X9w)

 

- David Simmons- 13 year old who spoke about the value of museums and the fact that the city making museum admission free at the beginning of the year only to then propose cutting them because they don’t make any money is concerning. Discussed how much he likes Centennial Village and encouraged everyone to have the bravery like Rattlesnake Kate and like he was harnessing to speak to council. Asked the museums be saved.

 

- Bill Gillard – stated that much of what he wanted to say had been said. Called on council to quit blaming everyone else including residents, the county and the former city manager who they gave 3 raises and a bonus to so “he must not have been doing that bad of a job”. Asked that the tax measure not include both projects.

 

- Jessica Duke- shared that while she lives in Foco, she is an ecology professor at UNC. Discussed proposed budget cuts to natural areas and trails, and the impact these will have on our community as well as the students who partner with our natural areas team to collect data, as the students will lose real world experience and the city will lose conservation partnership

 

- Kenneth Howell- discussed the proposed city bus route shift at 11th St/54ᵗʰ Ave which is set to be moved to 10ᵗʰ St. Shared that the bus stop is currently at ECA , SSA office and Action Behavior Center that serves kids with autism and that there are no speed bumps, no school zone speeds, etc which needs addressed and that the students need options. Also shared that he was on the board that recommended MERGE in 2018 and he wishes he knew then what he knows now as he wouldn’t have.  

 

- Donna Handren- a descendent of the Meeker family, shared the passion by those who preserve our

museums, the positive impact of them and the fact that making the changes proposed are also against ordinance obligations

 

- Kaching Valentinis- discussed flock cameras, and not appreciating the surveillance. Stated they won't proactively stop crime, that the community was not asked, and that they could be used against any citizen. Called on council to find another solution, leave flock contract.  

 

- Jim Riesberg- stated it is wrong for City to seek new partner for Catalyst as Trib article said they’re doing ant that the City should remove themselves and let Lind find new partner. Shared that there should be no new sales tax especially as the city ignored voters and they all swore there not be any tax related to the project. Also stated that 7 weeks is rushed to make this decision and have the vote, usually there is a year or more.

 

- Peggy Sue Squires- stated she went back and forth about whether to attend meeting and prays that the council actually listen to the speakers and quit looking down. Encouraged attendance at

Aug 28ᵗʰ Greeley night Challenged council that there is a lot a good “here” (in the room and in Greeley) and to  quit putting theirr ideals over others

 

- Mary Monohan- stated that April 15ᵗʰ, 2025  there was record attendance, shared a quote from Hall when he stated it’s a representative democracy and so council gets to make decisions for the people and the people don’t have time to understand everything anyway. Stated this is condescending, and that council is still ignoring people. Stated that adding Civic Campus to the sales tax is a means of not being honest to hide that they know Catalyst alone won’t pass.

 

- Andy – stated he is a domicile not resident. Discussed that Weld County didn't listen about AI data center or justice center and now Greeley is adding sales tax and it’s wrong. Also shared concerns around flock as it is surveillance, not security

 

- Nicole Riner- shared she is disappointed by sales tax for a project that has been thrice defeated (2 petitions, I ballot), and that it's not uniting to add civic campus. Called out council for continuing to ignore the people.

 

- Steve Teets-called again on city to fix brakes on city buses as well as curbs and roads and to stop Catalasyst. Challenged that he gave information to council about both months ago and there has not been follow up or feedback. Questioned why the people get punished when the city decides to over spend and that the budget should be based on the needs of the community.

 

- Kris Simmons- challenged that virtual comment is broken and not ADA compliant as there is not adequate time to raise hand and speak, called for change. Called on council to reject the sales tax and that based on Taxpayer Bill of Rights they can’t put a vital need with an unpopular project for one tax. Stated that Greeley PD is great and can do their job with flock and for the city to deflock.

 

- Jesse Mangen- identified himself as active member of Weld County Young Republican and his parents

as owners of the Natural Academy of Healing Arts. Shared that already $1.5M has been spent for RTIC, and it costs $700k each year to keep running. Shared that flock is surveillance and our kids shouldn't grow up in surveillance state. Called on city to end flock contract.  

 

- Chris Bowles-stated he was museum manager until last week and that there are things that the council wasn’t shown during budget presentation on museums. Stated that one thing hidden was the presentation said that there would be 11 positions terminated and “part time and seasonal reductions” that equates to another 10 people without a job. Also stated that there was an alternative proposal put together by his team but that the department did not include this in the presentation to council. Also questioned how people could be told in April they wouldn’t have a job if the decision hadn’t been made yet.

 

- Alyssa Milne- shared that flock is a risk. Called it surveillance and asked council to consider what happens if one of their enemies were to have access. Challenged that we can’t overlook people’s rights just to make a job easier.

 

 

- Alex – discussed the unhoused woman who died and her partner who was badly burned. Called out that when it has been criminalized to live outdoors, and people don’t have options, what is supposed to happen. Challenged that the unhoused are not a problem to be swept away, and that capitalism causes it while punishing poverty. Stated we need housing and to treat the poor as human. Also stated that flock is not for public safety.

 

- Brandon Wark-asked council to reconsider the sales tax, as people already can’t afford to live. Stated that the city messed up and instead of just owning it, is now putting it on residents.  

 

- Kimber Watson- stated that Mayor Hall hasn’t listened since he got on council in 2017. Stated that people can't afford food and now they are wanting a tax. Challenged council to finally listen to the people.

 

- Jeff Kennedy -stated he was a member of the oversight committee and wanted to address the misconception about the sales tax. Stated that while we shouldn't have to pay for it, one way or another we will have to. Stated he never liked the project but if we don’t approve the tax we can’t pay the debt and it will cause a loss of more cuts to city services.

 

**One community member who spoke, walked up and asked the council as someone new to this, what the process is after the meeting? How will council follow up? Etc.
Hall told him to sit down that most things are already looked into by the city.

 

*Reports by Councilmembers:

Olson- stated he is following up Bus Service and route changes and that Bret Namer is working with school district to find options.  

 

DeBoutez- Has to miss this week’s office hours but next one will be Wed Sept 2ⁿᵈ 9am at Margies

 

McDonald- shared that she attended the opening of Chiropractor Board of Examiners building following remodel and that all chiropractors across the nation will go through our building. Thanked them for staying in Greeley.

Discussed that Oct 15ᵗʰ is Weld Project Connect which provides free services for anyone, and that volunteers can still sign up to be navigator

Attended Fire Department’s 'push in" of new equipment

Stated she was accepted to Water Literate Leaders Program w/ will Jones and Diana Frick

Stated that a community member told her she would be more accessible with office hours so she will look to begin these.

 

Huddleston- next office hours will be this Sat 10am u/Cauldron Espresso (inside the Armory)

 

Rudy- shared that Monster Day this Saturday and encouraged people to attend with hopes it won’t actually be the last and Introduced his exchange student

 

Roth- next Friday will be UNC’s first ever night game and encouraged public to attend. Go Bears!

 

 

*Pulled  Consent Agenda Items

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing the city to apply for a grant with DOLA provided by the Model Cities Initiative (MCI) grant program pulled by McDonald

She asked if the grant is to pay for positions, what happens when the grant runs out and Chief Turk reported there is no plan yet.

Passed 7-0

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 14: Public Hearing and second reading for the GWIP annexations (passed 7-0)

-BROE the developer spoke and stated that the reason to annex to Greeley is for Greely’s water. Olson and McDonald both asked BROE if they were in any way pressured by Greeley to annex and they said no.

- Public Hearing:

- Windsor Mayor Julie Cline- discussed that what it means to be good neighbors, and that Windsor has requested sit downs that have amounted to no resolution. Challenged council to listen to citizens, and that bullying is not regionalism. Asked that the city pause annexation and also consider long term what outcome is best for people in region

- Ron Steinbach- Windsor Town Board, stated that the towns used to be good neighbors, and that BROE was pressured bye the city of Greeley, as were other unincorporated property owners that if they wanted to have Greeley water, they had to annex. Stated that the city has no plan beyond annexation for infrastructure and that Windsor borders 99% of the property, there is no answer about sewer, and that all development Greeley decides to do will affect Windsor, asked Greeley to defer their decision.

- Greg Fleebe – asked the city not to spit in eye of Windsor. Shared that as former City of Greeley long range planner that annexing this property isn’t okay and that the high intensity industrial zoning will affect Windsor residents. Discussed concerns around Global AI annexation and that we need to quit trying to grow so quickly. (ran out of time)

- Bill Gillard- stated he believes the annexation is great idea, and will help Greeley not be a bedroom community and we have a need for industrial zoning.

- Mary Metzger-gave her time to Greg to finish who stated that the developer is defying county code and the zoning is incompatible (though Global AI was part of this annexation), and that the annexation doesn’t honor Greeley’s planning intention

- Rhonda Solis- former D6 school board member who got to see and be a part of a lot of collaboration and isn’t seeing a lot of people coming to the table in this decision. Asked for a pause and for Council to take the opportunity to start doing things differently and to work with our neighbors.  

- Jeff Kennedy – shared that Kodak had good jobs and called to Windsor "where have you been for blue collared workers", and that they haven’t done anything with the properties since. Stated that Al is new

oil and gas (the thing people don’t want) and oil and gas turned out to be big for our area.

 

Huddleston stated that he is excited for the annexation and that we need this opportunity to bring industrial jobs back to Greeley.

DeBoutez spoke to Windsor folks and stated she is committed to being a good neighbor with the decisions they make with the property moving forward.

 

- Item 15: Public hearing and second reading to designate the zoning for the GWIP annexations to High Intensity Industrial and Conservation Districts (passed 7-0)

 

- Item 16: Public hearing and second reading to annex Arroyos del Sol (passed 7-0)

Public Hearing:

- Windsor Mayor Julie Cline – Stated she isn’t against the annexation and that Windsor contributed $250k to the purchase because they believe in it and asked that Greeley maintain this open space as a separation between communities

- Steve Teets – questioned why Greeley keeps annexing and asked them to stop

 

 

- Item 17: Public hearing and second reading to designate the zoning for Arroyos del Sol as a Conservation District (passed 7-0)

Public Hearing:

- Bill Gillard – echoed the importance of keeping this as an open space separator of communities

 

- Item 18: Resolution for the City to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Weld County for the November election and allowing the City Clerk to sign the IGA (passed 7-0)

- Huddleston shared that listening to last meeting, it was not what he believes they had initially discussed as it sounded like Civic Campus was now dependent on the sales tax vote and he believed the cost would be more nominal. Mayor Hall cut him off stating that they’re just voting on being able to propose a ballot measure and this wasn’t the time. Huddleston clarified that he was explaining based off of the last meeting he is only voting yes to this as he believes there is a good faith effort by the council and that what came up isn’t representative of that.

- Deboutez stated that when it comes time for the ballot measure, if it included Civic Campus, she will vote no.

 

- Item 19: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Planning Commission – Justin Yeater reappointed

AGENDA OVERVIEW: August 18th, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South, and you can attend in person, watch on GTV8, or join via Zoom.

https://greeleygov.zoom.us/j/83011351454

Big items to note:

- They will be doing the 2^(nd) reading and public hearing for the GWIP annexations which will end in a vote to decide whether they officially annex these properties to Greeley.

- Two new contracts being approved, the first ~$923K for cost estimation on MERGE and the 15^(th) Ave Underpass projects, and  ~$268K for design of a new trailhead and realignment of part of the Poudre River Trail

- The city is applying for a grant (pending council approval) of $50M from the Department of Justice to expand the Real Time Information Center to a “24/7 Real-Time Public Safety Operations Hub”

- While the agenda itself is pretty short, I anticipate a lengthy citizen input given the recent conversations regarding a November ballot item to increase sales tax by 0.5% to cover the Catalyst debt and left over to go to Civic Campus.

 

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtube.com/shorts/GHUHGTTtvw8

 

* Proclamations

-  None this month

 

* What’s Great About Greeley

- Phyllis Eaton, George Fisk and the artist co-op Madison and Main are being inducted into the Greeley Ats Legacy Hall of Fame

- This year marked the 47^(th) Annual Arts Picnic and the launch of Culture Pop

- UCCC has full line up for 2026-2027 season, hosting over 100 shows a year

 

* Citizen Input

- As always anyone can speak for up to three minutes on a topic that does not appear on the agenda with a public hearing. Council members will also be able to share any reports and initiatives they may have.

