There will be no Colorado Springs bond election in April for capital improvement projects.

Instead, the City Council made a promise to residents that it will spend $19 million a year from the city’s general fund and Colorado Springs Utilities on stormwater projects.

It was the City Council’s final word on a monthslong campaign by Mayor Steve Bach, who needed council support to get a $160 million bond issue on the April 7 ballot.

The council seemed more inclined to wait for the new mayor to develop a capital improvement funding plan. Bach announced in December that he will not seek a second term.

The council voted 7-2 against putting the mayor’s bond proposal on the ballot. Councilmen Merv Bennett and Larry Bagley voted in favor of putting the question to voters.

Bach’s chief of staff, Steve Cox, and five other city officials, including Police Chief Pete Carey and Fire Chief Christopher Riley, told council members Tuesday that the city is in dire need of infrastructure improvement and they urged the council to put the bond question to voters.

“I have heard a lot of discussion in the last couple of weeks about stormwater and streets,” Carey said. “What I have not heard is a discussion about public safety – the needs are critical and are not going away.”

Carey and Riley described millions of dollars in backlogged public safety needs. The mayor’s plan would have spent $20 million on public safety facilities over five years.

Others testified in favor of asking voters for the bond election, including Susan Davies from the Trails and Open Space Coalition, John Cassiani from Colorado Springs Forward and Barry Freeman from the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association.

“We cannot delay the infrastructure needs in our city,” said John Hawk, president of the Guardians of Palmer Park.

“We have 780 acres of heaven in our city, and it is in need of repairs,” Hawk said about Palmer Park.

Under the mayor’s bond proposal, $10 million over five years would have been spent on city parks.

Councilwoman Jill Gaebler asked the council to consider an alternative to the mayor’s proposal: a $160 million bond issue that earmarked more money for stormwater projects and less for street improvement. That alternative also was turned down.

A majority of the council expressed concern about going into debt for 20 years to pay for the 70 projects, which would have been completed in five years. Councilwoman Helen Collins put it like this: “If you have a budget and you run out of money, you don’t use your credit card.”

Councilwoman Jan Martin shared those concerns and Monday proposed a spending plan for stormwater projects. She called it “pay as we go” and said instead of earmarking $8 million a year from the city’s general fund to pay off the bonds, the city should spend that money on stormwater projects. That 
$8 million, with the $8 million already set aside for stormwater projects and $3 million from Colorado Springs Utilities would funnel $19 million a year to stormwater projects, she said. Her resolution outlining the spending plan was approved 8-1, with Collins voting against it.

The new mayor, citizens and council will need to figure out how to fund the rest of the capital improvement needs, Martin said.

Martin and the council members who voted in favor of her plan are hopeful the public promise will satisfy the concerns of those living downstream. In November, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District sent a letter of intent to sue Colorado Springs for its lack of a permanent stormwater funding program.

The water district’s letter came after local voters defeated a proposal that would have set up a regional stormwater authority and collected fees from all property owners. The plan, which Bach opposed and wrote a proclamation against, would have collected $40 million a year for stormwater projects.

Bach did not testify on behalf of his bond proposal at the City Council meeting. He did issue a statement after the vote:

“Council’s efforts to address our urgent stormwater needs are commendable.

“However, this solution doesn’t address our backlogged infrastructure in neighborhood streets, public safety facilities and parks infrastructure needs as a whole and will make it more challenging and expensive to catch up on our backlogged infrastructure and hinder our economic development opportunities.”

City Council did not pass a $160 million bond plan resolution for capital improvements Tuesday, January 27, 2015, keeping the issue from voters in the April election. However, City Council did approve a resolution to spend $19 million on stormwater projects each year. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette

Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette