Greeley officials vote in favor of West Greeley GIDs

GREELEY — City Council members gave initial approval Tuesday evening to two new general improvement districts for West Greeley project infrastructure that could serve the proposed $1.1 billion Catalyst development in the future.

The vote was 4-2 in favor, with Councilmembers Tommy Butler and Deb DeBoutez the two dissenting votes.

The proposed entertainment district project could include a hockey arena where the Colorado Eagles would play, an indoor water park and a hotel in an area between Weld County Road 17 and 131st Avenue along U.S. Highway 34. The larger Cascadia project also could include more than 6,000 units of housing, a plaza for restaurants, retail and community events and other outdoor recreation amenities.

Butler and DeBoutez voted against both improvement district measures and asked if the City Council should wait to see what might happen with a related citizen petition process going on with the group Greeley Deserves Better. The group is gathering signatures to put a measure on the November ballot to ask voters to approve overall financing for the project, with a deadline for submittal by Wednesday, Aug. 6.

“I think it’s premature to do this,” Butler said Tuesday evening. “(We need to) wait for the election to see what our city wants to do.”

General improvement districts are tax-financing tools that in this case would be used to pay for infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, water and sewer. 

Also at the meeting,10 people spoke against the proposed development, and 1 person spoke for it. 

Greeley residents are watching carefully and could vote for new council members in November, said Pam Bricker, the former executive director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority and a founding member of the Greeley Creative District.

The City Council voted to annex two properties that would be part of Cascadia, including a 219-acre piece of land known as the Schmerge Annexation, which is generally east of Weld County Road 17, north of Weld County Road 60 and west of Colorado Highway 257. The council also annexed 73 acres known as the Kinnison Annexation, which is generally east of 131st Avenue, north of U.S. 34 and west of Colo. 257.  

The general improvement district measure is expected to come back to the City Council for final approval on Aug. 19, according to city documents. The Catalyst financing plan, approved by the City Council in May, relies on certificates of participation, or COPs, to fund an initial $115 million for design and infrastructure. The COPs essentially lease 46 city-owned buildings — including City Hall — to Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation as collateral. The buildings would function as normal until the certificates are repaid in 12 to 25 months.

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