- You can also submit written comment by 12 p.m. the day of the meeting via email (cityclerks@greeleygov.com), mail or drop off at the Clerk’s office (1100 10^(th) St)

 

* Consent Agenda (items that all pass as one unless a council member pulls them for individual review):

- Item 9: Approval of meeting minutes from July 21^(st), 2026 Council Meeting and July 28^(th) Work Session

 

- Item 10: Resolution authorizing the city to enter into a contract with Stanton Constructability Services LLC for cost estimating services related to MERGE and 15^(th) Ave underpass

- Cost of contract will be ~$923k (~$711k is for MERGE)

- The company will essentially evaluate what costs should be in order to determine if cost estimates provided by general contractor are appropriate

 

- Item 11: Resolution to authorize the city to enter to a contract with Otak, Inc for Trail Design Services

- This will be design, engineering, permitting and construction documents for a new trailhead and realignment of 600 feet of the Poudre River Tral in the Sheep Draw Natural area

- The river has migrated since original construction 60 feet and with 5 feet of the trail and the existing trailheads are frequently at capacity

- The City’s Natural Areas and Trails was awarded grants through the State Trails Program of ~$45k to go towards this project

- Cost will be ~$268k in which ~$229k will come from the City and the remaining ~$12.5K will come from Poudre River Trail Corridor Inc

 

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing the city to apply for a grant with DOLA provided by the Model Cities Initiative (MCI) grant program

- This grant would expand the Real Time Information Center (RTIC) in a “24/7 Real-Time Public Safety Operations Hub”

- Request includes technology, equipment, vehicles, secure collaboration tools, interoperable communications and staffing

- The application does say that it would include Homelessness and Housing Solutions to support outreach and response to chronic locations involving homelessness or victimization

- The grant is $50M from the Department of Justice

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 13: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

 

- Item 14: Public Hearing and second reading for the GWIP annexations

 

- Item 15: Public hearing and second reading to designate the zoning for the GWIP annexations to High Intensity Industrial and Conservation Districts

 

- Item 16: Public hearing and second reading to annex Arroyos del Sol

 

- Item 17: Public hearing and second reading to designate the zoning for Arroyos del Sol as a Conservation District

 

- Item 18: Resolution for the City to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Weld County for the November election and allowing the City Clerk to sign the IGA

- This is the agreement to put the sales tax initiative on the ballot and will cost the city $180k

 

- Item 19: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Planning Commission – no interviews were completed as no new applicants applied sand the incumbent reapplied (no name provided in agenda packet)

RECAP: August 11^(th) Work Session

 

*Big items to note:

- Councilmember Huddleston was not present for the meeting.

- The 0.5% sales tax increase they discussed for Catalyst and Civic Campus is actually being proposed to be for Catalyst and if there is anything left over, then it could go to Civic Campus. The conversation was pretty tense between council members. Councilmember DeBoutez proposed it be Catalyst as a stand alone which received a lot of pushback with Councilmember Roth speaking more than I’ve ever heard him to say he disagrees with her multiple times and the only way to heal the division in our community is to do the sales tax for both and be united. This was said by other Catalyst proponents as well. The conversation also went sideways as it seemed to shift to implying that if the sales tax doesn’t pass that Civic Center doesn’t move forward (despite Civic Center being funded to my knowledge), meanwhile if it does pass, it seemed that it the greenlight to continue with the project, not just pay the debt. Voters and the election were again repeatedly blamed for why a tax now has to happen, and there was no ownership of the continued spending of COP money. Mayor Hall seemed upset with Councilmember Olson feeling he was misrepresented and stated that he does not want a tax period but that this is the only way. They discussed how long to make the tax last noting that a longer period would improve their bond rating, but doubt that voters would want a longer period. There was also discussion of whether to word the ballot measure to allow the money to go to any economic development project or only the two, and whether the tax could be automatically sunsetted once the Catalyst and Civic Campus debts are paid.

- The GURA presentation seemed to have some subtext around the ability to manipulate funding a bit across districts and ways to avoid having to be updated to the new law as long as “significant” changes are not made to districts. They discussed how gaining compliance for the new law would affect things if these changes were made and pros/cons of different board structures in which we could maintain an external board or go to a vote to have council be the board.

- The update on MERGE also created some tension as Mayor Pro Tem McDonald challenged whether it will actually happen as it has been so many years of talking about it. Councilmember Olson made it sound very certain and expressed belief that it is and will move forward on timeline. There are still some holes in funding and final cost but it was assured that they will have a clearer picture as they choose and work with project manager and general contractor.

Hello Greeley, here's your agenda overview for the August 11th, 2026 Greeley City Council Work Session.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South. This is a work session, so no formal votes happen tonight, nor will there be public comment. It is discussion only to help inform future decisions. You can still watch in person or livestreamed on the City's Meeting Portal.

https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3352/media

 

*Big items to note:

- Council will be discussing a 0.5% sales tax increase on the November ballot in order to help cover the costs of Catalyst and Civic Campus

- Council is getting a refresher on how Urban Renewal and GURA work,

- There will be a construction and cost update on the MERGE highway project (now estimated at $160M–$190M for the US 34 portion alone)

 

* Item 5: Greeley Urban Renewal Authority (GURA) Presentation and Discussion

- GURA's outside legal counsel, Corey Hoffmann, is giving an "Urban Renewal 101" presentation to walk Council through how urban renewal works and how GURA and the City relate to each other

- GURA was formed in 1969 under Colorado's Urban Renewal Law, though it wasn't actually written into Greeley's municipal code until 1994

- The bottom line theme of the presentation: the City is the policy-making body and GURA implements the City's policy

- City Council forms the authority, sets project boundaries, approves urban renewal plans, and authorizes eminent domain if needed

- GURA's board then carries out the actual projects (contracts, financing, redevelopment agreements, tax increment financing, etc.) within those plans

- “Blight” is the legal trigger for urban renewal n which an area has to meet at least four of a long list of factors (deteriorating structures, unsafe conditions, inadequate infrastructure, environmental contamination, etc.) under state law

- Existing Greeley urban renewal plans include the Greeley Mall, Western Sugar, 10th Street, and East 8th Street districts, plus the 10th Street Commercial Corridor Façade Grant Program and low-interest loan assistance for commercial building and façade improvements

 

* Item 6: MERGE Council Update

- Public Works Director Seth Sorensen is giving an update on the MERGE highway/interchange project and several related transportation projects (Union Pacific Quiet Zone, 83rd Ave and 10th St, Keep Greeley Moving, 16th St Enhancements, O St and 59th Ave Roundabout, Safe Streets For All/Downtown, and 9th and 10th St traffic)

- Since June, the City executed the RAISE federal grant agreement, issued the 30% design task order, advertised for Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) services, and improved coordination with CDOT

- Next up is request for quotes, general contractor interviews on Aug 26^(th) and then onboarding of contractor

- The City is using a CM/GC delivery method rather than traditional design-bid-build, meaning the contractor comes on board early during design instead of after it's finished

- Updated total cost estimate for the US 34 portion alone is now $160 million to $190 million, a jump of nearly 45% from the original estimates of ~$131M

 

* Item 7: 2026 Ballot Question Discussion

-Staff (City Manager Brian McBroom and Deputy City Manager/CFO Allena Portis) are bringing Council information about a possible sales tax measure for the November 3, 2026 ballot

- Quick background: the Capital Improvement Plan includes three major projects: MERGE, West Greeley, and Downtown Revitalization (which includes the Civic Campus)

- At the July 28th work session, staff explained that funding all three, plus everything else in the pipeline, isn't currently possible

- The Civic Campus is proceeding toward funding, with preconstruction work nearly complete

- Would require about $85 million in new debt, with debt payments capped around $8 million a year

- Paid for out of Quality of Life tax, Food tax, and General Fund dollars

- The Catalyst project already has $115 million in existing debt ($92 million of which is already spent) with a $7 million annual debt payment

- It also needs a $12 million Economic Development Payment to move forward

- Staff says there's no viable financial model for it without either a private partner or a dedicated tax

- The proposal on the table: a 0.5% addition to the City's sales and use tax rate, raising it from 4.11% to 4.61%

- That would generate roughly $16 million a year (not counting food, which isn't taxed under this proposal)

- It would be framed as an economic development tax to support both projects, and potentially others down the road

- A longer tax term gives Catalyst better credit enhancement for financing, but a shorter term is more likely to actually pass with voters

- A 10- or 20-year term is described as more likely to pass but would limit the benefit to the Catalyst project specifically

- How the revenue would be split between Catalyst and Civic Campus isn't settled

- It may end up weighted toward Catalyst first to cover the full $12 million Economic Development Payment, with whatever's left going to Civic Campus

- Timeline is tight: any ballot resolution needs to be adopted no later than September 1st

- Colorado law only allows a TABOR tax election in November alongside the general election

- Staff needs to know soon: how much, how long, what it's for, and whether Council wants to move forward at all

- Next steps if Council gives direction: prepare ballot language for the September 1st Council meeting (or an August 25th special meeting if ready sooner), commit roughly $180,000 for election costs, and start communicating with partners and the community

RECAP: August 4^(th), 2026 Greeley City Council Meeting

Big items to note:

- Mayor Hall was again absent, the meeting was run by Mayor Pro Tem McDonald. Overall, she did a vastly better job than what has been happening (for example trying to pronounce names correctly and asking to be corrected if not, looking at people while delivering the proclamation, and speaking clearly)

- For the third time that I’ve been aware of (2^(nd) I’ve spoken up about), a resident in the virtual audience was skipped over and despite having their hand raised, it was said no one wished to speak. I did interrupt the meeting to request that this person be allowed to speak which ultimately was allowed to speak.

- GWIP annexation was pulled by Councilmember DeBoutez, as a result of public comment. The city confirmed that we have no plan for serving the properties (“this is still in negotiation”) and that it wouldn’t be an enclave because there will be 10 feet not touching Greeley property (I raised concern that the city is trying to create an enclave in order to be able to force annexation of Carestream/Global AI).

- Councilmember Olson was very outspoken about not wanting to move forward with Civic Campus due to West Greeley not being resolved and voted against Development Services Agreement and the Appropriation of funds in the budget as result.

 

For full agenda overview as I am only including updates here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Fev8Zijno/

 

 

* Citizen Input

- Kathy Hasch – discussed the county’s statement re: not partnering on Catalyst, encouraged council to talk to other developers and to quit focusing only on Cascadia as we have other issues facing Greeley. Including lack of safety of e- scooters, noting 2 individual are in ICU due to them right now

-Bill Gillard – discussed landscaping code that was brought up in work session and his dislike of HOA’s and the government telling him what he can and can’t do in his yard, shared belief that artificial turf is far from biggest issue causing heat, and concerns around flock cameras being an invasion of privacy rights

-Ashley White – resident who works for Butterfly Parillion, and as such works w/ natural areas including those in Greeley, advocated for natural areas and the importance of investing in stewardship, and shared that proposed budget cuts will diminish expertise and end connections we have with other agencies

- Kevin Pierce- Wildland Restoration Volunteers spoke about the city budget, and requested that council reduce additional cuts as we need our natural areas and further cuts will damage partnerships, including with students, discussed the  benefits of stewardship of land

-Scott Royer- 16ᵗʰ St 9ᵗʰ: 10th Ave speed bump needs painted, stated he will be flying New York to Paris to celebrate Linbergh’s 100ᵗʰ anniversary

- Kenneth Howell- discussed the budget and staffers from some teams not answering council questions, and rather dodging/deflecting, also called out that the budget crisis comes from revenue generation assumptions, and that allowing the same people to keep working on budgets who have refused to answer questions or show accountability is irresponsible

-Tiffany Simmons – discussed concerns over GWIP annexations and the concerns raised by Planning Commission that there is no plan in place on how we will serve these properties with fire/police, water/sewer, etc, and concerns that we’re intentionally creating an enclave in order to force annexation of Carestream

-Peggy Sue – called on Council to do budget retreat in chambers and save money on venue and calleda gain to put Cascadia to a vote, also stated that homeless and others are talking about council and they need to take notice

-Louise - 23ʳᵈ Ave that she discussed at last meeting had yet another accident and needs to be addressed, shared concerns around potential data center pointing out that Cheyenne water has already been compromised by one

-Edwin Grant-Discussed growth of Greeley, the fact that Greeley Water Bill and property taxes continue to grow, frustration with Weld County for rejecting check signed in red ink and that the School of Osteopathic Medicine not as good as it seems

