u/kindness_is_free11

RECAP: September 15th, 2026 Greeley City Council Meeting

Big items to note:

- Two community members spoke in regards to the fact that Hispanic Heritage Month began today and we have over 40% of our population that identifies as Hispanic/Latino, there was no proclamation. Mayor Hall did say he would look into this.

- Councilmember DeBoutez will have office hours Wednesday, 16^(th) 5pm at Atlas, but asked that if you can’t make it, you reach out to her schedule

- Councilmember Roth was seemingly very upset, stating it is “despicable/reprehensible/etc” to have his integrity questioned and shared all the ways in which he and his family gives back to the community (will post separately)

- One community member requested a study, related to the HOME Act to confirm that “harm is done” by multiple families living a single family residence and violating single family housing code, Olson requested this as an initiative and stated that much of council was upset when the HOME Act passed which said that if there isn’t harm, that it is okay.

- Consent agenda passed 7-0, no pulled items

- COP’s for Civic Campus passed 4-3 (Yay – DeBoutez, Huddleston, Hall, Rudy, Nay – McDonald, Olson, Roth), it was pretty tense and Olson and McDonald called for it to be delayed until the sales tax vote occurs. McDonald stated that she was upset by my comments as I had shared a presentation previously about West Greeley spending that could have stopped at multiple points and so she didn’t understand why I was saying to move forward now (for the record, there hasn’t been the same pushback- petitions/community outrage, 20+ buildings aren’t being mortgaged, only the one that is being built, it is a partnership with D6 and the County, rather than a developer, and COP’s are for capital improvements not private enterprise projects, they are not the same to me at all)

 

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/oydr2VI-CuY

 

 

* University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Fall Update

- Discussed the School of Osteopathic Medicine

- Struggles with enrollment retention affecting all universities (leading to mergers or closures) and discussed what UNC is doing to combat these challenges by “doing the work properly”

- The search for president is ongoing

 

-Turk clarified ALPR from work session – 2024-2045 decrease in vehicle theft was 35% not 58%

 

* Citizen Input

1.  Zachary Lacwosky – veteran, spoke about being anti flock as it is surveillance, violates inalienable rights

2. Louise Wilson – stated she is upset at council for lying to residents, and stated that Deb also lied about it bringing a lot of jobs, stated council’s legacy will be screwing Windsor and Greeley with data center, and hurting habitats, didn’t even listen to oil and gas

3. Jeremy Galsee – AI data center will not benefit citizens, will take water, cause noise and will do nothing to help our community but will cause harm

4. Kathy Hasch – the importance of attitude, and challenged that council has a choice every day, shared that she is trusted by residents and has a following, she will/has been sharing facts about sales tax/Catalyst, considered moving,

5. Cheryl Webster – loves computers, hates AI, concerned about AI data center,

 

- Alan Joust – read law about single occupancy limits and that council is not following zoning for single family homes and allowing multiple families in homes, proposed that the city issue press release that City of Greeley will comply with HOME Act until after doing a study of single family homes to see if there is negative impact by implementing the act, enact a moratorium and enforce single family dwelling,

 

6. Christine Kauffman – thanks to Huddleston for voting no against AI data center, upset about giving water to AI data center, council is not reading our community even after Catalyst

7. Spencer Milne- anti flock, constitution written to protect people from government, called out McDonald of comment about no privacy in public using one supreme court hearing, read multiple others that challenge this, answered difference between Walmart cameras and flock (“can’t hold me at gunpoint and take away my rights”), referenced statistics sent to council about ineffectiveness of flock

8. Rhonda Solis- Happy Hispanic Heritage Month and disappointed there was not a proclamation, will of the people was overturned, people worked hard to have a voice, appeal will be explored, called on residents to vote no on 2F, and that as part of School Board MLO had a sunset to ask again, the tax is 40 years not 5 years, if 40 years is needed for bond market to not feel it’s risky, it’s too risky for us, AI data center will be next to Catalyst, three things have brought community together (Catalyst, flock and data center), this will be the largest data center in Colorado

9. Lisa Bernal – concerns around council not doing a proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month, even though they have other years, 42.6% of Greeley is Hispanic and are deeply rooted in Greeley, what does silence of council say to the community, the community needs to be included in decisions and recognitions, this is why people do not feel heard or seen

10. Jim Reeseberg – two degrees from UNC, concerned around proposed changes to roads in downtown and the impact on pedestrians, reminded of Greeley Walks to better understand what our transportation system is like and again invited council to participate and show up to free forum 9/24 6:03pm at Greeley Rec Center, Gallup rides will be free to try it out

11. Peggy Sue Squires – called on council to think about the city, not the developer, question about how to take care of homeless, what happened about the shuttle to Loveland? What about the airport and the new hangar? Residents need to be told what’s happening not BS

12. Andy – calls self a domicile not resident, flock is not wanted, will make police lazier, shared instances of flock flagging vehicles incorrectly and how it has affected people, flock can be hacked into,

13. Sonya – Olson called to have proof and stated that someone will do that at one point, McDonald is a “clown” after she talked about pumpkin spice latte, a child shared about being taken during school and hurt, shared she continued to report illegal activity and was targeted, stated she spoke at a school board meeting but was removed from meeting and public comment removed, requested body cam and 40 minutes was missing, stated she was targeted by a corrupt cops and that flock will make that more available

14. Bobby Shilling – stated that all mass surveillance needs to stop, not just change companies, and the group against them is growing, this community is run by a republic with representatives so why is what the people don’t want, still operating, called on council to reestablish trust but that community is not stopping

15. Cara O-Neil – from Windsor, came to discuss ALPR from outside perspective and that she and husband will prioritize spending money in communities that share their values and are not using ALPR’s

16. Mary Metzger – think it’s terrible that all speakers are doing what isn’t their job and having had surgery yesterday, she felt she still needed to come, we are not being listened to, a community member died by suicide yesterday and homeless are dying, read names of those that have died, stated that council continues to not listen, and that community members are caring for the community alone, start listening and do the right thing

17. Alexandra LaBelle – requested that city lift camping ban as it is efficient, chronically unhoused cost far more than housing them, ever $1 spent, there is a $1.80 returned in saved resources of first responders, jail, etc, lift camping ban and put the money into housing, no Cascadia, no data centers, no block, free Palestine

