HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Town Board Study Session 2024-09-10RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Town ofEstes Park, Larimer County, Colorado September 10, 2024
Minutes of a Study Session meeting of the TOWN BOARD of the Town of
Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held at Town Hall in the
Board Room in said Town of Estes Park on the 10th day of September,
2024.
Board: Mayor Hall, Mayor Pro Tem Cenac, Trustees Brown,
Hazelton, Igel, Lancaster, and Younglund
Attending: Mayor Hall, Trustees Brown, Hazelton, Igel, Lancaster, and
Younglund
Also Attending: Town Administrator Machalek, Deputy Town Administrator
Damweber, Town Attorney Kramer, and Town Clerk
Williamson
Absent: Mayor Pro Tem Cenac
Mayor Hall called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m.
PROJECT SCOPING FOR CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS ON THE BIG THOMPSON
RIVER AND FALL RIVER. Engineer Waters provided a brief overview of the scoping
project study conducted by GEI funded through the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)
program grant to secure a future Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
(BRIC) grant program. The program aims to reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive
flood damage to buildings and structures insurable under the National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP). The study contemplates capacity improvements to include channel
widening and/or deepening in the Big Thompson River and Fall River, as well as
replacement of the Rockwell and Riverside bridges. The scoping study would provide
the Town with a technical report and 30% design drawings to be submitted with an
application for a construction grant with the Town Board's direction.
Michael Scurlock/GEI River Mechanics Engineer presented the Big Thompson River
and Fall River Capacity Improvement Study that included the existing flooding
conditions, project goals and objectives, preferred channel alternative, design
opportunities, and constraints and considerations. The current W. Elkhorn, Moraine
Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Rockwell Street Bridges incur flood recurrence between
15-to-25-year intervals. The project goals would include mitigating flood hazard risk by
decreasing depth and frequency of flood events, reduce property damage, and improve
public safety to address a 100-year flood. The project area impacts two flooding
sources (Big Thompson and Fall Rivers), three road bridges, five pedestrian bridges
and affects 70 property owners. The preferred alternative would increase bridge
capacity through channel regrading which would drop the grade by approximately 10
feet and provide necessary clearance from Moraine to Hwy 36. The next phase of the
project would address W. Elkhorn Avenue. The project has design opportunities such
as trails and circulation with a bike path and walkway, river access and recreation
through George Hix Plaza and confluence area with the loose of approximately 20
parking spaces, and increase ecological sustainability and function with aquatic and
overbank habitat with natural materials. There would be a number of design
considerations for the preservation of existing character and mature vegetation, sewer
rerouting or upgrading, impacts of the construction and the duration of the project. The
benefit cost analysis (BCA) indicates $30 million for the channel and bridge construction
with a 25% match for BRIC grants. The environmental and historic preservation (EHP)
component was submitted in July 2024 and remains under review.
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Town Board Study Session - September 10, 2024 - Page 2
Board comments and questions have been summarized: questioned what flow
calculations were used for the scoping project, raised concerns with the removal of
parking spaces, should we sacrifice commerce for recreation, questioned the timeline
for the project, questioned if the Ivy bridge and Loop construction has been factored into
the design, questioned how natural the river channels are and how much the river
channels have been altered, concerns were raised that flooding would continue to occur
down Elkhorn Avenue, the bike path would be beneficial and would be a safer method
for getting through downtown, raised concerns with the replacement of the Riverside
bridge due to all outbound traffic now flows over the bridge, questioned if the project
would impact the flood insurance for the properties in the area, the recreational activities
would be nice but may not be beneficial, and a discussion at a future study session on
the overall impacts of the project and next steps for additional projects would staff
provide additional context for the current scoping.
POLICE GOVERNANCE FINAL OVERVIEW.
Town Administrator Machalek requested Board comments on the policy revisions before
the policy comes forward to a future meeting for approval. Trustee Lancaster stated
agenda 1.8.4 could be moved to section 2.3 rather than being removed.
FUTURE STUDY SESSION AGENDA ITEMS.
Trustee Younglund requested a discussion on the hiring process to fill the Visit Estes
Park Executive Director position. She commented on the effort to use historical photos
to wrap items in such as trash cans and utility boxes and Yellowstone communities.
She questioned the cost and the possibility of adding it to the budget for 2025. Town
Administrator Machalek reminded the Board that any new initiatives would need to be
discussed as amendments to the 2025 Strategic Plan. Trustee Lancaster stated the
wraps could be completed through a sponsorship program.
Town Administrator Machalek requested and it was approved to add Water 102 and
Hosted Short Term Rentals to approved/unscheduled.
COMMENTS & QUESTIONS.
None.
There being no further business, Mayor Hall adjourned the meeting at 6:54 p.m.
;kie Williamson, Town Clerk