-Mary Metzger- questioned who we are becoming, concerns around annexation and shared the 7 deadly sins Pride/Greed/Wrath/Sloth/Gluttony/Lust and how council/the city are embodying these, with a challenge to focus instead on the Virtues, and that the virtues build strong communities

** Despite having hand raised on Zoom the last speaker was initially not called on to speak, I got Mayor Pro Tem’s attention to request that he be allowed to speak, while she initially said since we were past citizen input section that he couldn’t, the City Manager said she could decide and he was allowed to speak**

- Kris Simmons– spoke about flock cameras and the fact that based on a June 29^(th) Supreme Court ruling, they are actually illegal as they are creating a “digital mosaic”, expressed trust in Greeley PD and Chief Turk to keep us safe without surveilling us

 

*Reports

- DeBoutez: shared Chataqua is currently going on and is a great experience

- Huddledston: Went to Centennial Village 50^(th) Anniversary event, will have office hours this Saturday at 10am at the Atlas

- Roth: Praised City Staff and the drive through of Big Boy train

- Rudy: Shared he went to 250/150 Celebration and 2 students did amazing in presenting

- McDonald: Gave proclamation at 250/150 and that one of our fire fighters gave birth on the same day

 

*Initiatives

-DeBoutez: Requested a presentation from City staff and PD on Flock Cameras

 

* Pulled Consent Agenda Items:

- Item 14: Resolution approving a Development Services Agreement between the City and Richmark Vertikal, LLC related to Civic Campus project

-Pulled by Huddledston

- Clarified that while the incentives are large that they are fees we wouldn’t have had without the project, and asked Richmark if this may lead to decreased incentives in the future as there will be a higher valuation in downtown

- Richmark shared that our contributions, especially with increases in material costs just since starting plans have gone up, really won’t cover much

- Huddleston also pointed out that the minimum investment by Richmark is likely lower than what costs will actually be, requested expediting the plan if possible

- Olson shared he doesn’t believe we should be moving forward with Civic Center due to West Greeley not being resolved yet

- Voted 5-1 to pass (Olson as 1 Nay)

 

 

- Item 18: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance annexing the GWIP properties

- Pulled by DeBoutez based on citizen input

- Asked city:

- Can we serve the properties? A: still in negotiations

- Does it create an enclave? A: there will still be 10 ft not touching so not an enclave (but acknowledged it is a flagpole annexation

- Huddledston clarified Carestream and GWIP are different and asked the city to look into whether or not in high industrial zoning, if property owners can create their own energy

- Olson clarified that BROE approached the City not the other way around

- Passed 6-0

 

*Regular Agenda:

 

- Item 23: Public hearing and resolution for approval of the 2026 HUD Annual Action Plan for the proposed Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership entitlement programs

- $2.4M was allocated to 11 projects

- Olson questioned whether it affects the City’s budget that the Housing Departments numbers keep changing and they said it does not (Olson talked over and down to the City employee in my opinion as she was trying to answer)

- Public Hearing

- Kenneth Howell: Shared that the advisory board discussed the action plan and that the staff was really receptive and worked with, that the action plan presented is the best option and was based off of extensive discussion

- Ed Grant: we habe budget shortages and wondering how does one government give money they don’t have to another government

- Bill Gillard: reiterated there needs to be more time between 1^(st) and 2^(nd) readings

- Ashley Fusco: expressed anger that HUD was being nitpicked, and called for insecure housing needs to be given more attention than developers, and why a unanimous vote for last item while this was one was questioned

- Melanie Ford: thanked for support from the HUD money for Boost and Learn Childcare providers, explaining the program

- Olson retorted to public hearing comment that it wasn’t about questioning the HUD program just the financing and that the vote wasn’t unanimous for the Civic because he voted nay

-Passed 6-0

 

- Item 24: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance appropriating additional sums to defray the expenses and liabilities of the City for Fiscal Year 2026

- Passed 5-1 as Olson voted note because he does not support Civic Campus moving forward

 

 

AGENDA OVERVIEW August 4th, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South, and you can attend in person, watch on GTV8, or join via Zoom.

https://greeleygov.zoom.us/j/83011351454

Big items to note:

- The Civic Campus Development Services Agreement with Richmark Vertikal is on the agenda tonight. This agreement transitions the project from the planning phase into final design, financing coordination, and construction. It is the principal implementation agreement for the project and replaces the Pre-Development Agreement approved in August 2025.

- It discusses all of the incentives in terms of fee and tax waivers the developer will get and the investment that the City will make towards the apartments and hotel (at least $8.7M for both)

- The abandoned hotel at 2495 28th Street — Council is being asked to authorize the City Attorney to take legal action against Galaxy Hotels Group / D Greeley LLC. Construction stopped in 2024, the building has been sitting unfinished ever since, and the property owner has racked up almost $500,000 in fines. Councilmember Roth raised this as an initiative at the July 21st meeting after receiving numerous community complaints. This is the follow-through.

- The Great Western Industrial Park (GWIP) Serial Annexations are back on the agenda - These were pulled due to Windsor’s objections from a couple meetings ago. I’ve heard concerns from some Windsor contacts that GWIP is so important because if it’s annexed, it will force Carestream to be annexed in the future.

- There was a general theme to the meeting notes from the Planning Commission – “cart before the horse” when it comes to fire and police service, water and sewer and even traffic, they don’t know yet but are sure it will work out

- Another executive session is also on the agenda related to the West Greeley Project. As you have likely heard, the County has declined to be a partner and so there is a lot up in the air as to how we proceed and what that looks like for COP funds that have already been (and are continuing to be) spent.

 

For full agenda breakdown:

 

* Proclamations

-  Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association

- National Emergency Management Awareness Month Proclamation

- 10^(th) Anniversary of Greeley Monster Day

 

* What’s Great About Greeley

- The bronze statue stolen from Glenmere Park was recovered and reinstalled

- Grand opening of the UNC College of Osteopathic Medicine

- Centennial Village Museum celebrated 50^(th) Anniversary

 

* Presentation of Confluence: The Story of Greeley Water

 

* Citizen Input

- As always anyone can speak for up to three minutes on a topic that does not appear on the agenda with a public hearing. Council members will also be able to share any reports and initiatives they may have.

- You can also submit written comment by 12 p.m. the day of the meeting via email (cityclerks@greeleygov.com), mail or drop off at the Clerk’s office (1100 10^(th) St)

 

* Consent Agenda (items that all pass as one unless a council member pulls them for individual review):

- Item 9: Approval of meeting minutes from July 7^(th) Regular Meeting, July 14^(th) Special Meeting and July 14^(th) Work Session

 

- Item 10: Resolution authorizing the City to enter into a work order for professional services between the City and Na Ali’I for additional design services related to Cameron Peak Fire Mitigation

- To upgrade two culverts that will provide reliable access to City owned high mountain reservoirs

- The City has already worked with Na Ali’ifor five post fire mitigation projects for a total of $5.1M

- IMPORTANT NOTE: only $170k has come from City funds for these projects with the rest being covered by grants

- Current work order would be for just shy of $300k covered by grants and work with US Forest Service

 

- Item 11: Resolution to authorize the city to enter into a settlement agreement with Dinasty Kramp involving claims against the city of Greeley, it’s officers and employees for $200k

- Related to an officer involved shooting resulting in death

- Releases the city from further litigation and responsibility and is “not an admission of liability”

 

- Item 12: Resolution approving an IGA for the provision of administrative services by the City to the Greeley Urban Renewal Authority

- GURA will pay the City an administrative fee equal to 1% of revenue collected within four TIF’s plus .5% of all revenue deposited into the GURA operating account

- Agreement is for 3 years

- Covers support provided to GURA by the City including contract preparations, facilitation of meetings, and creating marketing and outreach materials

 

- Item 13: Resolution authorizing the City Attorney to take legal action in relation to the abandoned hotel at 2495 28^(th) Street

- Galaxy Hotels Group was issued a building permit to build a Residence Inn, but construction stopped in 2024

- There are over $500k in unpaid fines by the owner for stormwater violations

- Despite many promises by owner to start work, this has not happened

 

- Item 14: Resolution approving a Development Services Agreement between the City and Richmark Vertikal, LLC related to Civic Campus project

- Replaces the pre services development agreement from August 2025

- Establishes “project governance, standards of performance, budget controls, change order procedures, invoice review and dispute resolution, ownership of project documents, future design build contracting parameters, insurance, default and termination remedies and performance based public incentives

- Requires that Richmark create at least 160 market rate apartment units and contribute a minimum investment of $50M

- City funded gap funding assistance is capped at $4M and apartment assistance fee relief capped at $27.5K (in other words, waiving of initial construction fees and taxes that will be waived up to this amount)

- The following fees will not be waived – water and waste water plant investment, storm drainage development, fire development and police development

- Also requires a hotel with at least 80 rooms and full service restaurant with private investment of $25M

- Fee and tax relief of up to ~$19k per room and lodging-tax rebate of 100%, capped at $1.5M, and City contribution of at least $4.7M

 

- Item 15: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Cache Annexation and directing the City Attorney to commence a court action to exclude the property from the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District

- This is back on the agenda after being pulled last minute for “minor changes” – The change I saw made was wording in which they have now included the specific ordinances for the annexations and some other wording changes.

 

Item 16: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Seeley Lake Annexation and Willow Vista Annexation and directing the City Attorney to exclude those properties from the Eaton Fire Protection District

- Same situation as above. Annexation was completed in 2023 though

 

- Item 17: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Schmerge Annexation and Kinnison Annexation and directing the City Attorney to exclude those properties from the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District

- Same as items 15 and 16, except these annexations are new this year

 

- Item 18: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance annexing the GWIP properties

- These were pulled from the agenda a couple of meetings ago due to Windsor’s protest.

- Evidently mediation was held with the Windsor which led to the postponement

- The Planning Commission’s meeting notes state the primary concern was around public safety serving the properties but a goal of collaboration such as an outside service agreement, fire district service, revenue-sharing or another IGA

- Also concerns around sewer services with options such as Greeley facilities expanding to serve the area or partnering with the Windsor Treatment Plant

- One commissioner shared concerns around the fact that the City referred to the commission rather than the other way around which is typically what happens

 

- Item 19: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance to establish the official zoning of the GWIP properties to Conversation District and High Intensity Industrial

- Similar concerns were raised as above around how Greeley will fund services currently provided by Windsor and whether Windsor’s roads are equipped for this zoning given that entrance to GWIP is through Windsor right of ways

- No funding has been identified at this point

- It is claimed that there will be no additional cost to residents which was questioned if there are no funding mechanisms identified

- Director of Water and Sewer stated that industrial development would pay substantial tap fees and user rates to minimize impacts on existing rate payers

 

- Item 20: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance to annex Arroyos del Sol area

- It was under a conservation easement and has “since become Greeley’s newest Natural Area”

 

- Item 21: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance to change the zoning of Arroyos del Sol to Conversation District

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 22: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

 

- Item 23: Public hearing and resolution for approval of the 2026 HUD Annual Action Plan for the proposed Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership entitlement programs

- This action plan is part of receiving money from both funds, and requires a plan on exactly where the money will be designated

- 19 applications were received for projects, and 11 applicants have been recommended for funding from this grant money

- Some included are The Greeley Family House, Habitat for Humanity, High Plains Housing Development (site clearance for affordable housing), A Woman’ Place, Catholic Charities for Guadalupe Apartments

- Applicants not recommended included United Way of Weld County of the Housing and Navigation Center with Overnight Shelter, High Plains Housing Development (Harmony Way Acquisition and Prairie Rose Rehab), Boys and Girls Club of Weld County

 

- Item 24: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance appropriating additional sums to defray the expenses and liabilities of the City for Fiscal Year 2026

- Will appropriate the DOLA grant funding match of $41K and the COP funds for the Civic Campus

 

- Item 25: Executive Session to discuss the West Greeley Catalyst Project

RECAP: July 21st, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting. (I was walking my dogs so video is not ideal)

Big items to note:

- 13 residents spoke, the major themes were a call for the city to quit spending money as well as moving forward with Cascadia until we have our budget figured out, the importance of our museums and the Historical Preservation Advisory Board being removed from discussions around budget cuts, and concerns around the conflict of interest with Payton’s law firm working on the West Greeley Project,

- The three items in consent agenda regarding the court filings to exclude properties annexed to Greeley from fire services in other communities as they are served by Greeley fire and this could cause double taxation was removed from the agenda entirely for “minor changes”.