18. Amberleigh Gregor – flock camera errors, not a public safety decision, data center is coming close to her home, it is leading to people wanting to leave and trying to sell homes nearby

19. Anthony Johnson – oppose flock and similar technologies, civil liberties matter

20. Jeff Kennedy – touching base on AI data center, that area is industrial, stated we’re all invested in AI, look at investments, comes with jobs, we’re all benefiting, it’s selfish to fight it, it’s a closed loop system and golf courses use more,

21. Bob Locke -  discussed something Deb said about giving our word to downtown, and that we should follow through, but we gave our word to Provident and the Eagles, no one will want to come if we don’t honor our word

 

*Reports from Councilmembers

- Deb DeBoutez – Atlas 5pm September 16^(th) for office hours, make appointment if that time doesn’t work

 

- Melissa McDonald – had first water literate class, encouraged council to enroll next year, makes proud of what Greeley did, last speaker in class was a professor from CSU about how divided we are and the 2 party system, and that we believe the other side is evil, that we need to figure out how to come together and work together, council is not conducive to conversation, asking McBroom to facilitate conversations

Reiterated Weld Project Connect and the need for volunteers/navigators, city staff gets one paid volunteer day and encouraged them to take the day for this, and that bus is free that day

Condolences to Greeley FD for loss of fire fighter

 

- Brian Rudy – Condolences to Greeley FD, and 9-11 remembrance

 

- Craig Huddleston – Condolences to Greeley FD, shared appreciation for office hours attendance, and asked that it not just be Ward 1, invited all

 

- Ryan Roth – enjoyable is giving back to community, doesn’t appreciate his integrity being questioned, serves on directors of Jobs for Hope, shared what family does for community, despicable to be questioned by community members, stated he does hear and listens and reaches out to everyone

 

- Dale Hall – stated retreat for budget was good, it will be finalized in November

 

*Initiatives

- Olson – discuss HOME Act

 

- Roth – request to share more about affordable housing in work session for community

 

* Consent Agenda passed 7-0:

- Item 10: Approval of meeting minutes from August 18^(th) Regular Meeting

-Item 11: Resolution authorizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Weld County, to receive grant funding provided by Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program

- Item 12: Resolution to enter a contract for consulting services with Interval, LLC for Housing Needs Assessment

-Item 13: Resolution authorizing the filing of the Affordable Housing commitment with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA)

- Item 14: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance vacating a portion of a 20-foot wide public alley right-of-way located in the bounds of 10^(th) and 11^(th) Aves and 9^(th) and 10^(th) Streets

- Item 15: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance making assessments against the lots and lands included within Local Improvement District No. 43840 to recover the approved maximum costs of construction for sanitary sewer infrastructure (Johnson Subdivision which is north of 4^(th) Street and West of 35^(th) Ave)    

- Item 16: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance making assessments against the lots and lands included within Local Improvement District No. 9510101 to recover the a costs of construction for non potable water infrastructure (Lake Bluff Non-Potable Pond and Pumpstation)

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 18: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance related to Dynamic Braking Devices – passed 7-0

- Olson asked about how many violations (30 per year)

- Public hearing: none

 

- Item 19: Public Hearing and second reading to approve the COP’s for Civic Campus – Passed 4-3 (Y- DeBoutez, Huddleston, Rudy, Hall N- McDonald, Olson, Roth)

- Olson: asked for estimated interest rate (4.8%)

- How much will it cost us to issue ($900k)

- McDonald: what is the last date to issue them (to meet development agreement, by beginning of November)

- If interest rate is 4.8, if we get tax passed, will it change the rate (Possible, it has gone up .3% by waiting, longer delay causes more raise)

- Huddleston: when this was initiated years ago, we had different obligations, if Catalyst went through with the Economic Development Payments due, what was going to be due ($12M increasing 2% annually, net would be $48 million for first 4 years)

- So out of pocket $!2M, what is the payment on the COP’s for Catalyst without tax (Portis did not know, Huddleston said what he recalled was $9M and she agreed until 2033)

- So it’s within the realm of quality of life and food tax, and we’ve committed to our neighbors/partners for 3 years

- McDonald – the COP’s don’t include the parking garage

- Olson – “ I was on board with downtown, MERGE, and Richmark has done a good job, at the time when we did this $163M for downtown (West Greeley will be higher as downtown is tax exempt), West side will have to be refinanced”

- Huddleston – we don’t have any financial obligation on the garage, while we have one if we don’t do the COP’s of $5M correct? (Johnson said we don’t have a commitment of $10M for garage minimum)

- Public Hearing:

- Rhonda Solis – supportive of this project as it brings three of the largest partners together, it is what COP’s should be used for, discussed difference from West Greeley,

- Jeff Krutley – Director of facilities with D6, thank staff for commitment to Civic Campus, everyone has worked for this project, we need to move forward

- Bianca Fisher – DDA, we’ve worked together to make this happen and it’s an investment in our future

- Bob Locke – before it said that this was fully funded and it’s time to get back to being fiscally responsible, how can we take on the downtown project while covering West Greeley/continuing with West Greeley unless the tax passes, act accordingly

- Tiffany Simmons - A couple of you said that you hear us that you need to quit digging debt except you’ve acknowledged that you will continue to dig with West Greeley despite what people have voted for and said, you are choosing to apply it to downtown which is hard to hear when a councilmember had stated months ago “if I don’t get CATALYST, you don’t get Civic campus” which if this is voted down, it sounds like that statement is coming to fruition, unless you get the tax to get Catalyst, the community don’t get downtown civic campus

- Jeff Kennedy – serving on committee opened our eyes/ears, we’ve heard what the community says, who wants downtown, who wants West Greeley, we can’t afford either project without the tax, why can’t we push this back a bit longer and allow the vote to be the deciding factor

 

- Olson – this is not about RIchmark or downtown for me, we need to pause it and wait to see if tax passes, $423 for all three projects, $10M for MERGE and downtown $9M for West Greeley, I’m not trying to punish anyone, the if I don’t get Catalyst then you don’t get Civic Campus was never said by anyone, wait until after November 3

- McDonald – I don’t think we’re in a financial place to issue these COP’s, interesting that Tiffany says when she gave this presentation about issuing the COP’s on West Greeley, ask to delay until a funding mechanism, deferred maintenance won’t happen if we do both projects at the same time, ask council to delay, frustrated with staff for not saying what cost would be if just delayed, we can’t go into further debt than we already are

- Huddleston – want to clarify the ticking time bomb of the annual payment, even at the higher level in 2033, the fund is there to McBroom (yes, the financing model says there are sufficient funds through taxes, the impact is to other projects)

- Hall – I’ve been working on this for a couple months and I think we’ve gone down the road to where I don’t feel comfortable delaying it at this time, we have funding established, we have more things to do and need to get funding for other projects

 

 

- Item 20: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Planning Commission- Jeff Carlson (incumbent)

- Housing for All Advisory Board- Manny Puente (still 1 available position)

- UCCC Advisory Board- Daniel Knopf

AGENDA OVERVIEW: September 15th, 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/84155670630

 

Big items to note:

- Council will be voting on whether or not to issue the COP’s for Civic Campus. At least two councilmembers (Olson and McDonald) have said they will be voting no. The only property being leased is the City Hall being built. As this is a 2^(nd) Reading and Public Hearing, the community is invited to speak to council in regards to the COP issuance.

-Johnson Subdivision residents are being assessed over $12k per property to pay the city back for work done to connect them to and update the sanitation and sewer system.

- The City is moving forward with The Housing Needs Assessment and signing a new 3 year commitment with DOLA in order to continue receiving funding to build affordable housing. The city is committing to building 109 new units of affordable housing between 2027-2029

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtube.com/shorts/omj4p7pZBSA

 

* Proclamations

-  National Public Lands Day

 

* What’s Great About Greeley

- 16^(th) Street Enhancement Project won 2 awards

- 2026 Public Outreach Project of the Year, and city employee Roch Labossiere was named Professional Manager of the Year in Transportation

-The Immigrant Refugee Center of Northern Colorado and Christ Community Church are hosting monthly cultural community dinners free to the community to provide opportunities for understanding, connection and belonging

- UNC Nursing Student, Taylor Greene, won the 2026 American Ninja Warrior Women’s Championship for the second time in a row and has the most course completions by a woman in the show’s history

 

* University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Fall Update

 

* 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 10: Approval of meeting minutes from August 18^(th) Regular Meeting

 

-Item 11: Resolution authorizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Weld County, to receive grant funding provided by Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program

-  Formula driven rather than competitive so receiving allocation without having to compete

- Receiving $64,544 to use towards public safety

 

- Item 12: Resolution to enter a contract for consulting services with Interval, LLC for Housing Needs Assessment

- Funds were provided by DOLA to hire the consultant

- The City has already been working with Interval, LLC and they are familiar with the City so rather than bidding out, their contract is being expanded to include the Housing Needs Assessment, Housing Action Plan, Strategic Growth Element and Water Supply Element

- Increasing contract amount from $100k to $265K

- The Housing Needs Assessment is required by the DOLA for any jurisdictions of 100k or more residents

 

-Item 13: Resolution authorizing the filing of the Affordable Housing commitment with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA)

- Part of participating in Colorado’s Proposition 123 Affordable Housing Financing Fund

- The 3 year commitment maintains the City’s eligibility for state funding and grants

- A goal of 109 affordable units between 2027-2029

- Requires a 3% annual increase in affordable housing

- Since 2024, Greeley has received nearly $10M from the state to put towards affordable for sale and rental housing units

- The city reports they have issued on average 243 building permits annually from 2023-2025 for new residential units

- The City had a previous commitment of 629 units from 2024-2026

 

- Item 14: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance vacating a portion of a 20-foot wide public alley right-of-way located in the bounds of 10^(th) and 11^(th) Aves and 9^(th) and 10^(th) Streets

- Basically, the alley will no longer belong to the city as a right-of-way for the various separate properties that were on this block, and instead become land for the Judicial Center

 

- Item 15: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance making assessments against the lots and lands included within Local Improvement District No. 43840 to recover the approved maximum costs of construction for sanitary sewer infrastructure (Johnson Subdivision which is north of 4^(th) Street and West of 35^(th) Ave)

- 38 properties of the subdivision had an estimated maximum cost of $480k for construction of sanitary sewer collection system serving the development (previously they were on private septic)

- Actual cost to the city was $580,857 due to increases in material and rental costs and worse soil conditions than expected

- Each property will be assessed $12,631 once they connect to the city’s sanitary sewer collection system, either by request of property owner “or otherwise required by Greeley Municipal Code”

- Item 16: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance making assessments against the lots and lands included within Local Improvement District No. 9510101 to recover the a costs of construction for non potable water infrastructure (Lake Bluff Non-Potable Pond and Pumpstation)

- Pump station located on the north side of 7^(th) St west of 95^(th) Ave within the new Lake Bluffs Subdivision to serve Lake Bluffs, Poudre Heights, the Cache and “other unnamed future developments)

- $2,233/bulk acre

- Properties must annex to Greeley as a pre-requisite to receive non-potable water service from the city

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 17: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

 

- Item 18: Public hearing and second reading of the ordinance related to Dynamic Braking Devices

- This is your chance to speak if you have a problem with them moving the offense from a mandatory municipal court appearance to a fine

 

- Item 19: Public Hearing and second reading to approve the COP’s for Civic Campus

- McDonald and Olson have already stated they intend to vote no

- The only building being leased is the City Hall that is being built

- COP amount of ~$87.2M, after interest, repayment will be ~$140M

- 2027-2028 Capitalized interest, then from 2029-2031 interest only payments of $4.36M, and $8.4M annually starting 2032

 

- Item 20: Appointments to Boards and Commissions

- Planning Commission- Jeff Carlson (incumbent)

- Housing for All Advisory Board- Manny Puente (still 1 available position)

- UCCC Advisory Board- Daniel Knopf

RECAP: September 1^(st), 2026 Greeley City Council Meeting

Big items to note:

- The sales tax ballot question passed 5-2, with an increase to 0.6% for 40 years from the original proposal of 0.5% for either 20 or 40 years, and was set to include MERGE, Parks and Rec, though council voted to remove MERGE from the question.

- Olson and McDonald stated they will be voting no on COP issuance for Civic Campus, citing community member’s comments about Catalyst timeline and the various points at which they could have chosen to stop spending money. McDonald did say she would like there to be polling on big projects.

