Town Administrator                April 22, 2019

Downtown Erie on TV

In my April 8 update I mentioned the Parking Study for downtown. That got the attention of Channel 7 KWGN, and last week they asked for an interview to get more information. It seemed like a great opportunity to showcase some of the great things happening in downtown Erie so we showed the reporter around downtown. We expect the piece to air Tuesday, April 23 in the “Our Colorado” segment during the 5:00 p.m. and/or 6:00 p.m. newscast. Erie's Communications and Marketing Manager, Amber Luttrell, will provide a link once it is available via social media.

 
Metro Denver EDC

Erie's Economic Development Director, Ben Pratt, and I also showed off the entire Town of Erie to JJ Ament, CEO, and Sam Bailey, VP of Economic Development, from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. The MDEDC leads the region-wide efforts to bring high quality primary employers, both large and small, to the Front Range. After their visit, and in response to Ben supplying additional information, Sam noted, “Your community has a lot of great attributes and is ahead of the curve in so many ways. We look forward to pushing more opportunities out this year and hope Erie is a fit.” We will be working with Sam and JJ to develop interest in I-25 (long range), Four Corners and Nine Mile (medium range), Downtown and other sites throughout Town (immediate opportunities).  

 
Energy Symposium

Deputy Town Administrator, Farrell Buller, and I, along with about 250 other local government and industry representatives, attended the Energy and Environment Symposium last week in Rifle. The organizers hosted an excellent slate of almost 30 speakers, including Jeff Robbins, Director of the COGCC, Jill Hunsaker Ryan, Executive Director of the CDPHE, Roy Rudisill, Weld County Emergency Manager, and numerous representatives from oil and gas companies. A recurring theme of the Symposium was the impact SB 181, signed by Governor Polis last week, will have on local regulatory authority over oil and gas operations. Key aspects of that legislation include:

• The focus of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) will shift from “fostering” the industry to “regulating” the industry
• Local governments will have expanded ability to regulate oil and gas operations, including the ability to adopt regulations more strict than the State’s regulations
• New regulations will be subject to challenge if they are not “reasonable and necessary”
• What qualifies as “reasonable and necessary” will be fleshed out through the State rule making
• Local government participation in that rule making process will be critical

Roy Rudisill showed pictures of several fires and explosions that have happened in Weld County since 2015. He used the pictures to demonstrate hazards associated with oil and gas operations. He also suggested that “tankless” sites reduce the overall risk of such fires/explosions even though “tankless” sites have risks with flowlines and underground pipes.