- The council voted 7-0 to approve the resolution with the second work order for former councilmember Payton’s law firm. The City Attorney did provide further information on timeline and decision-making:

- There was no bid, as the charter allows this when the work is confidential or highly specialized.

- Payton’s firm specializes in Real Estate and Land Use which is the specialization they needed

-He is local, and they needed someone close by (Side note: there are 13 firms in Greeley alone that have the same specialization),

- and that due to the changes in leadership they needed someone with knowledge of the project and has seen it through.

- It is not a conflict of interest as nothing in the charter prohibits former council members from contracting with the city and he left council in November and they didn’t look to hire him until the end of December.

-Mayor Pro Tem McDonald expressed that she would trust Payton with her life and that he’s a “pit bull” who is fighting for Greeley which was needed after previous people did not do well negotiating the contracts with Water Valley.

For full agenda breakdown:

* Proclamations

- America 250 / Colorado 150 Day Proclamation – there will be flags across Bittersweet Park this Friday, Saturday and Sunday to celebrate and Saturday at 10am there will be a program, complete with hotdogs

* Citizen Input

1. Kathy Hasch-reconsider decisions, cost of living is expensive, and the city keep spending on consultants, meanwhile we’re losing services

2. Bill Gillard- shared his own “What’s Great About Greeley” including Linc Library wood shop, maker space, Pinocchio’s, Mom's Popcorn, and called out conflict of interest with Payton’s firm

3. Marshall Clough- serves on Preservation Committee and spoke around concerns with proposed cuts to museums, “our town’s character is in our preserved heritage”

4. Paula Akanoi- budget cuts are disappointing, trails and natural areas like Arroyos are a treasure that we may lose, challenged council to increase revenue through things like allowing marijuana sales

5. Marcus Embry-chair of museum Advisory Board, presented on increased attendance, programming, etc, earlier this year, questioned how did we now get here where museums are being cut, stated that CPRD has blocked the board from being a part of decisions or from providing input and shared that staff has been cut from 16 to 5 with no viable plan of how to maintain events

6. Geoffrey Havens – part of Museum Board which is concerned around cuts and brought a that board not involved and blocked from decisions and input, asked that employees and board be included to

review and refine

7. Steve Teets- Requested the contracts for Spin, Via, Boomerang, and Lamar as well as code around e transit, reiterated the lack of safety currently with e transit

8. Gabe Llanas - as a citizen, though he is a member of Historic Preservation, civics is important, CPRD leadership has ties to Lind, why not include the museum prepared budget proposal, boots on ground represent stewardship and responsibility, and yet it’s leadership who does not and yet is not being cut

9. Scott Royer-water being wasted

10. Eli Wilcox - budget will guts museums, culture and rec programs, why are we paying $200k for a consultant when we have no money, feels city is implying residents are ignorant, raised concerns around the conflict of interest

11. Peggy Sue - a lot to love about Greeley, get rid of Catalyst/Cascadia until we can afford it, focus on the needs we have now that it wasn’t going to help with

12. Tiffany Simmons – called out conflict of interest and called for them to actually explain if they believe it isn’t a conflict of interest, shared frustration felt by council when I speak and that I wish I could still trust our local government so I didn’t have to spend hours a week doing work for the community they should be doing

13. Mary Monahan-Poudre trail just completed and now we’re cutting services to it, called out that council seems to love executive housing, and people who live there love trails/natural

areas, asked when have voices been heard, and challenged that while focusing on West Greeley, our kids are losing out, also called out the meals on city dime with Lee by council and that they should be ashamed

13. Kris Simmons-conflict of interest, bringing the resolution back with slight changes back hurts trust, the fact that it was rejected and council is just bringing it back for a vote, shows council will just keep pushing, called for it to go to bid, and that council put in place a cooling off period before former council can be hired

* Consent Agenda (items 15, 16, and 17 were removed from the agenda prior to start of consent agenda, all others passed 7-0)

- Item 9: Approval of meeting minutes from June 16, 2026

- Item 10: Resolution ratifying the appointment of Carmody Lee to serve as Region 4 Trustee on the High Plains Library District Board of Trustees for the remainder of the 4-year term, ending December 31, 2026

- Item 11: Resolution to authorize a contract with ICON Engineering for a comprehensive stormwater master plan focused on the Greeley No. 3 Ditch System

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing a contract with Martin and Wood Water Consultants for Water Resources Engineering

- Item 13: Resolution authorizing a change order with Mark Thomas & Company Inc. for additional design services for the downtown infrastructure revitalization project (~$1,2M)

- Item 14: Resolution authorizing a Housing Planning Grant agreement with DOLA for ~$124k

- REMOVED FROM AGENDA FOR “MINOR CHANGES” Item 15: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Cache Annexation and directing the City Attorney to commence a court action to exclude the property from the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District

- REMOVED FROM AGENDA FOR “MINOR CHANGES” Item 16: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Seeley Lake Annexation and Willow Vista Annexation and directing the City Attorney to exclude those properties from the Eaton Fire Protection District

- REMOVED FROM AGENDA FOR “MINOR CHANGES” Item 17: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Schmerge Annexation and Kinnison Annexation and directing the City Attorney to exclude those properties from the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District

- Item 18: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance appropriating additional sums to defray the expenses and liabilities of the City of Greeley for the balance of Fiscal Year 2026

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 19: Pulled consent agenda items- none pulled

- Item 20: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance updating the Greeley Municipal Code references to City Hall

- Passed 7-0, minimal presentation as it was housekeeping

- Item 21: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance expanding the contractor types for licensing

- McDonald expressed this was her initiative as she has seen people in her work be scammed by outside contractors who are not permitted or licensed.

- Olson clarified timeline of licensing which the City stated could be complete within 24 hours from ICC test to application being processed

- McDonald and Olson called for malpractice insurance to also be checked

- DeBoutez clarified the order of operations for violations and asked that property owners be alerted if their contractor isn’t licensed when permit requests come through

- Public Hearing – Two local contractors praised the ordinance and expressed gratitude, Bill Gillard asked some clarifying questions regarding rebar versus concrete contracting being different

- Item 22: Resolution authorizing Work Order #2 with Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC for West Greeley legal services for up to $125k

- The council voted 7-0 to approve

- The City Attorney did provide further information on timeline and decision-making:

- There was no bid, as the charter allows this when the work is confidential or highly specialized.

- Payton’s firm specializes in Real Estate and Land Use which is the specialization they needed

-He is local, and they needed someone close by (Side note: there are 13 firms in Greeley alone that have the same specialization),

- and that due to the changes in leadership they needed someone with knowledge of the project and has seen it through.

- It is not a conflict of interest as nothing in the charter prohibits former council members from contracting with the city and he left council in November and they didn’t look to hire him until the end of December.

- Mayor Pro Tem McDonald expressed that she would trust Payton with her life and that he’s a “pit bull” who is fighting for Greeley which was needed after previous people did not do well negotiating the contracts with Water Valley.

- Item 23: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- All those recommended were appointed

- Item 24: Motion to go into Executive Session regarding the Windsor Lawsuit and annexation dispute

Hello Greeley, here’s your agenda overview for the July 21st, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South, and you can attend in person, watch on GTV8, or join via Zoom.

https://greeleygov.zoom.us/j/83011351454

Big items to note:

- You know the resolution to extend the work order for former council member Brett Payton’s law firm in regards to West Greeley that didn’t get a motion last meeting? Well they’re bringing it forward as a *new resolution* by changing the amount and timeline a bit in order to allow a new vote (the City Attorney’s office notes that these changes meet the concerns raised by council at the last meeting). Also, this is funded through the COP money (you know the money they’re saying can’t be paid back without progressing the project…apparently we’re still spending it)

- There will be a first reading to appropriate ~$85 million to the 2026 budget to cover the COP’s for Civic Center Campus. This doesn’t finalize the issuance of the COP money, but rather just adjusts the budget to make expenditures with the anticipated revenue. The second reading and hearing will be August 4th.

- There are three items to file with District Court to exclude areas that Greeley has annexed, that are served by Greeley Fire, from Windsor/Severance and Eaton’s Fire coverage to avoid double taxation via property taxes for both Fire Services. The first annexation was completed in 2021, the second in 2023, and the third this year…meaning people may have been paying double taxes as far back as 2021 in the affected areas. The exhibits noted in the filing are all missing from the agenda packet which may have provided further insight.

- Another executive session to discuss the annexation dispute and lawsuit with Windsor.

- There are some discrepancies in dollar amounts within the city’s agenda item overview and the actual contracts, I’m not sure what is behind that. (The contract for ICON says $415k, while the overview says $420k and the contract for Martin and Wood says not to exceed $200k but the overview says not to exceed $300k)

----

* Proclamations

- America 250 / Colorado 150 Day Proclamation

* What’s Great About Greeley

- Aims Community College receives College Department of Education recognition for sustained, equity-centered commitment to addressing non-academic barriers to student achievement

- City of Greeley Lead Protection Program wins the Excellence in Community Engagement awarded at the American Water Works Association Annual Conference (one of only three communities recognized)

- City employee Chris Reigle earns the GIS Professional certification (one of fewer than 5,500 who hold this worldwide)

* Citizen Input

- As always anyone can speak for up to three minutes on a topic that does not appear on the agenda with a public hearing. Council members will also be able to share any reports and initiatives they may have.

- You can also submit written comment by 12 p.m. the day of the meeting via email (cityclerks@greeleygov.com), mail or drop off at the Clerk’s office (1100 10th St)

* Consent Agenda (items that all pass as one unless a council member pulls them for individual review):

- Item 9: Approval of meeting minutes from June 16, 2026

- Item 10: Resolution ratifying the appointment of Carmody Lee to serve as Region 4 Trustee on the High Plains Library District Board of Trustees for the remainder of the 4-year term, ending December 31, 2026

- Item 11: Resolution to authorize a contract with ICON Engineering for a comprehensive stormwater master plan focused on the Greeley No. 3 Ditch System

- Two different amounts listed one says ~420k, and one says ~$415k

- The Greeley No. 3 Ditch is operated by the Greeley Irrigation Company but also receives and conveys urban stormwater runoff from the city

- The dual use of agricultural irrigation and urban drainage has contributed to flooding concerns during big storms in downtown and East Greeley

- The master plan will “evaluate conditions, identify vulnerabilities, and develop flood mitigation strategies”

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing a contract with Martin and Wood Water Consultants for Water Resources Engineering

- Martin and Wood has worked with Greeley for over a decade on Water Court proceedings and water rights engineering

- Contract runs May 1, 2026 – May 1, 2031, not to exceed $300k annually (though Exhibit A says $200k)

- The city says there was no bid as Martin and Woods has 20+ years of knowledge on Greeley’s water rights portfolio and many competing firms have conflicts of interests due to water court matters in the Poudre and Big Thompson basins

- The request form also says that it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to train a new water court engineer to understand and represent Greeley in trial settings

- Item 13: Resolution authorizing a change order with Mark Thomas & Company Inc. for additional design services for the downtown infrastructure revitalization project (~$1,2M)

- Will cover CDOT potholing requirements, general construction support, and traffic pattern changes

- Making the total contract amount thus far ~$4.3M

- Funded from Water Capital, Sewer Capital, Stormwater Capital, and Transportation Development funds

- Original order covered survey, SUE and geotechnical explorations

- Item 14: Resolution authorizing a Housing Planning Grant agreement with DOLA for ~$124k

- Funds will pay for consultant services to prepare an updated Housing Needs Assessment, Housing Action Plan and strategic growth and water supply elements for the comprehensive plan (last assessment was 2023)

- Required by a state bill, the housing needs assessment must be completed by December 31st of this year and the action plan adopted by Jan 1, 2028

- City will provide a ~$41k match from last years Housing Solutions program income

- Item 15: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Cache Annexation and directing the City Attorney to commence a court action to exclude the property from the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District

- This annexation was completed in 2021, and Greeley Fire has been providing service since but there was no formal legal exclusion, meaning that residents in the area could have been facing double taxation, paying property taxes for Windsor-Severance Fire Protection and Greeley Fire Protection, but only receiving one

- This is filed with Weld County District Court

- Without this action, property owners pay property taxes to both the city and the old fire district for the same service that only one is providing

