Fort Collins to study power lines further

FORT COLLINS – The Fort Collins City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to have city manager Darin Atteberry and city attorney Steve Roy negotiate with the Platte River Power Authority to postpone construction of a high-power transmission line across the Pine Ridge Natural area, pending further study of the project.

Further study will include “in-depth, data-based analysis and review of the project and its related impacts.” The proposed project would run power lines across 100-foot tall poles, 90 in all, in the natural area. As directed by the motion, further review of the project will include the pros and cons of alternatives, which include burying the lines underground.

Pine Ridge Natural Area is west of Quail Hollow and Spring Canyon Park in west Fort Collins.

The proposed project would put in place the final piece of a power line to supply a substation in Loveland. Two-thirds of the line is complete, and construction on the Pine Ridge section is scheduled to begin in a few months.

Fort Collins owns PRPA jointly with Loveland, Estes Park and Longmont, but Fort Collins’ requests for more research on the project have not been supported by the other owner cities.

If an agreement on the project, which was initially approved in 2006, is not reached by Aug. 26, council will hold a special meeting Aug. 31 to determine whether or not to engage in litigation to stop it.

At Tuesday’s meeting, council also decided to place a proposed ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits on the Nov. 1 ballot. See the Aug. 12 issue of the Business Report for more on this issue.

A scheduled hearing appealing the Planning and Zoning Board’s approval of the most recent iteration of The Grove, a proposed student housing project south of the Colorado State University campus, was postponed until Aug. 23.