- There seemed to be an attempt at taking responsibility for Catalyst by several councilmembers, Hall stated the error was in not explaining a complex issue well, Olson and McDonald acknowledged they committed the “original sin” by voting to issue the COP’s for West Greeley, though Olson stated that residents need to practice humility as well as he wasn’t responsible for Feb 24^(th), McDonald acknowledged that she could have/should have done things on her own to address the communication issues and that she still believes this project is the right way to go, but could have done better communicating, she also stated that she believes people are trying to tank West Greeley because the developer is a Trump supporter and residents are mad at national politics and pointed out that the downtown developer is a Trump supporter also, he is just quieter about it.

- Olson gave a 5 minute speech during Reports from Councilmembers (posted here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BtNcoK38a/)

- There will be a special meeting before the work session, next week 9/8 to discuss the preannexation agreement of Global AI

- 42 community members spoke during public comment with themes of anti and in support of flock cameras, calls for accountability, not wanting sales tax, concerns around annexation of Global AI

 

For full agenda breakdown: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CPLQFprhP/

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/FcJSarE8szs

 

**I have moved the Citizen Input recap to the end of the agenda**

 

*Reports from Council Members

- Olson spoke for 5 minutes stating that he does listen to residents, he just doesn’t agree and that humility goes both ways as he was not a part of February 24^(th) and we need to take accountability for our role also, stated he was part of the “original sin” but we need to solve problems now, stated it is the same people every Tuesday and the people that he talks to, don’t say he isn’t trusted, and that
“we need to find the money, regardless of who caused it [the budget crisis”

- During Olson speaking, two community members yelled and interrupted him while speaking, Mayor Hall gave a warning that with another interruption they would be removed, the one who was yelling out the most stated she would remove herself

- McDonald – stated that “now she didn’t want to talk” but shared updates from the Youth Commission, celebrated UNC’s first night game and invited community, that Weld Project Connect is coming up Oct 15^(th) from 12pm -5pm , encouraging people to be ambassadors for this and volunteer or show up for free services, that Greeley Fire Citizen Academy is coming up Sept 16^(th)-Oct 28^(th), and that there is a community survey on Greeley Fire website, also stated she will be hosting office hours September 12^(th) at Midnight Oil from 10am-12pm

- DeBoutez – Shared that she will have office hours in 2 weeks at Atlas in the evening, also encouraged people to make an appointment any time to talk with her

- Huddleston – celebrated the UNC Bears night game, stated that he visited Star Rise and it is doing amazing things

- Roth – celebrated city staff and discussed the employee appreciation event, celebrated UNC Bears first night game

 

* Consent Agenda: All items passed/none pulled 7-0

 

*Regular Agenda:

NEW- Item 15: Consideration of a resolution to raise the city’s sales and use tax for a period of 40 years for “Capital Projects” – Voted 5-2 to pass

- McBroom stated that since the work session, he has had conversations with “many of the councilmembers” but not all, and that there was more alignment than they thought

- The City attorney initially stated that 0.6% and 40 years “was for the length of bond obligations”, (Civic Campus bonds are 20 years, Catalyst would be 40 so clear that it is for Catalyst) she did later state when Huddleston asked why it was 0.6% instead of 0.5%  that it is what will improve the bond rating for Catalyst

- The city and council stated that money would go to Catalyst COP debt, then to Civic Campus to pay it off sooner, and then to other capital projects, however there is also a sunset clause that says the tax ends once the two major project debts are paid off

- Olson stated that we will cut programs if the tax doesn’t pass, and he wants to allow quality of life and food taxes to cover deferred maintenance rather than going towards COP debt, but questioned why the ballot measure doesn’t specifically state deferred maintenance and the attorney stated it could be new projects as well but that deferred maintenance is covered

- Huddleston shared that update on Civic Campus includes $20M for parking garage that was not accounted for in budget, stated he doesn’t like the tax and wants guardrails

- McDonald stated she was part of the decision to issue the West Greeley COP and that there are things that could have been better and that she should have done something to communicate her position rather than waiting for the city. She stated she writes down every public comment persons names and concerns and follows up on what she is concerned about also. She stated she takes full responsibility for the decisions she has made. She stated that she believes people are fighting back at the local level because they are upset about national politics and that the developer is an outward supporter of Trump and believes that’s why we’re trying to “tank” the project. Stated she wants the oversight committee continue to meet and determine where the tax money goes.

- Rudy stated that a big reason for the change in his vote is that he hadn’t considered the oversight committee’s recommendation, that he doesn’t like taxes other but feels it is the only way to move forward. Stated that after paying off Catalyst we could pay of Civic Campus faster.

- Roth had a prepared speech and stated that he had not taken into account the oversight committee’s recommendation, stated that it was “flawed” how Catalyst was brought forward but that the new City Manager is working on improving things, stated that he knows people are struggling financially but that this is where we are at, and if we don’t do the tax that we will all feel the cuts and that he believes the council is earning trust back by fixing the budget, stated that because deferred maintenance is included also changed his mind,

- Hall stated that his concern was always the short time frame, and that “we did make mistakes in previous years for how to explain a very complicated message” and that he is part of the ownership of that and that they are doing better, and that his mind was changed by realizing he didn’t take into account the Oversight Committee’s recommendation, and that everything he does it about Greeley.

- DeBoutez expressed frustration that the tax is piling things on when it is really for Catalyst and that is why she is voting no

- Council voted to remove MERGE from the covered projects

 

- Item 16 (old item 14): Introduction and First reading of an ordinance to get the COP’s for Civic Campus passed 6-1

- The second reading and public hearing will be at the next city council meeting when they will actually vote on the issuance of COP’s

-  McDonald referenced “a community member” (me), who shared timeline with Catalyst and all the times they could have stopped spending so she is going to decide to stop spending and will vote no on the COP issuance, and that it was a mistake to agree to the PDSA, challenged that we should poll before big projects and to set money aside for this,

- Olson questioned whether funding is secured and staff stated that it was budgeted using food and quality of life tax and that it will be capitalized interest only for 27-28 and interest only through 31, he stated he wants both projects and the tax in order to do both projects, and said he’s heard people saying if you’re digging a hole, quit digging which is why he will vote no

 

- Item 17 (old item 15): Public hearing and resolutions for the Metro District Service Plan and IGA approval for West Greeley Commons Metro District – passed 7-0

 

 

 

 

* Citizen Input

1. Bob Locke-Appreciation of McBroom, stated we're stuck, and there is a need for humility & acknowledgement by council and called on audience to give grace and forgiveness when council takes ownership