- There are exhibits mentioned in the court filing but they are not included

Item 16: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Seeley Lake Annexation and Willow Vista Annexation and directing the City Attorney to exclude those properties from the Eaton Fire Protection District

- Same situation as above. Annexation was completed in 2023 though

- Item 17: Resolution authorizing the city to provide Fire Protection service to the Schmerge Annexation and Kinnison Annexation and directing the City Attorney to exclude those properties from the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District

- Same as items 16 and 17, except these annexations are new this year

- Item 18: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance appropriating additional sums to defray the expenses and liabilities of the City of Greeley for the balance of Fiscal Year 2026

- This is the third supplemental appropriation for 2026 budget and will cover the Housing Needs Planning Grant Local Match mentioned above and the appropriation of the ~$85M for Downtown Civic Campus to the City Center Fund to cover construction and COP’s

- This does not finalize the issuance of COP’s, just puts the money in the correct budget category allowing expenditures using the COP money once received

- Second reading and public hearing will be August 4, 2026

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 19: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

- Item 20: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance updating the Greeley Municipal Code references to City Hall

- Updates references to City Hall from the old round City Hall building in the code

- Item 21: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance expanding the contractor types for licensing

- Expands licensing to all contractor types from Electrical and Mechanical, to include General, Specialty and Roofing

- Also increases the fees to $150-$200 new and $100-$150 for renewals (every three years)

- Violations: permit not issued without license, stop work order and double permit fee, repeat violations will go to the Construction Trades Advisory and Appeals Board with enforcement beginning 30 days after notice with a 60 day grace period on new permit applications

- Item 22: Resolution authorizing Work Order #2 with Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC for West Greeley legal services for up to $125k

- This is the same item from last meeting that no motion was made on, adjusted to lower the amount (from $175k to $125k) and shorten the timeline (from end of the year to October 2026) allowing for a new vote, which the City Attorney’s Office claims addresses the concerns raised by council at the last meeting

- Funded by the COP project funds

- The written overview states that there was never a bidding process and that the City Attorney’s office determined there was no conflict of interest.

- Item 23: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee – Sonya Oster (still recruiting for additional vacancies)

- Human Relations Commission – Ib Meyer is recommended

- Dr. Carmody Lee also applied but is listed on multiple boards already

- Judicial Review Board – Laura Jones (still recruiting)

- Museum Board – Dr Carbody Lee and Nancy Masimer (still recruiting)

- Union Colony Civic Center Advisory Board – Gii Astorga, Daniela Hernandez, Marielle Waller (still recruiting)

- Laura Jones and Dr Carmody Lee also applied but are recommended for other boards

- Youth Commission – Maria Duran (still recruiting)

- Item 24: Motion to go into Executive Session regarding the Windsor Lawsuit and annexation dispute

Monday, July 20th, at 11am, the Greeley City Council, City of Greeley and Water Valley will be having a special meeting to present the West Greeley Project to the Weld County Commissioners in hopes of convincing Weld County to partner with the City to propel Catalyst/ Cascadia forward.

This meeting will be held at the Weld County Admin Building at 1150 O Street. There is no link to watch via zoom on the agenda.

Hello Greeley, here’s your agenda overview of the July 14th, 2026 City Council Work Session.

 

Note: this meeting begins immediately following a Special Meeting called last week to discuss Civic Center Campus, so timing may run later than usual.

 

You can watch live on the City’s Meeting Portal: https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/

 

Big items to note:

 

-       Development Code Updates - this includes updating code for AI data centers, development near old oil and gas sites, and animal husbandry.

 

-       2027 Budget Work Session - the fifth and final department budget session covers Internal Services (City Clerk, High Performing Government, Human Resources, IT) and Infrastructure & Utilities (Water & Sewer, Stormwater, Public Works).

 

Development Code Updates - Seven Priority Topics:

 

Staff from Community Development presented seven topics for Council direction. Here is a summary of each:

 

-       1. Urban Agriculture

-       Covers growing food and raising animals within city limits: urban farms, community gardens, indoor/vertical farms, farm stands, and animal keeping

-       Current code: roughly 0–1 chickens allowed in a typical backyard based on animal unit calculations

-       Option 1: Allow backyard fowl by permit, up to 6 birds, prohibit roosters in residential areas, allow small livestock (goats, sheep, pot-belly pigs) with screening and setback requirements

-       Option 2: Allow backyard fowl without a permit under the same standards as Option 1

 

-       2. Cottage Commercial

-       Small-scale businesses integrated into residential neighborhoods… think backyard salons, coffee kiosks, garage bike repair, low-volume retail

-       Currently only allowed in commercial zones; home-based businesses allowed subject to nuisance rules but no commercial character

-       Option 1: Allow by Special Use Review in designated zones with standards to preserve residential character, such as no employees, limited floor area, limited hours

-       Option 2: Expand as by-right in designated zones with architectural standards requiring the building to maintain a residential appearance, parking behind or beside, limited signage

 

-       3. Build-to-Rent (BTR) Housing

-       Single-family homes or small units built specifically and permanently for rental (looks like a subdivision, functions like an apartment complex)

-       Targets young families, workforce households, and empty nesters; includes shared amenities

-       Greeley already has an example: Boomerang BTR was cited in the presentation

-       Current code handles these through Planned Unit Development (PUD) process

-       Option 1: Define BTR as a new use, treat as horizontal multi-family, create standards for density and mixed-use zones

-       Option 2: Create a custom zone or overlay specifically for BTR development

 

-       4. New Development Near Existing Oil & Gas

-       Covers setbacks for new buildings near active, producing, and plugged/abandoned wells (a real issue in Greeley given Weld County’s oil and gas history)

-       Current code: 350’ setback from wells in high-density areas, 250’ for residential, 50’ from plugged/abandoned wells

-       Option 1: Allow parking lots, roads, and surface-level infrastructure within the plugged/abandoned well setback; consider reducing surface setbacks from operating wells

-       Option 2: Reduce the 50’ setback from plugged wells if a risk assessment and engineering verification are completed, the plug meets best practices, and additional monitoring is required

 

-       5. Gravel Extraction

-       Removal of sand, gravel, soil, rock, and minerals, typically along rivers where minerals exist; increasingly an issue along the Poudre and other waterways

-       Currently allowed only by Special Use Review in the Conservation District zone, with no use-specific standards

-       Option 1: Keep current zoning and process but add specific standards: noise limits, lighting controls, setbacks from residential, hours of operation, reclamation requirements, truck haul routes, dust mitigation

-       Option 2: Everything in Option 1 plus: separate batch plants and crushing operations as accessory uses with their own standards, and require City Council review of environmental reports

 

-       6. Solar Energy

-       Currently classified as “utilities general” requiring Special Use Review in most zones; not allowed at all in Holding Agriculture (H-A) zones

-       Staff recommendation: Add solar as a permitted use in H-A zone with conditions; create distinct standards for small, medium, and large-scale facilities; add standards for agrivoltaics (dual-use solar/farming); require Council consideration of environmental reports for large-scale installations

 

-       7. Data Centers

-       Right now Greeley’s code has no specific standards for data centers

-       For comparison, Weld County currently has no size or electrical demand limits, allows them by Special Use Review in industrial zones, prohibits them in agricultural zones, and requires noise standards of 65 decibels

-       Staff’s recommendation to Council:

-       Allow data centers by Special Use Review (USR) in Industrial Medium (I-M) and Industrial Heavy (I-H) zones only

-       Establish setbacks from residential uses

-       Establish noise standards (maximum decibels at the property line)

-       Consider allowing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) as accessory uses to data centers

-       This is not a vote tonight, it is a direction-setting conversation. But the direction Council gives tonight will shape the actual code language that comes back for adoption

-       Data centers have been a point of significant public concern in Greeley due to the new Global AI  data center. Residents have raised water demand, infrastructure strain, and community impact at past Council meetings. Tonight is an opportunity for Council to set guardrails, or not

 

Next Steps on Development Code:

-       Staff will take tonight’s direction to stakeholders

-       Draft redlines developed for review with staff, Planning Commission, City Council, and stakeholders

-       Language refined based on review

-       Additional Planning Commission and City Council workshops before final adoption

 

2027 Budget Work Session - Departments Covered:

 

This is the fifth and final budget work session before the full proposed budget is assembled. Separate post with full department breakdown. Quick reference:

 

-       Internal Services Portfolio (Kimberly Southern):

-       City Clerk’s Office - 17% target ($273,248) - met. 1 FTE eliminated, fee increases, reduced supplies and travel, translation services moved to existing platform at no charge

-       High Performing Government / Innovation - 25% target ($518,212) - exceeded. 3 FTEs eliminated including Director of Strategy and Executive Communications role; citywide CRM platform cancelled

-       Human Resources - 17% target ($776,065) - exceeded. 3 FTEs eliminated including four manager-level leadership positions; cuts to recognition and coaching programs

-       Information Technology - 17% target ($1.58M) - met. 3 FTEs eliminated including the Chief Information Officer position; Public Safety Technology Services team absorbed into the broader IT team

 

-       Infrastructure & Utilities Portfolio (Bret Naber):

-       Water & Sewer - not a General Fund reduction target; utility enterprise funds. Targeting 4.5% water rate increase and 3.0% sewer rate increase for 2027. Typical customer bill goes from $120.43/month to $123.47/month  (a $3.04 increase)

-       Major challenges: residential water use per capita declining faster than forecast; industrial demand down due to Kodak/Carestream shutdown; uncertainty around federal grants; elevated infrastructure costs

-       Several major capital projects delayed to keep rate increases lower

-       Stormwater - also a utility enterprise fund. Focus on downtown flood mitigation tied to the 12th Street Outfall and Civic Campus construction timeline. Multiple downtown outfall projects competing for limited funding - some delayed by years depending on rate scenario Council chooses

-       Public Works - 17% target ($2.1M) - $255K gap remaining. 7 positions eliminated across Engineering, Clean/Safe/Beautiful Program, and Mobility Services. Spring cleanup program reduced. Salt and chemical budgets reduced. Parking fees increasing $100K–$160K annually starting 2027

-       Worth noting: Public Works flagged that the city is losing over 400 years of combined institutional knowledge through position reductions, retirements, and attrition

 

Executive Session:

-       Council will enter closed session for legal advice and negotiating instructions related to the Civic Campus Project

 

 

Big items to note:
- Both Mayor Hall and Mayor Pro Tem McDonald were out sick. Councilmember Olson ran the meeting.
- The items related to Civic Center campus, including the executive session were pulled from the agenda. There wasn’t much for discussion as to why.
- Over 40 people spoke during citizen input, especially about CRPD’s proposal to cut museums. There was clapping and cheers throughout the entire 2 hours of citizen input, despite Olson reminding not to clap or make noise.
- Councilmembers Huddleston and DeBoutez both asked some very hard hitting questions and challenged the cuts to museums and the CRPD proposal. Ultimately, council directed CRPD to go back to the drawing board and set a Council budget retreat for September 11th, which will be public.
- Huddleston pulled consent agenda item that would have permitted a second work order to allow up to another $175k to go to former councilmember Payton’s law firm for work on the West Greeley Project. He asked the attorney questions, which she didn’t really answer around possible conflict of interest and if there was a bidding process. When Olson asked for a motion, no councilmember made one, as such no vote occurred and it was not approved.
-Ballot measure for a tax increase is not being pursued further for November.

