Greeley mayor lauds bold, transformative developments

GREELEY — In his last State of the City address, Greeley mayor John Gates highlighted the many “bold and transformative” projects the city is working on this year, from revamping the Cache la Poudre River to the north to the Cascadia hotel and arena project out west and a complete rewrite of the city’s historic core.

In an hourlong presentation highlighting the many projects within the city, Gates  detailed a Greeley on the very edge of unbridled opportunity, one that the city has pursued relentlessly rather than waiting for it to happen.

“Can you feel the momentum we’re building in Greeley?” Gates asked the packed auditorium at the Aims Community College Welcome Center on Thursday. “Greeley is transforming before our eyes, block by block, project by project. And we’re just getting started.”

The projects included:

• The city’s new 978-acre Arroyo del Sol natural area on the west end.
• The proposed Cascadia center, a $1.1 billion project that could be an entertainment and sports mecca for years to come, although the city council has yet to vote on it.
• Creating a new business incubator program to help local entrepreneurs.
• Improving Lincoln Park in downtown Greeley.
• Bringing in affordable housing for all income levels.

Gates said the city is looking to enhance its response to residents by launching “a new customer service experience,” in which residents will see faster response times on all of their dealings with the city.

“We’ll launch a new website this summer, and in expanding our commitment to customer service, we are exploring a call center as well,” Gates said.

The presentation was replete with videos detailing many of the city’s core values, Gates listed the many accomplishments from shooting up to 93 from 48 on a list of the nation’s top performing cities, having a school district with an 87.3% graduation rate, and well above the state average, as well as earning millions in grants and funding for transportation projects and helping the homeless gain housing.

Last fall, Greeley voters approved using existing sales dollars to fund improvements to the intersections of 35th and 47th avenues on U.S. Highway 34, a project dubbed “Merge.” While the city will use existing sales taxes to fund the reconstruction of the intersections so they won’t even have stop lights, they also received $50 million in federal grants to get the job done.

“A huge shout-out to the voters for passing issue 2M,” Gates said, “Yes, folks it’s going to happen. We’re able to do it without raising your taxes. Merge is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects yet.”

The shout-outs continued to city staff, first responders and, finally, residents.

“The initiative we talked about tonight, many of these projects I’ve shared began with your ideas. Your voices shape Greeley and remain the heart of our vision for the future,” Gates said. “With your help building a future where opportunity is in abundance, where quality jobs create economic stability. Reflecting on my seven years as mayor, I’m deeply proud and inspired by the road ahead and empowered by the hard work and matched in the spirit of our people. Together we’re building something extraordinary.”

on Facebook on LinkedIn