2. Steve Black- Public safety concerns, but banning flock is not the answer, need oversight & account- ability, stated body camera's collect more data than flock and that anything can be misused

3. Evon Morales- works in environmental education, discussed budget cuts to natural areas, challenging that they ranked number one in priorities for residents and that we need to protect the investment we’ve made, called on council to think about not where can we make cuts but instead what do we want to be as a community

4. Sandy Elder- flock is needed, and that it may need more regulation but it increases safety

5. Tiffany Simmons- called on council to take ownership, consider resigning and make a commitment to honor vote if they want the sales tax to pass, shared community response that there is not trust in council and people don’t trust the same council that spent the money and made the decisions, to clean up the mess

6. Rhonda Solis- shared “script” of what will follow sales tax passing, calling out expectation that we , trust developer, city, and council that have all betrayed that trust, and shared what to expect from developer and Greeley Forward who will push to make the sales tax happen

7. Larry Rogstead-retired wildlife officer, discussed the importance of natural areas and that they require different things than parks, requested that council consider importance of trails and natural areas in budget decisions

8. Michael Gomez-transit is in disarray, shared that he has never had a car and relies on public transit, shared concerns around Michelle who is running department and that he has heard that she should not be

9. Kathy Hasch- reiterated that people do not want Catalyst and the tax, people can't make ends meet as it is and now we want to ask for more money to continue moving the project forward, asked council to “stop the madness”

10. Rachel Burdan- demanded that council not bring up tax again, that the majority voted down PUD zoning which was a vote against the project, drop tax, asked to let Lind do it himself, and questioned how much is being paid under table, called on council to admit they were wrong

11. Eric Powers-passion for wildlife, shared that climate change effects have been seen through work, shared concerns around natural areas budget cuts, and that we can't let these areas decline or cut them

12. Louise Wilson- shared that residents do not want the data center, and that council has been shady saying that they weren’t working towards annexation when they were, shared concerns of how it will affect the community and wildlife, called on council to “go sell candy bars” or something to raise money

13. Kenneth Howell - revisited CPRD budget proposal (directed to listen to work session at the 3hr18m mark), shared that the museum budget has only grown by 33% (cost of living) which he attributed to part time workers keeping things going, and museums have a total budget of $1.3M, while the CPRD exec team has a budget of $1.2M which has grown by 134% in the same time period, called on council to look at the top for cuts

14. Peggy Sue Squires- stated the city is broken, and we need accountability, question if the shelter closes next month (city said it does not), shared that another unhoused died, also stated that the changes to the bust system have been horrible

15. Ashley Mertz- spoke in support of natural areas and trails, reiterated that they were #I priority for residents based on survey, stated that maintaining habitats and climate resistance is important, discussed that trails and natural areas was already short staffed 1 person per 650acres, meanwhile for parks there are 50 people per 600acres

16. Stacey Graham- stated she has watched council be dismissive of residents, believes flock is a constitutional black hole, that the sales tax was not transparent, especially being added back on last minute, concerns around cuts to services/programs, that we need to care about culture, and that all of this why she decided to run for office and why others are coming for Council’s jobs

17. Steve Steets-data centers moratoriums are happening all around, questioned annexation as Global AI it's in Windsor, it costs money to annex, and it affects water/electricity, shared a letter which he said he will provide to council

18. David Adams-retired PD, supports flock, shared that in past homicides, he believes flock could have helped, shared data only lasts 30 days, and we can see if we've been searched

19. Linda Allure-president of Flight 629 memorial, sent video to council, Nov 1 1955 first confirmed bombing of commercial plane, asked the city to consider supporting the memorial

20. Mary Metzger- discussed the last minute tax, and stated that there will be more suicides if they keep doing the same things they’ve been doing as residents are struggling, and council is not listening, called on everyone to look out for each other

21. Kurt Golder - lives in Windsor, questioned why AI data center has not been transparent, asked questions about safety, utilities, size, not complying with stop work orders, and asked why w/ all these questions still unanswered is Greeley moving forward, called on council to pause and work on safe guards

22. May Monohan- stated she came to thank council for killing tax but now that it's back, questioned when & how it was decided, questioned if open meetings law was violated, stated that we know the tax is about Cascadia, and the Civic Campus was added to stop the other developer from putting money in to fight the tax

23. Karen Scopel-Granddaughter of homesteader, worked 50 years w/ city, has seen that Greeley overcomes, shared that natural areas and trails have positive economic benefits, including slowing runoff, slowing pollution, etc, and that nature should be seen as asset

24. Jim Riesberg- asked council to participate in Greeley Walk's Third Annual Stop Driving Campaign, to see what it's like for those who can't drive, and to work on building a transportation system that works for all

25. Kevin Freestone- stated that council is being dismissive and lacking integrity, stated he has reviewed the flock contract and it doesn’t align with what’s been said, asked that council halt further expansion and review

26. Brandon Wark- read editorial about flock by Boebert, called on council to stop flock, that he believes it’s an 80/20 issue, asked council not to put tax on ballot, that council has lost trust and people already can't afford to live here

27. Steve Dewis- stated that flock helps solve crimes and saves money, stated that technology is always progressing and we have struggled each step of the way, but need to get on board with advances 28. Catching Valentines-flock two camps, some misled about what they do and that database created, other camp you should be fine if not doing anything wrong, get educated consider constitution

28. Spencer Milne- stated that flock cameras don't prevent crime, they only help after something has already happened thanked those councilmembers who have responded to him, while not all have, discussed that we have a right to privacy, and that he did a ride along with GPD but it didn’t change his mind on flock, stated he was told flock is only used in 3-4% of cases and based on FOIA’d information, that the highest use was for traffic enforcement, even though this is a prohibited use  

29. Diego Ruiz- supports flock for public safety, stated that they are in public places and it gives PD a tool, helping them to keep us safer

30. Allison Dunning- stated that council just rejected tax and yet now it is back on the agenda and that if it is earmarked for Catalyst it's a firm no, also stated that Al data centers are a drain on our resources

31. Bobby Shilling- anti flock, shared Supreme court cases and the way in which there was tracking during Covid, stated that freedom is being taken, and requested that the city cease and desist use of flock immediately