For full agenda overview (I removed items that there wasn't additional information on or passed without discussion): https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Ao4hSeaoD/

* Citizen Input
- Geoffrey Havens- Historic Site Supervisor Proc but gutting after saying it is important, CRPD hasn't shown work ordinance requires city helps
- Patti Harold-Board of friends, museums taking on more than their share of cuts
- Michelle Sodder-museums cuts are deeper, museums aren’t designed for revenue but community and history, culture is what brings and keeps people in Greeley
- Louise Wilson-23ʳᵈ Ave Willows hard to get in and out, it has become unsafe, called for work to be done on 23rd and 35ᵗʰ Ave
- Melinda Andrews-4th grade teacher, mom was part of creating and maintaining the museums, and they are about providing learning, spaces to gather and the holding of our stories
- Kathy Hasch-ebikes/scooters are dangerous for kids (and adults), and there need to be rules and regulations
- Pam Bricker-museums are on the chopping block while we’re trying to proceed with Cascadia and not hearing our people
- Brianna Miller-librarian, museums serve many purposed including research, economics, help w/ present combatting misinformation
- Pam Ensminger- proposed ways to create more revenue rather than just making cuts including smoke shops, more small businesses that need help, tax on no nutrition foods to support museums, etc
- Jen Remmers- returned to discuss the management (or rather lack thereof) of trailer parks in town, and anger at being brushed off by everyone including the city, has toured multiple parks and taken notes invited council to her patio to see for themselves
- Dorothy Elder-don't bite the hand that feeds you, call to council to maintain our city’s culture
- Eli Wilcox-ironic, cutting heart of community museums
- Kenneth Howell- was the citizen budget chair for many years and looking at CRPD presentation there are many unanswered questions, missing info, what about admin? Where are there cuts, etc
- Bill Gillard - citizens showed up to this meeting, council needs to listen, discussed demo derby and called out “RaymondGate" and conflict of interest of Payton’s firm being paid
- Darlene Difrischia- prioritize CPRD its heart of community, shared personal anecdotes aroung the impact of culture, parks and rec on her and daughter
- Kent Henson- from D6 and part of Civic campus planning, shared it’s a coordinated effort and needs to move forward and that delays will only cost all three entities more
- Scott Royer-water? *I could not understand this speaker well and am unclear around what he spoke about
- Tiffany Simmons - shared culture and museums stats and positive impact on community, lack of trust from community, need for council to not entertain cutting museums and further gutting the City offerings
- Augusta Reddit -protect museums, nothing like Centennial Village around, low income access disappearing,
- Lila Barth-volunteer, shared museums have bigger impact than line items
- Leah Bookman- downtown had been killed, it's coming back, West Greeley has no heart, keep museums, keep growing our culture
- Gabe Llanas- 56% of budget cuts have been reduction in workforce, no pay cuts proposed for executive teams but reducing museums staff by 70%,
- Addison Tellez-2026 Weld Fair Queen and her attendants spoke to importance of the fair and encouraged people to attend
- Peggy Sue – called out Lee and Lind, homeless getting worse b/c of cuts in other communities
- Brett Shaw- retired history teacher, reiterated museums are important, and that our museums are run by our Greeley graduates who chose to stay here or come back here when they could have left and we aren’t honoring them.
- Rhonda Solis-Called out conflicts of interests, money spent on attorneys to fight the community and deal with Lind, as well as shared concerns that the City sponsored Beto Loya’s event who is a felon and has close ties to Lind
- Steve Teets-museums draw people, ebikes/ scooters have significant risks, and asked that the city not cut training
- Annareli Morales-viable avenues for revenue rather than cuts, called on council to be innovative with solutions and discussed marijuana sales as a possible option
- Allison Dunning- called on council to maintain museums
- Conner Craven- recent grad from UNC, called for council to save the museums
- Connie Garcia- another call to not cut museums, brings more revenue through people who visit
- Mary Monohan-cutting quality of life with budget cuts, and yet still pushing through with Cascadia, and the City is saying the only way to get out of $90M COP debt is to dig a $900M hole, also called out conflict of interest with Payton
- Morgan Nudelman – called out kids carrying the burden of the cuts as they lose community and learning, shared belief that ward 1 and 2 continue to be overlooked as West Greeley is prioritized
- Marcus Embry-chair of advisory board, discussed museum options as presented being poor, concerns around the basis in council priorities, and called the language used and flawed arguments of CRPD’s proposal
- Kaylee Miller- volunteer with museums, shared memories and the impact of the spending by former city manager and city, who do not hold the accountability
- Maddie miller – volunteer, discussed importance of museums and preservation, volunteers, and cutting heritage like farmers market that supports our local agriculture
Mary Metzger- noted it’s a "full house" in the meeting which has happened 3x in the past year, the meeting where Windsor hockey families flooded council, the demolition of the round building and now, agreed that museums need saved and tired of council saying that we need to give them grace and only look forward, need ot remember that “we” is the community and that’s not who decisions are based off of
- Catherine Conner- long time volunteer rec soccer coach, shared concerns over which private entity the city is proposing to turning rec soccer over to and shared questions (such as: cost, equality, access)
- Kris Simmons- Payton conflict of interest, council should open up to bids and shouldn’t do something that could even be perceived as a conflict of interest
- Evan Petersen- spoke to community that they/council will sell out, cover up mistakes, and won't listen

* Pulled Consent Agenda Items:
- Item 13: Resolution authorizing continued outside legal services from Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC for the West Greeley project, not to exceed $175,000, through the end of the year
- Huddledston pulled this item and asked the city attorney to clarify for residents if there was a bidding process and possible conflict of interest.
-The city attorney did not address if there was a bidding process, in terms of conflict of interest said “they looked at it and decided it wasn’t” (no other explanation as to how they came to that conclusion), and clarified that it’s not a guarantee that they will spend $175k but that that is the upper bounds of what could be spent with this work order.
- When it came to making a motion, no councilmember did (Olson could not as the chair), he called again and with no motion, the resolution was dead in the water without even a vote.

*Regular Agenda:
- Item 22: Public Hearing and second reading to adopt the collective bargaining agreement with the Fire Fighter’s Union (IAFF Local 888)
- Passed 5-0

- Item 24: Ballot Measure Polling presentation around possible November sales tax measure
- Survey showed it would likely not pass in any form so council advised the city to not proceed further at this time.

- Item 25: 2027 Budget Development Update for Culture, Parks & Recreation and Communications & Engagement
Culture, Parks and Recreation Department:
- Huddleston and DeBoutez both asked some really hard hitting questions:
- If museum budget has only grown by 33%, parks and rec by 60-70% and the exec team by 134%, then why are museums taking the largest cut?
- Museums have not brought on any new positions since 2014, yet the exec team grew my multiple
- Why aren’t executives taking a pay cut?
- How were decisions made that resulted in museums taking the biggest weighted cut, as aspects were certainly subjective…the answer the exec team decided
- Ultimately council told CRPD that their solutions were not acceptable and that museums were not to be cut and to come back with other ideas, and set a budget retreat for council for September 11 to further explore the tough decisions to come.

Communications and Engagement Department:
-No questions asked

Full recap to come but some interesting stuff last night!

Hello Greeley, here’s your agenda overview for the July 7th, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South, and you can attend in person, watch on GTV8, or join via Zoom.

https://greeleygov.zoom.us/j/83011351454

**Note: I am continuing to refine formatting so I’m going to try and cut some of the jargon and simplify the agenda item headers**

 

Big items to note:

- In the same meeting that proclamations are being made for the 50^(th) Anniversary of Centennial Village, the council will be hearing the budget proposal that could effectively end our museums entirely. The City is proposing moving museums outside of being city run which is against the charter, and in my opinion is presenting reductions as all or nothing, rather than every department sharing the cuts.

- Council will be voting in consent agenda to continue contract with former Councilmember Payton’s law firm for legal services related to the West Greeley Project that began in January 2026, two months after he stepped down from council (and a project he fought hard for during his time on council) for another $175k

- Council will be voting on whether to issue COP’s for the Civic Center Campus project, delay them, not proceed with them, or continue the conversation later. The COP’s will be for ~$83 million and the City states that delaying a decision could lead to ~$4.5 million in additional costs

- Results of survey on potential sales tax increase for public safety and/or homelessness presented. 600 residents surveyed and supportive responses of the increase have decreased by 6% for each individually and 10% as a combined tax since last year.

In addition, there will be several resolutions to accept or apply for grant funding for things from homeless and housing solutions to merge to the airport improvements. There will also be the acceptance of the Firefighter’s collective bargaining agreement, changing of some city code language, as well as expanding categories of licensed contractors, and taking the next step in annexing Arroyos Del Sol natural area.

 

For full agenda breakdown: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14jrdxWH8Kt/

 

* Proclamations

-  Parks and Recreation Month

- 50^(th) Anniversary of Centennial Village – it is the largest museum of it’s kind in Colorado

 

* What’s Great About Greeley

- Poudre River Trail is complete after 50 years, connecting 45 miles between Bellvue and Greeley

- Greeley-Weld County Airport is receiving $3.5 million in federal funding

- Star Rise has received multiple honors at the 2026 Eagle Awards which recognize achievements in affordable housing and support services in Colorado

 

* Citizen Input

- As always anyone can speak for up to three minutes on a topic that does not appear on the agenda with a public hearing. Council members will also be able to share any reports and initiatives they may have.

- You can also submit written comment by 12 p.m. the day of the meeting via email (cityclerks@greeleygov.com), mail or drop off at the Clerk’s office (1100 10^(th) St)

 

* Consent Agenda (items that all pass as one unless a council member pulls them for individual review):

- Item 9: Approval of meeting minutes from May 19^(th) and June 2^(nd) City Council meetings and the June 9^(th) Work Session

 

- Item 10: Resolution confirming appointment of Robert Hepperle to the Human Relations Commission as the UNC representative

 

- Item 11: Resolution to authorize the city to apply for a grant from Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) for the Peace Officer Behavioral Health Support and Community Partnership Grant

- This grant will help to cover counseling, peer support, trauma education and co-responder programs

- We won’t know the amount until after application

 

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing a grant agreement with DOLA for Supportive Housing for the Olmstead Advancement program

- The city was awarded $100,800 from the State

- The City and North Range Behavioral Health will collectively provide matching funds in this amount

- The grant is for tenancy support services (this is not for staff positions) – to include in-reach and outreach, housing search, placement assistance and counseling, and long term support services for households that are extremely low income, have a history of homelessness and have a disabling condition

- It is expected that this will support 28 households

 

- Item 13: Resolution authorizing continued outside legal services from Coan, Payton & Pyane, LLC for the West Greeley project, not to exceed $175,000, through the end of the year

- Just a note…this is former council member Payton’s firm

- The agreement started in January, 2 months after he left council

- The first work order went through May 2026 but is now being extended through the end of the year

- The firm helped to negotiate the “wind down” of the Catalyst project following the pause and is being kept on in otder to help with the financing plan “as the result of changes in market perception of the City”

- Funded from the West Greeley COP Project Funds

 

- Item 14: Resolution declaring intent to reimburse Stormwater system capital expenditures with future bond proceeds

- Basically projects can begin before we actually get the financing form the bonds as long as we share intent with the IRS within 60 days of the first expenditure

- This is the official “intent”

 

- Item 15: Resolution authorizing the RAISE grant agreement from Federal Highway Adminsitration and USDOT for the MERGE Project in the amount of ~$20.5 million

- The planned completion date of MERGE is September 2030

- The city has decided to remove the Mobility Hub from the project and will be completed under a “separate local agency agreement with CDOT”

- The cost has increased by $30 million but there was another federal grant for ~$29.4 million that was not a part of the initial application

 

Item 16: Resolution authorizing an FAA Airport Improvement Grant of $285k for the Greeley-Weld County Airport

- Will be used for the Reseal Runway which is about 43% of the whole project

- The City are co-sponsors/co-signers and their role is basically just to sign off on the money going to the Airport Authority

 

- Item 17: Resolution authorizing a second FAA Airport Improvement Program grant of $150,000 for the Greeley-Weld County Airport

- Companion grant covering Phase 2 of Reseal Runway 17/35 (approximately 23% of total project)

- Same structure as Item 16 - funds go directly to Airport Authority, no city cost

 

- Item 18: Resolution finding substantial compliance with state annexation laws for the Arroyos del Sol Annexation (approximately 999.72 acres)

- This is the step before annexation that states that compliance has been met to move towards annexation

- Property located northwest of State Highway 257, east of Weld County Road 19, south of the Cache la Poudre River (excludes the Missile Silo Park)

- City-owned property purchased with conservation easement

- Proposed zoning: Conservation District (CD) to maintain as a natural area for Greeley

- Sets public hearing for August 18, 2026

 

- Item 19: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance amending the Greeley Municipal Code relating to Contractor Licenses

- Expands contractor licensing to all contractors working in Greeley (currently only electrical, plumbing, mechanical)

- New classes: General (A), Building (B), Residential (C), Specialty (D), Roofing (R)

- This change will lead to revenue due to one-time application fees and triennial renewal fees

- Public hearing and second reading scheduled July 21, 2026

 

- Item 20: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance updating Greeley Municipal Code references to “City Hall” to reflect the city’s new administrative location

- Housekeeping ordinance — updates code language referencing City Hall now that the city has relocated to City Center South

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 21: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

 

- Item 22: Public Hearing and second reading to adopt the collective bargaining agreement with the Fire Fighter’s Union (IAFF Local 888)

- Battalion Chiefs are back to non exempt status, which allows them to be a part of the Union which, as I understand, Raymond Lee had pushed them out of

- 4% wage increases for the next two years, improved leave, $50k line of duty death benefit, among other things

- $3.8 million dollar cost from the general fund

 

- Item 23: Resolution reaffirming the city’s commitment to build a new City Hall as part of the Civic Campus Project and authorizing intent to issue Certificates of Participation (COPs)

- This relates to consent agenda item and declaring official intent to use financing per IRS standards

- Estimated City Hall cost: $83.6 million - Certificates of Participation cover approximately $71.9 million of that (plus $36.8-$38.7 million for the parking garage)

- $10.7 million has been spent on predevelopment

- Annual debt service: estimated $6.7 –$7.7 million

- Four options:

- Adopt as presented and pursue COP’s immediately

- Delay issuance of COP’s

- Deny resolution and not proceed

- Continue consideration to another date

- Staff recommends issuing COPs this year to avoid estimated $4.5M in additional costs from delay         

 

- Item 24: Ballot Measure Polling presentation around possible November sales tax measure

- A survey was issued to 600 (0.5% of the population) residents between May 30 – June 8 regarding possible tax increases for public safety and homelessness (via telephone interviews and text)

- It is unclear if 600 people completed the survey or 600 people were asked

- Half of respondents were asked about 0.5% public safety increase, half about 0.15% homelessness increase, and half were asked about both (I don’t know if this half of each half or some other way they were chosen but it appears to come from the same 600)

- Public Safety only (0.5%, $16M/yr): 47% support (19% definitely) / 50% oppose (34% definitely)

- Homeless Solutions only (0.15%, $4.8M/yr): 45% support (25% definitely) / 51% oppose (35% definitely)

- Combined Public Health & Safety (0.5%, $16M/yr): 46% support (20% definitely) / 52% oppose (31% definitely)

- All proposals came in at 37-40% “definitely or somewhat support” (without leaners) which is short of typical ballot success threshold of 50%

- When tested in 2025 it was found 53% support public safety, 51% homelessness and 56% combined

- Council will be asked for consensus on whether to proceed toward November ballot

 

- Item 25: 2027 Budget Development Update for Culture, Parks & Recreation and Communications & Engagement

Culture, Parks and Recreation Department:

- Separate post with full department-by-department breakdown

- CPRD has identified $2.9 million with $800k to make up, their full target is 17%

- 10 FTE eliminated, reducing city produced programming, increased costs to residents and fewer affordable opportunities

- Proposals to make up the difference include accelerating the cost recovery model (which has SO many issues), move museums out of being city run (which is against the charter – but clearly trying to sway council as it says this “concentrates the impact in one area to preserve others”), eliminate city produced events like the Arts Picnic and Farmer’s Market, eliminate natural areas planning and restoration, eliminate horticultural programs and end maintenance of flower beds and landscaped areas at buildings and parks)

Communications and Engagement Department:

- C&E had $755,779 to identify, equating to 25% of their budget

- 6 FTE’s eliminated, reduction in fleet replacement fund and cutting purchased and contracted services (like hiring PF firms to do all the West Greeley messaging?)

- Ultimately communication will be more reactive, rather than proactive and outreach and less focus on tourism and marketing of Greeley

 

- Item 26 and 27 are both executive sessions

- Item 26: Legal advice and negotiating instructions regarding the Civic Campus Project

- Item 27: Legal advice and negotiating instructions regarding potential settlement of a pending federal civil litigation case

RECAP: June 16th, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Big items to note:

-No work session next week due to council being at a conference, and no council meeting the week after as it is the 5^(th) Tuesday.

 

- The fire fighter and police unions will be facing off in the demolition derby at the Greeley Stampede on July 5^(th) to raise money.

 

- The Batallion Chief and rep for the 888 Fire Fighter Union spoke in regards to the collective bargaining agreement and calling out of actions taken by the former City Manager to reduce the pay of the Batillion Chiefs in order to remove them from their unit and collective bargaining rights. He stated appreciation that this was restored during this year’s negotiations.

 

-McDonald read a statement about communication in regards to Catalayst blaming the consultant the city hired, and the former City Manager telling the communications department to not be involved. She stated that there is now new leadership in the communications department and that we need to be looking forward not in the past.

 

- All consent agenda items (other than the May 19^(th) meeting minute approval) passed 6-0 (Olson was not present)

 

- May 19^(th) minutes were pulled to be edited after I spoke about the minutes not reflecting what occurred during the public hearing. These minutes stated that I “spoke and was reminded by Mayor Hall to limit my comments to the public hearing item” with no mention of what I spoke about, which was a call for oversight over City Manager spending after what I discovered was allowed under the former City Manager. Also the meeting minutes state that the person after me “spoke but her comments were not related to the public hearing item”, not including that she spoke to say she didn’t appreciate me being silenced and reprimanded and belief that what I spoke about was related to the compensation package for the City Manager. I called on the City to be accurate in their documentation and to not editorialize public record with what they want to be seen.

 

 

* Citizen Input

- Edwin Grant: shared concerns around Downtown being torn down, the replacing of historical buildings with buildings lacking any character and the continual spending of money, feeling that it’s coming from all sides and all levels of our government.

 

- Johann Lindig: told Council that residents do not trust them and that the only way they have a chance to earn that trust back is through radical transparency (which they still have demonstrated) and taking responsibility for the decisions they’ve made.

 

-Andrew Brown/Chris Lambeth: Representing each of their unions, shared that as fundraiser the Police and Fire Fighters will be facing off in a 3 on 3 demolition derby event at the Greeley Stampede on July 5^(th).

 

-Tiffany Simmons: see above. Mayor Hall told Mr. McBroom to see if there was need/reason to edit the minutes which McBroom later agreed there was.

 

- Steve Teets: Discussed various topics including the Telluride Supreme Court ruling and concerns that as it relates to Catalyst, we have all lost, challenging the changing of the bus name for the mobility hub, continued concerns around the lack of safety of the micro transit system and he brought a book to give Mayor Hall on inclusion and asked if he could hand it to Hall, who told him to hand it to City Staff.

 

- Chris Mirowski: See above

 

- Bill Gillard: told Council to quit competing with and comparing Greeley to surrounding communities that are nothing like us (i.e. our median income is $69k, while Erie’s is $179k). Told the Council that they work for the people and need to be working for the people and uncertainty around how the Supreme Court ruling will affect Greeley’s next steps.

 

-Rachel Burdan: Shared continued frustration that it feels City Council has always been on one side, which isn’t that of the people, the oversight committee seems like it was intentionally loaded by Council, we have multiple competitors related to Catalyst and that Council needs to take the off ramp like they said they would be able to but haven’t spoken about since.

 

-Mary Metzger: Spoke about transparency, accountability and communication, and the fact that council has still not taken ownership and it feels like as community members we are screaming into a void and that she “loves this community and even all of you [council] but that you [council] can do better”.

-Rhonda Solis: Corrected the Greeley Tribune who misquoted and twisted her words to say she believed that we should move forward with Catalyst when she instead said that the committee has said that is our only option. She also shared that she has sent information to council such as podcast and the Newmark study which confirmed the poor decision making with Catalyst. She also challenged that the arena, hotel and water park are no where near inventive and that the City needs to do better and different.

 

-Peggy Sue Squires:  Stated that it seems the City is going forward no matter what but that if they don’t put Catalyst on the ballot, recall is coming.

 

-Scott Royer: expressed concern that people are watering midday and wasting our water, made a call to residents to only water between 6pm-6am.

 

 

*Reports from Council Members:

-Huddledston: Attended 477 Distillery’s 8^(th) anniversary event and is grateful to see small businesses being supported and successful.

-McDonald: Read a statement in regards to Catalyst and communication that it is the fault of the consultant they hired who was supposed to do better and didn’t and the former City Manager who told the City’s communication department to not be involved. She stated there is new leadership in the department and that we all need to be looking forward rather than in the past. She also sent prayers to the University High School community related to a tragedy that occurred.

-Rudy: Shared congratulations and pride that Justin G, a former UNC bear, was just named the Light Weight World Champion

- Roth: Acknowledged Turk’s new role as president of the Colorado Chiefs of Police.

-Hall: Shared that Huddledston has been appointed as an alternate for the DDA and DeBoutez as co-chair of the Mayor’s Homelessness Task Force. Also shared that he did the ribbon cutting for Connecting Communities Poudre River Trail completion in Timnath. Finally, he encouraged all council members to tour the Real Time Information Center.

 

*Initiatives

Hall requested an initiative to add resolution to finalize the PDSA with Richmark for the financing structure for Civic Center Campus and for the City to have a draft agreement by June 26^(th), to present at the July 7^(th) meeting.

 

* Consent Agenda

-All items passed without being pulled 6-0 with the exception of the May 19^(th) meeting minutes which will be edited and represented.

- Item 9: Motion to approve the City Council Meeting Proceedings of May 19, 2026 and City Council Work Session Proceedings of May 26, 2026

- Item 10: Resolution authorizing a contract with Martin and Wood Water Consultants for water rights engineering and Water Court services

- Item 11: Resolution authorizing a master design contract with RS&H Inc. for the MERGE Project

RS&H is the design firm for the highway interchange improvements at US 34 and 35th/47th Ave

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing an IGA with Weld County, Windsor, and Johnstown for cost sharing on the US 34 and County Road 17 interchange review process

- Item 13: Resolution authorizing a first amendment to the IGA with Weld County for cost sharing on Greeley-Weld County Airport improvements

- Item 14: Resolution declaring intent to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Prairie Rose Rehab Project

- Item 15: Resolution declaring intent to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Hope Springs Project

Item 16: Resolution declaring intent to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Island Grove Village Apartments Project

- Item 17: Resolution declaring intent to issue revenue bonds for residential facilities for low- and middle-income families

- Item 18: Introduction of an ordinance ratifying and adopting the Collective Bargaining Agreement between Greeley Fire Fighters Union IAFF Local 888 and the City of Greeley for January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2028

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 20: City Attorney’s Office 2027 Budget Reduction Proposal

DeBoutez questioned if the cuts will make the City Attorney’s office understaffed again and if they have ever been fully staffed. City Attorney said this was the closest they had been in 10 years to full staffed, prior to the proposed cuts.

City Attorney shared concerns around losing the AI Research system.

 

- Item 21: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Commission on Disabilities - 3 seats, 3-year terms

- Martha Kyler (incumbent), Todd Page (incumbent) - still recruiting for a third applicant

- Construction Trades Advisory and Appeals Board -2 seats, 3-year terms

- David Powell (incumbent) - still recruiting for a second applicant

- Downtown Development Authority - 3 seats, 4-year terms

-Matthew Estrin (incumbent), Matthew Hortt (incumbent), Brian Seifried (incumbent)

- Museum Board - 2 seats, 3-year terms

- Shan Craven — still recruiting for a second applicant

- Water and Sewer Board - 1 seat, 5-year term

- Cheri Witt-Brown (incumbent)

- Youth Commission - 4 seats, 2-year terms

- Levi Aldridge (incumbent), Phynix Stull (incumbent) - still recruiting for two more applicants

- Human Relations Commission –

- Lisa Bernal

Just got off the phone with the amazing Jennifer Andrews who filled me on this event and the amazing mission she is on to bring our community together.

Are you leading, or part of, a group and want to get connected to other groups or get the word out around what you're doing?

Have you wanted to get involved in fighting for our community but haven't known where to start?

Do you feel pulled in too many directions (because everything feels so important), and want to know not everything falls on you because there are people to help?

Want to meet with like-minded people?

The entire idea of this gathering is to bring everyone together so we aren't all reinventing the wheel, we're informed, can get connected to the people we need to connect to and so we can lean on each other (and of course to have a little fun along the way...who doesn't love free bowling and food??).

There are so many passion projects (campaigning, AI data centers, affordable housing, recall, immigrant protection, Cascadia/Catalyst, LGBTQ+ rights, voter rights, holding leadership accountable, you name it) and instead of disjointed efforts, the goal of this event is to bring our community together and help split up the work while making sure we have support, and that we have a central place to share everything we're all doing.

**We're stronger together!**

Please consider stopping by (your little humans are welcome as well!) and if you can't make it to this but want to be included in future events, let me know and I'll pass your information on.

