City Council will be discussing and voting on Longmont Friends of Open Space’s (Stand With Out St Vrain Creek) recommendations for shoring up Open Space protections and preventing another Distel/Tull Open Space disposition debacle on Tuesday, July 28th at 7:00pm.
We are asking supporters of these recommendations to show up for the Public Invited To Be Heard portion of the meeting (at the beginning of the meeting) wearing green to show your support.
Due to negotiations with Holcim, City Council voted to delay the vote on the land swap until further notice.
City Council will be reviewing and voting on whether or not to approve the Distel-Tull land swap on Tuesday, August 12th at 7pm.
Please consider attending for the public invited to be heard portion of the meeting (at the beginning of the meeting) and wearing green to show support for our Open Spaces.
If you are unable to attend, or would like to take action in addition to attending the City Council meeting, please contact our City Council members and tell them your thoughts. This only takes 5 minutes. You can be short and sweet. https://longmontcityxm.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4PEnCSjZVVwit8i
This Tuesday, August 13th, City Council will be reviewing an ordinance making Longmont’s Open Space Sales Tax permanent and deciding whether to put the measure on the ballot this November.
Stand is asking supporters to attend this “first reading”, specifically the Public Invited to Be Heard section of the meeting, to show their support for the ordinance. Please wear green.
We’re in the home stretch thanks to all of you! This Tuesday, August 13th, Longmont City Council will be reviewing the text of an ordinance that would put the permanent extension of the City’s Open Space Sales Tax on the ballot this November. The Council will then vote to either approve the ordinance, amend the ordinance, or not approve the ordinance.
Stand With Our St. Vrain Creek is asking that City Council approve the ordinance. We’ll be attending the meeting and speaking during Public Invited to Be Heard urging them to do so.
If you value Open Space and want the City to be able to fund new acquisitions and, more importantly, maintain its natural areas, please consider attending Tuesday’s City Council meeting and wearing green to show your support for the ballot measure.
We want all Longmont citizens to have the chance to vote on this issue.
City Council has voted to add the Open Space Sales Tax permanent extension to the November 2024 ballot! Thank you to everyone who signed our appeal and/or showed up to City Council to show your support for the measure.
We’re looking for people to show up at City Council on Tuesday, July 23rd wearing green to show your continued support. The Longmont Natural Resources department will be making a presentation tomorrow regarding the Open Space program and future acquisitions/maintenance costs in response to a City Council request for such information. You will only need to remain for the public invited to be heard portion of the meeting.
We will also have Open Space Yes! owl yard signs for you if you’d like to take one for this election season.
Stand With Our St. Vrain Creek will be presenting YOUR Save Our Swallows postcards to Longmont City Council at the September 6th City Council meeting.
Please consider showing your support for the Bank Swallows at Roger’s Grove and the City’s efforts to restore their nesting habitat by attending and wearing green during the Public Invited to Be Heard portion of the meeting (if you need to leave afterward, you can feel free to do so).
Thank you for your efforts for our swallows!
On Sunday, September 4th, Stand will be holding its second Save Our Swallows event at Roger’s Grove (see events calendar for details). While the Bank Swallows at Roger’s Grove have finished nesting and are no longer in the vicinity, we’ll still meet to show anyone who’s interested where their nesting site is as well as other resident and migratory birds (warblers are moving through now!).
We’ll be presenting YOUR Save Our Swallows postcards at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, September 6th. Please consider attending at least the Public Invited to Be Heard portion of the meeting and wearing green to show your support for the Bank Swallows and the City’s efforts to restore their habitat at Roger’s Grove. Meeting details are also in the events calendar on this site.
Thank you again for your work to protect our swallows!
At Tuesday, August 10th’s Longmont City Council meeting, Stand and our fellow Bank Swallow supporters won a major victory in the effort to protect the birds nesting at Roger’s Grove.
Members of Stand met with City Manager Harold Dominguez last week to discuss the City’s flood mitigation project and how to best protect the nesting habitat of the rare Bank Swallows that return to Roger’s Grove every spring. We appreciated the transparency with which he explained the challenges inherent in preserving the current nesting bank and were heartened to hear that the City is committed to providing alternative Bank Swallow habitat close by, also within Roger’s Grove.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Dominguez went on record to repeat that commitment. The City also committed to researching other municipalities’ Bank Swallow habitat replication efforts and, prior to RSVP construction within the area, conducting experiments to determine what works so that the restored habitat will have the best chance of attracting the nesting birds.
We’re still some ways off from flood mitigation work at Roger’s Grove, but with these commitments, we are feeling hopeful for the future of our Bank Swallows. Rest assured, we will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for the swallows every step of the way, including holding the City to its promises.
Stay tuned for updates!
Longmont City Council will be voting on whether to approve a resolution to submit a ballot question to be voted on on election day (November 8, 2022). If Council approves the resolution, voters would be asked to approve issuing up to $20 million of storm drainage revenue bonds to finance the completion of the Resilient St Vrain flood mitigation Project (RSVP). On Tuesday night, City Council can either approve the proposed ballot language, modify the language and approve, or neither approve the language nor put the language on the ballot.
Stand is asking that City Council amend the proposed ballot language to include the following language (in red) ensuring that the City will not use our Storm Drainage fees to destroy Bank Swallow habitat at Roger’s Grove during flood mitigation work:
Without imposing new taxes or increasing existing taxes, and while preserving the established Bank Swallow habitat at Roger’s Grove, shall the City of Longmont be authorized to borrow up to $20,000,000 for the purpose of financing storm drainage system improvements, including but not limited to improvements to the St. Vrain Creek drainageway from Sunset Street to Hover Street to protect downstream areas from future flooding; and shall the borrowing be evidenced by bonds, loan agreements, or other financial obligations payable solely from the City’s storm drainage enterprise revenues and be issued at one time or in multiple series at a price above, below or equal to the principal amount of such borrowing and with such terms and conditions, including provisions for redemption prior to maturity with or without payment of premium, as the City may determine?
Please consider showing your support for Bank Swallows at the Council meeting by wearing green and signing up to speak during public invited to be heard.
If you are unable to attend the meeting or are unable/unwilling to speak, please consider sending an email to Council urging them to consider adding language protecting the Bank Swallow colony at Roger’s Grove in the ballot measure.
You may contact City Council using the following link: City Council and Mayor Contact Form
Some potential talking points for an email to Council are below:
As Council meetings are now virtual, we ask that you send in comments regarding the annexation to City Council prior to the meeting (contact Council members here) and/or call into the meeting on Tuesday the 11th to express your concerns. You can watch City Council meetings live from your computer through the City of Longmont’s YouTube Channel or via the Longmont Public Media Channel at https://longmontpublicmedia.org/watch.
Anyone wishing to provide Public Comment must watch the Livestream of the meeting and call-in only when the Chairperson opens the meeting for public comment. Callers are not able to access the meeting at any other time.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR CALLING IN TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT:
The toll-free call-in number is: 888 788 0099.
Watch the livestream (instructions above) and write down the Meeting ID when it is displayed at the beginning of the meeting.
WAIT for the Chairperson to invite callers to call-in and then dial the toll-free number, enter the Meeting ID, and, when asked for your Participant ID, press #.
Mute the livestream and listen for instructions on the phone.
Callers will hear confirmation they have entered the meeting, will be told how many others are already participating in the meeting and will be placed in a virtual waiting room until admitted into the meeting.
Callers will be called upon by the last three (3) digits of their phone number and allowed to unmute to provide their comments.
Comments are limited to three minutes per person and each speaker will be asked to state their name and address for the record prior to proceeding with their comments.
Once done speaking, callers should hang up.