33 Bill Gillard-name changes Cascadia/Catalyst designed to be confusing, questioned expanding the tax to more projects, and called on council to let Catalyst tax stand on its own, also stated council needs to apologize and actually share info, and that there needs to be more time between 1st and 2nd readings, and council needs to quit blaming residents

34. Becky Tassone-Flight 629 personal story, memorial being hosted in Firestone, requested that council/the city help support the memorial

35. Andy – stated there is a difference between a domicile and resident, questioned why council is being secretive about Al, and why they are raising tax when we can't afford to live, defended museums, trails, parks and the defunding them hurts our community, requested the city stop flock contract

36. Lisa Bernal – shared that bus route change affects Northridge HS, and that the nearest stop is now 1.5 miles away, stated that these changes become a barrier to engaging in school activities, called on te city to ensure that students have equal access to opportunities and questioned whether student safety or alternatives were considered

37. Sonya Miller- called out council as "blackmail politicians", and directed people to her substack to learn more about the corruption in Greeley and that council should begin repenting for their sins

38. Eli Wilcox- read quote about government being of the people for the people, and that council is ignoring the people and serving their own interests, stated that with Catalyst they created the problem and the tax should not pass to clean it up

39. Frank Freeman – stated that flock violates privacy through ability to see bigger patterns, and that the database is concerning, stated that phones were consented to which flock was not, the decision was made for us, and is not being used to charge us with crimes

40. Kimber Watson- stated that people are not being heard, asked that councilmember DeBoutez get credit for voting against Catalyst, stated we are in an affordability crisis and shouldn’t be asked for more money, stated that flock is racist and is disproportionately having cameras placed in high immigrant communities, also shared anger that David (kid who spoke about museums) was not even acknowledged by council

41. Evan Petersen- stated that flock is unconstitutional, council doesn't care, and that we need to be speaking to each other b/c council not listening

42. Geoffery Havens- discussed the budget proposal by CPRD and the fact that the department had made it’s own recommendations that were never presented, stated that city manager’s office has been made aware as has council so called on them for what they’re going to do now that they know

 

In response to 42 community members speaking, and many people again stating that they do not feel heard, and calling on council to give basic respect and even to just look at them as they speak, concerns around transparency, lost trust, and questions around council motivations, councilmember Olson spoke to residents during reports from council members.

One community member became very upset and continued to yell out at Olson and the council during this, which explains Mayor Hall's response during.

**UPDATED to reflect new Agenda posted Monday evening including SALES TAX and GLOBAL AI PRE ANNEXATION**

AGENDA OVERVIEW: September 1st, 2026 Greeley City Council Meeting
6pm Civic Center South

To attend virtually: https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/

Big items to note:
- The original agenda was pulled this afternoon and a new one was posted at 5:21pm (38 minutes before the deadline to meet the Open Meetings Act) adding two new topics.
- The sales tax is back on the agenda after being shot down last week, and now is an even bigger at a 0.6% ask and includes the MERGE project as well, AND it’s before the vote on the Civic Campus COP’s
- A motion to call a special meeting next Tuesday, September 8th to consider the pre-annexation agreement with Global AI is now on the agenda after the agreement and a letter sent August 27th by the city attorney stating it would be discussed tonight were already filed with Weld County. They were deeply embedded in County documents with an obscure name and odd file type. Also in those documents was a will serve letter from Greeley to Global AI sent August 28th.
- The council will also be voting on the issuance of the COP’s for Civic Campus and formalizing the metro district for West Greeley Project

For full agenda breakdown: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1KdCQMZ13A/
Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/iTO3Gy2UkBI

***Just since I wrote this up, the agenda has been pulled from the portal, I assume to replace with a new one before 6pm per the 24 hour rule for Open Meetings Law to include sales tax and Global AI pre annexation***

September 1st, 2026 6pm City Center South

To attend virtually: https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/

Big items to note:

- While neither are on the agenda, I have heard of two things that may get added before the meeting. To my understanding, by Colorado Open Meetings Law they must post the agenda at least 24 hours in advance. I’m keeping an eye to see if a new agenda suddenly appears:          

- A councilmember was heard saying that the city council would again be discussing the sales tax ballot measure

- Embedded in Weld County records for Global AI’s special use review, was a letter from the City of Greeley’s attorney to Global AI stating that to keep water, they must have a pre annexation agreement, and in an August 27^(th) letter, that this pre annexation agreement would be discussed at the September 1^(st) meeting (also a will serve letter was sent August 28^(th) from Greeley for water)

- The council will also be voting on the issuance of the COP’s for Civic Campus and formalizing the metro district for West Greeley Project

 

For full agenda breakdown: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1KdCQMZ13A/

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/iTO3Gy2UkBI

 

* Proclamations

-  National Preparedness Month

- Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month

- Constitution Week

 

* What’s Great About Greeley

- Greeley received $8.6M in federal funding to support the Gold Hill Pipeline project that connects two water treatment plants that are supplied by five river basins

- Assist Chief Williams from Greeley Fire Department earned Fire Marshall designation

- Alex Grimes, GWHS teacher, was selected as a Future Farmers of America Ambassador]

- Several Greeley athletes who train at the Ice Haus placed at the 2026 Excel National Festival in MA

 

* 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 August 4^(th) Regular Meeting and August 11^(th) Work Session

 

- Item 10: Motion to call Special Work Session on September 11^(th) for budget retreat

- This was already agreed to, this just makes it official

 

- Item 11: Resolution to authorize the city to enter into a contract with Infrastructure Strategies LLC for “project execution advisory services”

- Consultation for the MERGE project, this is an addition to an existing contract

- Services include recommendations, risk summaries, plan of finance, and project status reports

- In the amount of $273K

 

- Item 12: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance to amend city code around use of Dynamic Breaking Devices (“jake brakes”)

- Jake brakes are safety devices installed on large commercial vehicles to assist with stopping but improper use leads to noise complaints, but there are not really safety concerns

- Currently a no-points traffic offense with a mandatory appearance in municipal court

- The requirement for court appearance puts “unnecessary burden for commercial drivers”

- This ordinance would reclassify as a misdemeanor infraction, allowing a fine to be issued without having to appear

 

 

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 13: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

 

- Item 14: Introduction and First reading of an ordinance to get the COP’s for Civic Campus

- These are often on consent agenda unless pulled, so I’m guessing they anticipate discussion, this also could be where the council brings up the sales tax again, but the sales tax couldn’t be voted on at the meeting without formally being on the agenda

- COP’s are not to exceed $95M

- Annual lease payments are expected to be between $4.4M and $8.4M

- Exhibit A that is supposed to have a description of the properties only says “Insert legal description”

 

- Item 15: Public hearing and resolutions for the Metro District Service Plan and IGA approval for West Greeley Commons Metro District

- I will fill this in shortly as I wanted to get the video posted

 

 

Posted by a friend on Facebook, wanted to share here:

Agenda: Weld County Planning Commission

Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 10:00 a.m.