To RSVP: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/973563/

Hello Greeley, here’s your agenda overview for the June 16th, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South, and you can attend in person, watch on GTV8, or join via Zoom.

https://greeleygov.zoom.us/j/83011351454

Big items to note:

- The Fire Fighters Union and City have come to an agreement on contract for the next 2 years

- This includes a 4% wage increase in year one and 4% in year two, improved sick leave, vacation accrual, and injury leave benefits, and line-of-duty death benefits set at $50,000 with a total cost of $3.8 million over the next two years

 

- The City is entering into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Weld County, Johnstown and Windsor for the CR 17/Hwy 34 interchange

- Everyone is chipping in some money for the 1601 Process which includes a deposit and engineering services to draft a proposal for CDOT ($137,500 for Johnstown and Windsor, and $646175 for Greeley and $1.2 million from Weld County.

- The County will also be contributing $10 million towards construction, but it’s important to note that that these funds were meant for the MERGE project and now being redirected and Weld County said they won’t pay a dollar more

 

- City Attorney’s office presents their budget proposal and is cutting two positions, as well as AI legal research, outside counsel consultation, out of state travel and trainings/leadership coaching (here is a video presentation they prepared: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFRnJOQx2AJLui_dpj_fws_Atp2HT6bTw )

- Upcoming budget proposals

July 7th - Culture, Parks & Recreation, Communications & Engagement, Governmental Affairs

July 14th - Human Resources, IT, City Clerk, Public Works, Water & Sewer

July 28th - Capital Improvement Program

 

- As recommended at the last City Council meeting, council will be voting to distribute Private Activity Bond (PAB) money to three different projects to support affordable housing through a mixture of rehab and construction

- PAB money is separate from the City’s budget

- The public hearing and second reading will be July 7th

 

* Proclamations – none this meeting

* What’s Great About Greeley

- Billie Martinez Elementary receives Colorado Center of Excellence Award for the second year in a row

- 2026 Leadership Weld County graduates 33 (including 4 City of Greeley employees)

- Kristna Bagnall, Rochelle Peth, Kalen Myers and Nelvis Alvarez

Aims Community College receives rare Maverick TwinJet 1500 aircraft donation for aviation education

* Citizen Input

- As always anyone can speak for up to three minutes on a topic that does not appear on the agenda with a public hearing. Council members will also be able to share any reports and initiatives they may have.

- You can also submit written comment by 12 p.m. the day of the meeting via email (cityclerks@greeleygov.com), mail or drop off at the Clerk’s office (1100 10^(th) St)

 

* Consent Agenda (items that all pass as one unless a council member pulls them for individual review):

- Item 9: Motion to approve the City Council Meeting Proceedings of May 19, 2026 and City Council Work Session Proceedings of May 26, 2026

-I will be addressing May19th’s minutes during Citizen Input, and the need for minutes to not be editorialized

 

- Item 10: Resolution authorizing a contract with Martin and Wood Water Consultants for water rights engineering and Water Court services

- Long-term consultant the city has worked with for over a decade

- Adjusting contract to allow for up to $300,000 annually through 2031 “to improve project tracking and responsiveness”

 

- Item 11: Resolution authorizing a master design contract with RS&H Inc. for the MERGE Project

RS&H is the design firm for the highway interchange improvements at US 34 and 35th/47th Ave

- Contract amount has already been added to twice

- Master contract not to exceed $15,802,614

 

- Item 12: Resolution authorizing an IGA with Weld County, Windsor, and Johnstown for cost sharing on the US 34 and County Road 17 interchange review process

- The project will include CR 17/Hwy 34 interchange, a bridge over Hwy 34 at 131st Ave and a mobility hub

- Weld County serving as lead applicant on behalf of all parties with CDOT for the “1601 Process” which estimates costing $2.1 million to include engineering services and deposit to CDOT

- Johnstown and Windsor will each pay $137,500, Greeley will be responsible for $646,175 and Weld County will be responsible for the remaining $1.2 million

- In addition Weld County will contribute $10 million towards the construction of the project

- This $10 million was initially supposed to go towards MERGE but is being redirected

- Weld County said they will contribute no further amounts to any cost sharing or construction costs related to the interchange

- If Greeley or Windsor annexes the property on the SE corner of US 34 and CR 17, they would have to reimburse Johnstown their portion, plus interest

 

- Item 13: Resolution authorizing a first amendment to the IGA with Weld County for cost sharing on Greeley-Weld County Airport improvements

- Requires the City to spend up to $7 million for the construction of Wing Way to connect it from the JBS hangar to WCR 47, and add two new taxi projects

- This includes installation of utilities including water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure and private utilities

- To date, County has paid $3.69 million (of original commitment of $5 million

- They will contribute the remaining $1.31 million plus an additional $5 million to complete the two new taxi projects

 

- Item 14: Resolution declaring intent to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Prairie Rose Rehab Project

- The City will be issuing ~$6 million in Private Activity Bonds to support preservation and rehab of 64 units of affordable housing at 1126 3rd Street

 

- Item 15: Resolution declaring intent to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Hope Springs Project

- 120 new affordable rental units at approximately 3101 32nd Street

- Serving households at 30%–70% of Area Median Income

- Up to $9,992,025 in PABs

 

Item 16: Resolution declaring intent to issue tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the Island Grove Village Apartments Project

-Affordable housing preservation project

- Up to $8,593,457 in PABs

 

- Item 17: Resolution declaring intent to issue revenue bonds for residential facilities for low- and middle-income families

- PAB’s can only be maintained for 3 years, at which time they must be utilized or returned to the state for statewide distribution

- The above projects were 2023-2025 PAB’s

- The City is receiving nearly $8 million in new PAB’s to utilize across the next 3 years for affordable housing

 

- Item 18: Introduction of an ordinance ratifying and adopting the Collective Bargaining Agreement between Greeley Fire Fighters Union IAFF Local 888 and the City of Greeley for January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2028

-This is the first reading. The public hearing and second reading will be July 7th

- 4% raises in both years, improved leave and health benefits, Battalion Chiefs moved to hourly status

- Total cost: $3.8M over two years out of the General Fund

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 19: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

- Item 20: City Attorney’s Office 2027 Budget Reduction Proposal

-Target: 17% cut — $617,141 — target met

-Two positions eliminated: one Attorney II and one Administrative Assistant

- $353,002 in personnel savings

- Outside counsel funding significantly reduced (departments will now need to fund their own outside legal costs or rely on internal staff)

-AI legal research service eliminated, training gutted (including leadership coaching), out-of-state travel eliminated ($266,139 in operating cuts)

- Expect slower legal response times, less proactive support to departments, and more reliance on outside counsel that departments will now have to fund themselves

 

Upcoming budget sessions:

July 7th — Culture, Parks & Recreation, Communications & Engagement, Governmental Affairs

July 14th — Human Resources, IT, City Clerk, Public Works, Water & Sewer

July 28th — Capital Improvement Program

 

- Item 21: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Commission on Disabilities - 3 seats, 3-year terms

- Martha Kyler (incumbent), Todd Page (incumbent) - still recruiting for a third applicant

- Construction Trades Advisory and Appeals Board -2 seats, 3-year terms

- David Powell (incumbent) - still recruiting for a second applicant

- Downtown Development Authority - 3 seats, 4-year terms

-Matthew Estrin (incumbent), Matthew Hortt (incumbent), Brian Seifried (incumbent)

- Museum Board - 2 seats, 3-year terms

- Shan Craven — still recruiting for a second applicant

- Water and Sewer Board - 1 seat, 5-year term

- Cheri Witt-Brown (incumbent)

- Youth Commission - 4 seats, 2-year terms

- Levi Aldridge (incumbent), Phynix Stull (incumbent) - still recruiting for two more applicants

- Human Relations Commission - listed as needing appointments but no candidates on the ballot

RECAP: June 9th, 2026 Greeley City Council Work Session
• Another heavy budget session — five departments presented cuts to cover the $18M shortfall (separate videos for each, linked below)

West Greeley Catalyst — Oversight Committee Update
• Shared last week: the committee voted to pause for 60 days (initially they were set to meet for 6 weeks and then provide recommendations to council)
• The reason: the city is no longer bondable and must have a development partner to move forward with Catalyst at all
• Bob Locke really drove this point home to Council
• Jeffery Kennedy shared that he felt completely blindsided and as though everyone’s time was wasted as the committee had been reviewing information that is now largely irrelevant given this new reality
• A smaller subcommittee of three members was formed:
o One pro-Catalyst, one against, one neutral
o Their job: synthesize 2,000+ pages of information into something the community can actually access and understand

Water & Sewer Board Interviews
• Council was scheduled to interview two candidates for an open 5-year seat
• Candidate Antonio Molina-Haro was not in attendance as expected, therefore only one interview took place
• Cheri Witt-Brown, current board member seeking reappointment, was interviewed
o Came across as humble and passionate about serving
o Expressed genuine respect for the board's work
• Appointment expected to be finalized at the June 16th regular Council meeting

Greeley 311 — New Service Request Platform
• Now fully live — launched publicly in April
• Nearly 1,000 requests submitted since launch
• How to use it:
o Download the app (Android and Apple)
o Visit GreeleyCO.gov
o Or just call 311
• No more waiting on hold trying to find the right department as the system routes your request automatically
• Average response time reported at just over 9 days
o Some community members have shared they're still waiting though this could be that departments are still being fully connected and kinks are being worked out
o Response times will vary by department depending on workload
• Cool feature: through the map interface, you can see if your concern has already been submitted by someone else and check its status
• I encourage everyone to use it, as things will be clearly documented, this also provides greater transparency and accountability

Department Budget Cuts:
Community Development: https://youtube.com/shorts/l1hh_AJlmL0
Code Compliance: https://youtube.com/shorts/h_aP2Z8wj50
Economic Development and Urban Renewal: https://youtube.com/shorts/VjTSP7ziB48
Homeless Solutions (this one saw HUGE cuts): https://youtube.com/shorts/BMIqI8STp1o
Housing Solutions: https://youtube.com/shorts/sMsY9j2p-lA

Oops, I missed the May 26th Work Session Recap and it has some important information, so here it is!

RECAP: May 26th, 2026 Greeley City Council Work Session

- Council is working to close the $18 million budget deficit for 2027
- 6 more departments had to come with budget cuts to meet their required threshhold (we already heard from municipal courts and more are coming next work session). I made a separate video for each for ease, and brevity of this post, that is linked at the bottom of the post.

- Two other topics came up that got a little buried under the budget conversation which was updates on the Merge Project and the Poudre River Restoration Project

MERGE Project - West Greeley Highway Interchange
Intersections ofHwy 34 and 47th and 35th Avenues
- The good news: project is fully funded at $133M+
- Federal grants, state partnership money, Quality of Life Tax dollars, and planned federal financing
- However, Huddleston challenged the city around whether this is a quote from a builder and based on actual cost or a cost estimate based on past projects.
- City's answer: until we're at 30% design, we won't know for sure so it is just an estimate based on past projects.
- Timeline:
- Contractor selection: this summer
- Environmental review complete: mid-2027
- Construction begins: 2028 (though Olson challenged that there is some preconstruction preparation that will likely be able to begin sooner)

Poudre River Restoration Initiative
- $500,000 has been set aside for a master plan to restore and enhance the Lower Poudre River
- Goals: flood resilience, recreation access, connecting the river to the community
- Earlier planning phases went sideways... poor coordination, stakeholders left out, project lost focus
- Staff returned with a fresh approach: more collaborative, includes landowners, regional partners, Weld County, and community members
- If Council approves, the $500K gets released and planning begins
- Concerns raised:
- Councilmember Huddleston flagged concern about continued requests for more money down the road
- Mayor Hall asked staff to come back with a clearer plan of what they actually intend to do with the funding

---

Executive Session
- Council went into an executive session to receive advice, develop strategy and instruct negotiators for the 2026 Greeley Fire Fighters IAFF Local 888 collective bargaining agreement

Fire: https://youtube.com/shorts/4Sdal4oKvek
Police: https://youtube.com/shorts/XSt6b0z9BjU
Office of Emergency Management: https://youtube.com/shorts/LVf6q9vLi1M
City Manager's Office: https://youtube.com/shorts/DEPZZ8jyekE
Budget and Policy: https://youtube.com/shorts/fWRjQhwk1Oc
Finance: https://youtube.com/shorts/gMrHiDqLyto

#greeleycitycouncil #RealTalkWithTiffany