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Thank you for your interest in an issue that is so deeply important to the future of Golden: what to do about the proposed Jefferson Parkway. We have created a brief, non-scientific survey to solicit the opinions of Golden residents regarding the risks and trade-offs of a possible Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that the City of Golden could sign with the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority. Citizens for Golden, a non-partisan group of residents committed to fostering an open and actively engaged community, is not adopting a position statement about the decision itself. We do, however, advocate careful analysis of the risks on both sides of this decision.
Background
Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority (JPPHA), a consortium representing the governments of Arvada, Broomfield, and Jefferson County, has long pursued a way to build a multilane tollroad through the northwest quadrant of the Denver metro area — an idea we have sometimes discussed in Golden as "the beltway" proposal. In the current version of the JPPHA's proposal, the tollroad would have to pass through a right-of-way along the eastern edge of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, and the JPPHA has submitted a bid to buy the right-of-way. The Fish and Wildlife Service is under legal obligation to sell this right-of-way for "regional transportation purposes."
Earlier this year, the City of Golden submitted its own proposal to use the right-of-way for a bike path. The Fish and Wildlife Service will soon announce the results of their environmental assessment of the selling of the right-of-way and their selection of either the JPPHA or the Golden bid.
If the right-of-way is sold to the JPPHA as expected, Golden and other municipal and citizen entities are very likely to challenge the environmental assessment in court. This timing has prompted the JPPHA to offer a new package of concessions to the City of Golden in exchange for Golden's agreement not to sue to stop the right-of-way transfer and withdraw its competing bid for the right-of-way. The City Council must vote to accept or reject this latest offer before the offer expires at the end of the year.
This is the second offer Golden has received from the JPPHA. An earlier offer prompted the City Council to seek input from the community about our desires regarding the the Jefferson Parkway: accept an offer for some money to invest in local transportation infrastructure improvements, keep negotiating for greater concessions, or litigate to stop the JPPHA proposal from being permitted.
After multiple public meetings and thousands of citizen comments, the City Council opted for a combination: the Council laid out specific criteria that any agreement would need to meet, and Mayor Smith and City Manager Mike Bestor, as the official negotiators for the city, were instructed to begin preparation for possible litigation. Since then, negotiations have continued while the city has set itself up through the Fish and Wildlife Service's environmental assessment process to be in position to file a lawsuit. On Thursday, December 8th, parties announced that a tentative agreement had been reached on terms for an intergovernmental agreement, with the details to be made publicly available as soon as the attorneys for all entities finalized all details of the agreement. If Golden accepts the terms of the agreement, it will be agreeing not to file a lawsuit over the Fish and Wildlife Service decision.
[We will post the full text of the proposed Intergovernmental Agreement on this website when it is released.]
Your voice is needed. Please take action (click on the following links):
Attend the City Council meeting on Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Contact City Council
For more information:
City of Golden website (Note: some information about the "new package of concessions" referenced above can be found here)
Mayor Jacob Smith's Update
Mayor-Elect Marjorie Sloan's comment: South Golden Reader
Ward 3 Councilor Bill Fisher's comment
PLAN Jeffco
CINQ website
Press release from Fish and Wildlife Service - Dec 14, 2011
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