Public Meeting of the Weld County Planning Commission, Weld County Administration Building, Hearing Room, 1150 O Street, Greeley, Colorado.

(I’m only including this portion of the agenda in this post.)

C. Case Number: USR26-0019

Applicant: GlobalAI (Colorado), LLC

Planner: Angela Snyder

Request: Use by Special Review Permit for a Data Center in the I-1 (Light Industrial)

Zone District (amendment to Site Plan Review 3AMSPR19-99-293)

Legal Description: A Tract of land situated in the W1/2 of Section 26, and the E1/2 of Section 27, all in Township 6 North, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County,

Colorado

Location: East of and adjacent to Howard Smith Avenue W; west of and adjacent to

Howard Smith Avenue E; approximately 0.33 miles south of Eastman Park

Drive; approximately 0.8 miles east of State Highway 257.

*There will be public comment allowed.

Tuesday, September 1, the Weld County Planning Commission holds its public hearing on USR26-0019, the Global AI data center permit on the old Kodak site. It's at the Weld County Administration Building, 1150 O Street, Greeley (also live-streamed on the county's website). A second hearing before the Board of County Commissioners follows on September 9.

A few things from the county's own draft approval documents worth knowing beforehand::

Staff is recommending approval. The draft resolution proposes only two real conditions, both about proving water supply before building permits are released NOT before USR approval.

On water:: the county's own paperwork says Greeley's willingness to keep serving this site is contingent on a Greeley City Council vote on their pre-annexation agreement scheduled for the SAME DAY as tomorrow's hearing, September 1.

The Draft Findings and Resolution document by Weld County staff states, "Correspondence received from the Greeley City Attorney's Office on August 27, 2026, stated, 'the pre-annexation agreement has been signed, that there is an annexation petition deadline of March 31, 2027, and that Council will be considering approval of the pre-annexation agreement on September 1, 2026.' The Attorney's Office correspondence indicated a commitment to serve water contingent upon the results of the council meeting September 1, 2026."

(So far this Pre-Annexation Agreement is not on Greeley’s agenda for the Sept. 1 meeting. Let’s see if it pops up at the last minute)

Does the application demonstrate adequate water supply under C.R.S. § 29-20-301? This is a state-law prerequisite for approving a development permit, not a discretionary preference. The Greeley letter (short-term, expiring, now conditioned on an unsigned 438-acre annexation agreement) does not appear to meet the statute's quantity/quality/dependability/availability-through-build-out test.

Looking at the statute's own language, a commitment contingent on a future, not-yet-started annexation conflicts with at least two of the four factors that define "adequate" under § 29-20-302(1):

Dependability. The definition requires the supply be sufficient "in terms of quality, quantity, dependability, and availability." A commitment that only takes effect if a separate, multi-step legal process (annexation) is completed by some future date is, by definition, not yet dependable. Annexation isn't a formality; in Colorado it requires a petition, contiguity findings, a public hearing process, and potentially a council vote, any of which could fail, stall, or be legally challenged. Until that process concludes, the "commitment" is really a conditional promise to make.

I think the county will build a condition into the USR approval tying the permit to Greeley’s water service commitment.

On noise: the draft resolution doesn't hold Global AI to the county's own 65 dB(C) property-line limit. Instead it proposes the facility only has to avoid making noise worse than whatever the already-loud ambient level is nearby. That's a significant loosening of the standard the county adopted just months ago.

The county's own findings put an "isolated residence" about 2,000 feet (.38 of a mile) from the site, closer than the "approximately one mile" the applicant stated in their application. That feels like they are saying it’s only one home so what’s the big deal?

Any future large-scale on-site power plant isn't part of tomorrow's approval. But the draft also doesn't say what kind of review it will get down the road. So they don’t seem to be addressing questions like:

Can a single "Phase 1" segment of a reportedly 100 MW, multi-phase project be evaluated as a one complete application?

How many phases are required to complete a full build-out of the contemplated data center?

Which of the applicant’s materials provided show the impacts of Phase 1 versus Phase 2 and the ultimate data-center project, if any?

How can any project be properly assessed under the Use by Special Review process if only a portion of the project detail is made available to the County and public?

The USR process exists specifically to assess cumulative impact of a more-intensive use. If the Commission can't see the full build-out, how can it make the compatibility findings the code requires?

If this affects you, showing up or submitting written comment to Weld County Planning Services before the hearing is how it gets on the record.

Submit a comment link: https://www.weld.gov/Government/Departments/Planning-and-Development-Services/Planning-and-Zoning/Submit-a-Planning-Question-or-Comment?fbclid=IwY2xjawUCiGpwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMW9oUmRYV2UwNG1KRlNaMldzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeldXtcIAnXTWUlWCevHDTYU096YgXlZA1oBpDOpKlLUl1lqsi3dAwXyoCBJ0_aem_e2kyXCdYwMPPiugLnetosQ

Hello Greeley, here's your agenda overview for the August 25th, 2026 Greeley City Council Work Session.

Council meets at 5pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South. Public comment isn't part of work sessions (that's saved for regular Council meetings), but you can still watch in person or livestreamed on the City's Meeting Portal. https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3364/media

 

Big items to note:

- Council opens this meeting behind closed doors in Executive Session to get legal advice on the proposed tax increase ballot measure, they’ll have a public meeting portion at the end where they will share the final decision around language, whether it will be a 10, 20 or 40 year term, whether it will include both Civic Campus and Catalyst, etc.

- They will be giving both a 2026 Quarter 2 update and a long term financial update. Our expenditures have exceeded revenues since 2022 when there was a big flip flop. Sales tax is down from projections and food tax is less than it was last year (this are taxes from discretionary spending…showing people are spending less as we’re looking at building Catalyst, a project totally based on discretionary spending). However, we have has more revenue from oil and gas, developer fees, and interest earnings, leading to a potential excess in the general fund and overall budget over projections for 2026.

