Bonds approved Tuesday mean work to avoid flooding in downtown Greeley is on horizon

By Trenton Sperry

Downtown Greeley is set to be relieved of some of its flooding problems after the city council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve up to $17.5 million in 20-year stormwater bonds to fund improvements along an important drainage corridor.

The bonds are for “costs associated with the construction of various improvements and additions to the stormwater system for … increasing the system’s capacity to safely dispose of storm and flood waters” and for replacing aging stormwater infrastructure, according to city documents. The bonds carry an annual debt service of from $900,000 to $1.6 million, and they will be marketed for sale in mid-March and close April 5.

The bonds represent the second stage of a roughly $81 million, 10-year project to replace the 12th Street outfall, which staff indicated Tuesday has been slated for improvement for years. The project will provide a new, more efficient way for stormwater to move from downtown into the Cache La Poudre River, according to city docs.

“These are some low- and moderate-income homes” that would benefit most from these improvements, said Ward III Councilman Johnny Olson on Tuesday. “If we have a major flood in this area, we’re going to lose some of our most vulnerable populations in the city. It’s important to state that. So, I appreciate these efforts.”

Read more: The City of Greeley approved a plan to fix downtown flooding in 2017. Five years (and two major floods) later, it plans to break ground on the project. Why is it taking so long?

The first stage of the project, funded by stormwater rate revenues, consisted of designing Phase 1 and cost just over $1 million. The bonds approved Tuesday will fund the construction of Phase 1.

Phase 1A of the project works to relocate utility lines along 10th Street near U.S. 85. The $350,000 design of this $4.1 million phase is still ongoing, but construction work is expected to begin in the next couple months and last until late next year.

Phase 1B, which city staff said Tuesday constitutes perhaps the most important and expensive component of the entire $81 million project, is the installation of the new storm outfall next to U.S. 85, which stretches from 12th Street north to the Poudre River. Its design cost the city $700,000, and construction is expected to cost about $12 million. Work is expected to begin on the outfall once utility relocation is complete, and it also is expected to continue through late next year.

The bonds approved Tuesday also will fund the design of Phases 2 and 3 of the project, which city staff plan to begin designing early next year. Phase 2 runs along 12th Street from U.S. 85 west to rail lines near 6th Avenue. Its design is expected to cost about $1 million. Phase 3 is primarily work near the rail lines, and its design is anticipated to cost about $400,000.

The full project, which consists of seven phases, won’t be complete until at least 2032. Another bond issuance of about $21 million is planned for 2025. Those bonds are intended to fund construction of Phases 2 and 3, as well as the design and construction of Phase 4. Stormwater rate revenues are expected to cover the three remaining phases.

To pay back the bonds, the city has raised stormwater rates, and there are several rate increases on the horizon. An 8% rate increase that kicked in this year brought stormwater rates in Greeley to about $12 per month for a single-family home. That still leaves Greeley just behind some of its closest neighbors in stormwater rates; Loveland and Fort Collins have single-family home rates of about $15, and Boulder’s is about $21.

Greeley anticipates raising its stormwater rates another 15% later this year to about $14 per month for a single-family home, though that rate wouldn’t hit bills until 2023. After that, the city aims to increase rates by 18% for 2024, another 18% for 2025, by 10% for 2026, and 8% for every year from 2027-29. 

Greeley has historically lagged behind other communities in terms of stormwater rates, said city staff, and the constant increases will help the city catch up. 

These bonds constitute the latest in tens of millions of dollars of bond issuances by Greeley this year related to water, stormwater and sewer infrastructure, but city Finance Director John Karner said Greeley is in good financial shape, and its debt is far from unmanageable. He noted the city can easily pay more than 1.5 times its annual debt, which he said is a typical target for municipalities. In fact, Greeley is expected to be able to pay more than 3.5 times its debt service this year and about 4.5 times its debt service next year, according to city docs.

Karner also said Greeley has strong credit ratings from Moody’s (Aa2) and S&P (AA+). The S&P rating was reaffirmed within the past couple months. He noted the recent bonds all benefit from repayment coming partially from new water, stormwater and sewer customers during build-outs, which he said is one of the fairest ways for cities to fund infrastructure improvements.

Other things council did recently

• Council, City Manager Raymond Lee III, and city staff spent this weekend working and learning at the city’s annual Strategic Planning Retreat. The conference took place at the Greeley Active Adult Center downtown. According to city docs, “the purpose of this retreat is to enable the city council to identify a long-term direction for the city in the form of a vision, strategic priorities, and operating guidelines.” The sessions ran from 4-10 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Council got a bus tour of the city from 8:30-10 a.m. Saturday.

• Ward I Councilman Tommy Butler noted the Family FunPlex out west and the Recreation Center downtown have different operating hours, especially on weekends, with the FunPlex open longer. He asked for consensus from the council for city staff to look into the costs and feasibility of the Rec Center matching the FunPlex’s hours. Consensus was unanimous, and Mayor John Gates instructed staff to look into the matter.

• Ward II Councilwoman Deb DeBoutez mentioned that the Human Relations Commission is partnering with the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service to host two virtual training programs on engaging and building relationships across ethnic and racial backgrounds within communities. A program focusing on increasing knowledge and understanding of Muslim Americans takes place from 6-8 p.m. March 10. A program focusing on providing practices and tips for engaging with Sikh Americans takes place from 6-8 p.m. March 24. Registration for each program is capped at 50. To register, go to https://bit.ly/3JFfMdO.

• Went into executive session (basically, a meeting of council closed to the public) to conduct routine performance reviews of City Attorney Doug Marek and Municipal Judge Mark Gonzales.

• After an update on the COVID-19 situation in Greeley, in which Emergency Manager Dan Frazen noted case rates and hospitalizations are falling rapidly after the Omicron surge, council agreed to suspend COVID updates for a month unless the situation again deteriorates.

• Appointed Pat Gilliam and Phillip Taylor to the city’s Golf Board. Appointed Kristina Mineo to the Housing Authority Board. Voted to recruit more applicants to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (3 open seats) and the Stormwater Board (2 open seats).