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Home My WebLink AboutPACKET Special Town Board Joint Study Session Estes Park School District Board of Education 2025-09-09 Informal discussion among Trustees and staff concerning agenda items or other Town matters may occur before this meeting at approximately 3:15 p.m. Special Joint Study Session between the Town Board of Trustees and the Estes Park School District Board of Education September 9, 2025 from 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Town Hall Board Room, 170 MacGregor Ave, Estes Park Accessibility Statement The Town of Estes Park is committed to providing equitable access to our services. Contact us if you need any assistance accessing material at 970-577-4777 or townclerk@estes.org. Meeting Participation This meeting will be streamed live & available on the Town YouTube page. Click on the following link for more information on Digital Accessibility. Public comment Public comments are not typically heard at Study Sessions, but may be allowed by the Mayor with agreement of a majority of the Board. Agenda 3:30 p.m. Discussion on a Proposal for a Land Exchange between the School District and Town for the Purposes of Constructing a New Police Department Facility Presented by Town Administrator Machalek and Deputy Town Administrator Damweber JOINT MEETING: TOWN BOARD/SCHOOL DISTRICT LAND SWAP PROPOSAL SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 AGENDA •Meeting Norms •Overview of Proposal •Q&A •Next Steps? Meeting Norms •Come with an open mind •Assume everyone is here with good intentions •Respect each other’s time •Be transparent •Ask questions NEW POLICE FACILITY: THE NEED •Moved into current location in 1974 (51 years ago) into a disconnected, retrofitted portion of a former elementary school build in 1934 (91 year ago). •Police Department space is beyond its useful life. •Critically undersized - dedicated space is approximately 7,000 sq. ft.; across town facilities uses approximately 13,000 sq. ft. •Key deficiencies – no secure parking segregated from tourists / visitors; inadequate physical controls for safely transferring arrestees from vehicles to holding cells (sally port); inadequate secure and integrated evidence storage; lack of emergency operations center integration; lack of communications center integration. •Town Facilities Master Plan (2022): “Entirely inadequate. The department has been shoe -horned into a space that jeopardizes the Police Department’s ability to respond to emergencies to keep officers, staff and residents safe.” SITE REVIEW CRITERIA •Central location that optimizes response to critical infrastructure such as schools, special events, and downtown •Provide safe and secure facility with public and secure separations for both the building and the site •Operational Suitability : Site visibility; Vehicular Circulation; Emergency Response Times; Future Expansion •Site & Environmental Characteristics : Zoning & Land Use; Topography & Geotechnical; Utilities; Site Considerations; Surround Site Uses •Public Access : Public Accessibility; Public Perception •Financial & Logistical Feasibility : Acquisition Costs; Acquisition Difficulty; Acquisition Timeline; Infrastructure Costs “TOP FIELD” PROPOSAL OVERVIEW •Delivered to Superintendent Bode on July 23 (Town staff previously met with School Board in May); discussed by School Board at their Aug. 11 meeting. •Precipitated by previous discussions related to potential shared space for other municipal/school functions and the work of the Long Range Planning Committee. •The Town proposes to exchange three acres of District -owned property known as Top Field (Parcel A), located at the northeast corner of Community Drive and Brodie Avenue, for Town -owned property (Parcel B) of comparable size and value on Manford Avenue. •Parcel B includes the Town-owned land upon which the District’s CTE building is located and is adjacent to the District’s practice field. •This option would ensure that the District retains its current total acreage and contiguous property while enabling the Town to proceed with the construction of a new Police Department facility. PROPOSAL CONSIDERATIONS •With the assistance of an architectural consulting firm (Infusion Architects), the Town has thoroughly evaluated over a dozen possible sites, including property owned by the Town, property owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, commercial properties currently on the market, and others. •Top Field (Parcel A) was identified as the best and most viable option primarily due to its ideal location, size, and possibility to swap for a similarly situated parcel adjacent to School property, a portion of which the School is leasing from the Town. •Would leave room for playground to be relocated closer to the school. POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SCHOOL/COMMUNITY •Enhanced security for students, faculty, and staff •Response time / Deterrence •Opportunity to address traffic issues •Move playground closer to school building •Relationship building opportunities CONCERNS/QUESTIONS •Timing relative to School’s Master Planning process •Existing leases (CTE Building / Bike track) •Deed restrictions on Stanley property •Liability for bike track property •Traffic during drop -off and pick -up •Other possible uses for Top Field (housing for teachers?) •Noise from sirens •Safety concerns (arrests, sex offender registry, emergency vehicles responding to calls, etc.) •Other? STANLEY PARK/ SANBORN PROPERTY Stanley Deed Restriction Applicability •Southern portion of parcel (below baseball fields) is NOT subject to deed restriction •Town previously took legal action to quiet deed restriction on southern parcel Recreation District – Stanley Park Lease •27 acres •Expires in 2029 School District – Career & Technical Education (CTE) Lease •Executed in 2019 – no lease fee (free) •Two 25 -year terms renewable at School District sole discretion Deed Restricted NOT Deed Restricted DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NEXT STEPS? Police Relocation Proposal I am unhappy about the process that has been followed for the property acquision for a new Police Staon. There has been no public foundaonal discussion about needs and numbers that have led to the land swap proposal. The ﬁrst informaon the public has been made aware of is a request for three acres of School property in trade for three acres for Stanley Park recreaon property. As a town resident I can only assume that there is substanal supporng jusﬁcaon for this three-acre property swap request, but nothing has been shared with the public. I am admi$edly a numbers guy, so I will provide some thoughts related to the three-acre police facility request. The current police facility, including vehicle parking, occupies about 2/3 of an acre total for the building, 30 parking spaces for police vehicles and another 20 for staﬀ. From an area perspecve, a request for three-acres is 4.5 mes as large as the current police facility. I concur that the police facility is currently inadequate, but increasing by 450% seems a bit excessive. To get a good “feel” on how large an area might be appropriate, considering some comparable exisng sites might be helpful. If the U.S. Bank property, immediately east of Town Hall, magically became available, would that be adequate for a new police facility? Public comment received 2025-09-07 I can imagine this property being more than adequate with plenty of new oﬃces, conference rooms, cells, sally port, etc. for the foreseeable future police needs. To my mind, this one-and-a-half-acre property would be more than enough. The property is not available, but it provides a good conceptual example of what a 1.5-acre parcel can accommodate. What can be put on a three-acre parcel. Here is an example. The whole Town Building including exisng police facilies ﬁt on slightly more than three-acres and has plenty of room for 100 public parking spaces. So, am I to assume that the police force is envisioned to become equal to the size of the current town administrave staﬀ? No one has shared how the request for a three-acre School parcel was jusﬁed. In our limited valley, 3-acres seems excessive. The three-acre “Top Field” request is NOT unused land, my grandson uses the Top Field playground every school day and for a;er-school acvies also. The three-acre Stanley Park property oﬀered in trade is NOT unused town property, it is the only bicycle recreaon facility in the valley. The baseball ﬁeld at Stanley Park is about three-acres, maybe the Town should trade the baseball ﬁeld to the school district instead of the Bike Park. If a smaller parcel is determined to be adequate for development of a new expanded Police Facility there are number of possible alternave sites that warrant invesgang. I am serious in suggesng a small (<2%) change in the 18-hole golf course to provide land for a new police facility. According to the “American Society of Golf Course Architects” a full-size par-72 golf course should be between 120-200 acres. At 180 acres, our 18-hole golf course has acreage to spare. There is 1.5-acres of vacant land near to the schools, has it been considered? There appears to be adequate land on the fairgrounds or event center property to house a new Police Staon. Bureau land next to the Fire Staon could house a new Police Staon. I hope there is some secret document that has looked at these other alternaves and more. I would hate to think that this proposal was developed with no in-depth deliberaon including numerous alternaves considered with pros and cons for all. Todd Plummer 556 Aspen Ave Estes Park, CO 80517