So, you thought the debate over a clean coal technology at the aging power plant in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs was over?

Think again.

Four City Council members Monday were granted a special meeting to get public input on plans to install so-called scrubber technology at the coal-fired Martin Drake Power Plant, which is owned by the city.

The four council members — Angela Dougan, Tim Leigh, Brandy Williams and Val Snider — requested the special meeting in their role as members of the Colorado Springs Utilities Board.

The board oversees Colorado Springs Utilities, a $1.1 billion, four-service utility owned by the city.

“At the end of the day, with any issue that is this large and important for the city, the citizens have a right to be heard,” Leigh said. “This is not one of those quick Utilities Board process decisions. This needs to be fully vetted across the aisle,” he said. “Everybody should weigh in on this.”

Other agenda items of the special Sept. 26 meeting include:

• Discussing future agreements and the existing $73.5 million contract between Springs Utilities and Neumann Systems Group, which invented the emissions-control technology.

• Discussing whether to move the technology to the Ray Nixon Power Plant, another city-owned coal-fired power plant about 17 miles south of Colorado Springs.

• Discussing the future of the Drake power plant “with the inclusion of data from industry experts” outside Springs Utilities.

• Community input not only on the Neumann scrubbers but on the future of Drake.

• A closed executive session “for the purposes of receiving legal advice from the city attorney with regard to Neumann and options for Martin Drake.”

The request for a special meeting is the latest twist involving the downtown power plant and the Neumann technology.

In July, Dougan and Williams voted to conduct a study to examine decommissioning the power plant. The board was considering moving the technology to the Nixon power plant. But the majority of the board opted to move forward with plans to install the technology at Drake and wait to conduct the decommissioning study next year.

Then last month, several people showed up to a utility board meeting and asked the board to reconsider its decision. Leigh and Snider said they were willing to reconsider, but remained in the minority.

At the time, board members thought they needed five votes to call a special meeting.

It turns out they only need three.

“We went back, and I reread the bylaws,” Dougan said.

Dougan said the primary purpose of the special meeting is to involve the community in the conversation.

“I’m really hoping my fellow board members will listen to the community, will listen to both sides,” she said.

“I think the people deserve a conversation, just like Memorial,” she said, referring to city-owned Memorial Health System, which voters leased to University of Colorado Health last month. “We need to look at all the options and how we’re going to move forward.”

Williams said the future of the city — and millions of ratepayer dollars — are at stake.

“This conversation is about the future of our community,” Williams said. “Are we ready to create a vibrant downtown that we can all be proud of?”

The four votes got them a meeting to talk about the power plant’s future, but changing that future will be tougher. Any decision on Martin Drake would take five votes.

Four City Council members Monday were granted a special meeting to get public input on plans to install so-called scrubber technology at the coal-fired Martin Drake Power Plant, which is owned by the city. (Gazette file) Photo by