-They are adopting a new comprehensive financial policies document that specifically states that general obligation and revenue bonds should exceed 30 years, nor should they exceed the life of the asset. The 501(c)4 seems to be an interesting side step to this with a 40 year term on the bonds it was expecting to take out which is far beyond the life of an arena. Also, it's interesting to note that revenue bonds like the ones planned for Catalyst have a significantly higher interest rate than general obligation bonds due to the inherent risk involved.

 

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/YRAh-XEuIjk

 

* Agenda Overview

- Item 4: Motion to go into Executive Session to receive legal advice regarding a proposed ballot measure regarding a tax increase

- Item 5: Reports from Mayor and Councilmembers

- Item 6: City of Greeley Audit Presentation to the City Council: Plante Moran

- Item 7: Comprehensive Financial Policies

- Item 8: 2026 Second Quarter Financial Update

- Item 9: Long Range Financial Update

- Item 10: Ballot Measure Follow Up

 

* Item 4: Motion to go into Executive Session to receive legal advice regarding a proposed ballot measure regarding a tax increase

- Before the public part of the meeting even starts, Council will vote to go behind closed doors to get legal advice on a proposed ballot measure that would authorize a tax increase for economic development purposes, specifically tied to the West Greeley and Civic Campus projects

- This is done under state and municipal attorney-client privilege law, so the substance of the advice won't be public

 

* Item 6: City of Greeley Audit Presentation to the City Council: Plante Moran

- The City's outside auditor, Plante Moran, is presenting results of the 2025 Financial Audit and Federal Single Audit

- The City received an unmodified opinion (the highest level of assurance an audit can give)

- General Fund balance is $52.1 million ($38.9 million of that is assigned/unassigned), a decrease of $16 million from 2024

- Water, Sewer, and Stormwater Funds combined have $109 million in unrestricted net position

- In 2025 the City invested $203.5 million into infrastructure, equipment, land, and other capital

- New debt of $115 million was issued in 2025 for the West Greeley development (this is the Catalyst project debt referenced in the ballot measure discussion later on the agenda)

- No significant audit findings, no disagreements with management, and no difficulties encountered during the audit

 

* Item 7: Comprehensive Financial Policies

- Staff is bringing forward a new consolidated financial policy document that rolls the City's various existing financial policies into a single framework as they were previously not in one unified document

- Some interesting things to note:

- It states that “the city shall issue bonds with a maturity not exceeding 30 years of general obligation or revenue bonds but in no case longer that the useful life of the financed asset”

- Mind you Catalyst bonds were set to be 40 years (despite a life span of arenas of 25-30 years – but I’m guessing that because it would be the 501(c)4 officially taking out the bonds, they are using a work around

- The new framework states that COP’s can be used when: there is insufficient funding for a general obligation bond-financed improvement, when urgency precludes waiting for a general obligation election, when the city can leverage third party funding to reduce it’s capital costs, when no other funding source is available or when COP’s are more economical than revenue bonds

 

* Item 8: 2026 Second Quarter Financial Update

- Robert Miller, Division Treasurer, is presenting the financial picture for January 1 through June 30, 2026

- Retail spending in Colorado is up 1.5% so far in 2026; inflation is running 4.2% nationally and 5.0% in Colorado; Weld County unemployment is 4.1%, down from 5.0% a year ago

- Colorado is still projecting a 40% chance of recession

- On the negative side: sales tax revenue is only up 4.3% year-to-date against a budgeted 5.6% increase, and food tax revenue is down 2% from 2025

- On the positive side: new construction fees, oil and gas revenue, and interest earnings are outperforming expectations

- Overall, staff is projecting an $11.7 million positive variance against the 2026 budget citywide, and a $1.8 million positive variance specifically in the General Fund

 

* Item 9: Long Range Financial Update

- Nathan Mosley, Budget and Policy Director, is walking Council through the five-year financial forecast and the approach to the 2027 budget

- The core issue: General Fund expenditures have been trending ahead of revenues, creating what staff calls a structural budget gap

- The 2026 budget leaned on one-time resources to get through the year while the City prepared structural fixes for 2027

- The 2027 budget approach uses target-based budgeting including: limiting hiring, reviewing service levels, and finding efficiencies, with the stated goal of protecting core services while creating a more sustainable budget

- Department budget submissions have already found $16.8 million in reductions, leaving a $1.3 million remaining gap

- No annual salary increases are assumed in the model until 2028, when a 3% increase is assumed

- Staff will also preview the agenda for the September 11th budget retreat

- Key upcoming budget dates: Recommended Budget distributed September 4, Budget Retreat September 11, City Manager's Proposed Budget Presentation October 13, 1st Reading and Public Hearing October 20, and 2nd Reading and adoption November 17

 

* Item 10: Ballot Measure Follow Up

- This is a direct follow-up to the August 11th ballot question discussion, answering questions Council raised that night

- Council was sent two memos ahead of this meeting, one confidential legal memo, and a second with information that is summarized in the public presentation slides

- New detail on the Catalyst project's financial position: $115 million in existing debt ($92 million already spent), with a $7 million annual debt payment if the project does not move forward, or a $12 million Economic Development Payment needed if it does

- Staff says there is no viable financial model for Catalyst without either a private partner or a dedicated tax

- New numbers on how a dedicated tax would affect the City's credit rating:

- A new tax would move the City's rating from "BBB" to at least "A"

- That's estimated to save $5 million a year, or $200 million over a 40-year bond term

- Staff describes this as returning the rating to its "pre-referendum" level

- Without the referendum, the County's rating would have been "AAA"

- On tax term length: a 40-year tax provides the best credit enhancement; shorter terms have considerably less impact. 10- and 20-year terms are now flagged as "not recommended due to market perception issues", a shift from the shorter-term options discussed on August 11th

- New payoff projections based on a 0.5% tax generating $16 million a year:

- 10-year term: total collection of $194.7 million by 2057

- 20-year term: total collection of $412.5 million by 2052

- 40-year term: total collection of $461.5 million by 2050

- Staff also confirmed that private placement of the bonds would not help, and could actually increase the interest rate

- Council is being asked directly: does it want to proceed with a ballot question, and if so, how much, how long, and for what uses? Does Council need additional legal advice before deciding?

 

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