Hi neighbors! In last Monday night’s Town Board Meeting, we heard a presentation from ACES with their final Energy Action Plan and a recommendation for the Town Sustainability Mission & Vision; heard a presentation on construction progress in Downtown Superior; heard an update from Better City on recent economic development activities; did our quarterly round of interviews for vacancies on our citizen-led Advisory committees; discussed a recommendation from the Transportation and Safety Committee to lower the speed limit for residential streets from 25mph to 20mph; and passed an ordinance to allow ADUs on residential lots. Ready to find out more on what happened? As usual, you may read this post in written form, subscribe to the Laura for Superior podcast, or scroll to the bottom for a video recap.

Disclaimer: While I do my best to represent an honest and accurate portrayal of meetings and events, the following should be considered an editorial that represents one person’s interpretation. At the request of my fellow Board members, I am keeping their points anonymous. For the most unbiased and complete information, I encourage residents to watch the meeting video and draw their own conclusions – visit the town website at SuperiorColorado.gov for the official meeting video and meeting minutes.

Item 2D – Board Reports

During Board reports, Trustee Tim Howard mentioned that he is working with Town Manager Matt Magley to see if 1500 Coalton Road can be used as a COVID19 vaccine site. Additionally, Trustee Paige Henchen mentioned that the PARC Advisory Committee (formerly PROSTAC) will be working to bring back Mutton Mowers this year. I can’t wait for Vinny and the goats!

Item 2Fi – Presentation – ACES Energy Action Plan & Sustainability Mission and Vision

First on the agenda, we heard a presentation from ACES (the Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability) with their final Energy Action Plan and a recommendation for the Town Sustainability Mission & Vision, drafts of which we reviewed at our January 11 meeting. After receiving positive feedback from the Board, we agreed to put these on the consent agenda for February 8 for formal adoption.

Item 2Fii – Presentation – Downtown Superior Update

Next, we heard a presentation from Bill Jencks on construction progress in Downtown Superior. You may click through to the presentation for full details, but I’ll quickly recap the update on the commercial space, which I know is what many residents are eager to see. Blocks 2, 5, and 8 (flex space / commercial) still do not have FDPs in process but Mr. Jencks said he hopes to bring them to the Board this year. As for the commercial core (blocks 6 and 7), Morgan-Ranch received approval of their FDP for their Main Street project in 2019; however, Morgan-Ranch recently closed on the sale of this project to Carmel Partners. Jeff Haag from Carmel Partners was in attendance and said he hopes to begin construction this year, and they aren’t seeking any changes to the already-approved FDP. Mr. Haag estimated 12-24 months for the complete construction of the entire project – so you can expect to see that commercial core completed in 2023. Morgan-Ranch and Carmel Partners are also planning to start an email newsletter with regular updates to current Downtown Superior residents, to help residents stay abreast of progress.

Item 2Fiii – Presentation – Economic Development Update

For our second presentation, Trina Rivera and Adam Hughes of Better City (our hired economic development consultancy) provided an update on recent economic development activities (presentation slides linked here). In recruiting businesses to come to Superior, Mr. Hughes reported that some of Superior’s strengths include the education and talent of our population, the business climate in Colorado being better than other states (like California), and the walkable environment being created in Downtown Superior. When asked how that distinguishes us from other communities in the area, Mr. Hughes said that he echoed comments by some of the Trustees over the past two years that we ought to work on branding our town so we are known as a great place to have a business.

Item 3 – Committee Interviews

Next, our Board did our quarterly round of interviews for vacancies on our citizen-led Advisory committees. We interviewed five applicants (Laurence Rose, Bryan Kinderman, Amanda O’Hagan, Jason Serbu, and Jennifer Kaaoush) for two vacancies on our Planning Commission; two applicants (Miles Hoffman and Lauren Wheeler) for two vacancies on ACES; two applicants (Michael Dempsey and Andrea Golod) for one vacancy on our Cultural Arts & Public Spaces Advisory Committee (CAPS); and two applicants (Michael McDonnell and Amber Greves) for one vacancy on our Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC).

Item 4 – Consent Agenda

Next, our Board unanimously passed the consent agenda – including meeting minutes; a resolution appointing the newly elected Board members as directors for Superior Metro District 1 and the Superior McCaslin Interchange Metropolitan District; a fourth quarter financial review; and an ordinance raising the age to 21 for people to enter a cigar-tobacco bar.

Item 4E, an Agreement with Mile High Flood District for final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction of drainage and flood control improvements for Coal Creek from 2nd Avenue to McCaslin Boulevard, was pulled for discussion. In the past, there was public outcry when we removed longstanding cottonwood trees from this area; Public Works Director Alex Ariniello assured the Board that there would be great care not to remove any trees unnecessarily. This then passed unanimously.

Item 4G, an Agreement with Better City, LLC for economic development support services, was also pulled for discussion. The Town is hiring a full time Economic Development Manager, so there were some questions about the division of work between the full time staff member and the consultants, particularly since Better City’s scope of services for 2021 will include assisting the Economic Development Manager. This ultimately passed unanimously.

Item 5 – “Twenty is Plenty” Ordinance

We discussed a recommendation from the Transportation and Safety Committee (TSC) to lower the speed limit for residential streets from 25mph to 20mph. However, there was some debate of whether this would be effective – given that our challenge right now is not people going 23mph, but those already exceeding the limit and going 30 or even 35mph. Personally, I think that rather than spending money on erecting signs with the new speed limits, we should use that money to pay for enforcing the limits we already have – perhaps ticketing offenders a few days a month at random, whether through an extra officer on staff or via electronic means (e.g., radar / speed cameras). Unfortunately, our Boulder County Sheriff, Sergeant Troy Wolf, was unable to be at this meeting, so we sent this back to the TSC to get further feedback from Sergeant Wolf.

Item 6 – Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance

Finally, we considered an ordinance to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), not to exceed 800 square feet, on residential lots. The ordinance requires at least one parking space per ADU, a 3 person maximum occupancy for the ADU, and owner occupancy of either the primary dwelling or the ADU; there would also be a deed restriction to ensure that ADUs are not sold separately from primary residences. In addition to being an affordable housing tool, ADUs can be opportunities to allow existing residents to age in place and downsize without relocating. This ordinance passed unanimously.

Wrap Up

Thank you so much for taking the time to read / listen to this recap – I hope it is helpful! Our Board is always open to hearing your comments, questions, and concerns – you may always email your feedback to townboard@superiorcolorado.gov, or to me specifically at lauras@superiorcolorado.gov. As a reminder, any messages sent to a government email are part of the public record and will have your name attached; if you feel the need to write in anonymously, you may always comment at the bottom of my blog post recaps.