Commissioners approve rates for Boxelder project

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

The Boxelder Creek regional stormwater improvement project took another step forward in December, when the Larimer County Commissioners approved a rate schedule for the project.

The commissioners held a rate hearing on Dec. 9 and approved a formal resolution on the rates on Dec. 23.

Last summer, Fort Collins, Wellington and Larimer County formed the Boxelder Basin Regional Stormwater Authority, a cooperative venture that will build detention facilities in the Boxelder Creek basin. The basin extends from Wyoming south to Timnath.

The stormwater project, four years in the planning, will remove about 5,000 acres from the Boxelder Creek floodplain. In Wellington alone, 220 homes could be protected from flooding when the first phase of the project is complete. Other affected properties lie close to Interstate 25 and East Mulberry Street and have potential for commercial development.

Properties within the floodplain must purchase flood insurance if they are mortgaged. After the Boxelder improvements are complete, this will no longer be necessary for most property owners in the creek's floodplain.

Project phases

The project has three major components: expansion of Clark Reservoir northeast of Wellington, construction of a new Edson Reservoir east of Wellington and mid-basin channel improvements. Total cost of the project is estimated at $10.5 million.

In 2008, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a $3 million grant for the first phase of the Boxelder project, the Clark Reservoir expansion. That phase will cost $4 million, and the three governmental entities are contributing the balance. Construction on this phase of the project could begin late this year.

To pay for the second and third phases, each governmental entity will collect stormwater fees. Fort Collins and Wellington already collect such fees. The Wellington Town Board will consider an amended stormwater fee schedule in late January, to reflect costs of the Boxelder project.

In Larimer County, the Boxelder fee will be collected only within the project's service area. That bill will go out with the annual property tax bill. While the fee takes effect as of Jan. 1, 2009, property owners will not be billed until 2010.

All in basin pay

It's not just floodplain properties that will be paying for the improvements. The service area includes the floodplain itself and all properties that drain into the floodplain.

That fact has prompted complaints from some property owners within the service area. In fact, a few dozen people whose properties lie within the service area are already trying to remove themselves from the project, according to Rex Burns of the county engineering department.

James Fry, a property owner in the Trotwood Ranches subdivision, stated at the rate hearing that the entire subdivision should be removed from the service area. Other complaints have come from the Trapper's Point subdivision east of Interstate 25 and from several individuals. Some claim that water from their property drains into other structures, such as ponds.

Burns noted that a process is in place for property owners to object, and the authority and county staff will review the requests on a case-by-case basis. "I hope to visit each property," he said, to determine if runoff from the property impacts the Boxelder Creek floodplain.

Burns said the stormwater authority will be able to refine the service area boundaries. It will also be able to provide credits to certain properties that have their own detention facilities.

Fee schedule set

For its share of the project, Larimer County must come up with $333,000 per year. To do that, county staff has developed an up-and-down "stairstep" rate schedule. Small parcels will pay less than mid-sized parcels, but larger parcels (more than 5 acres) will also pay a smaller rate than mid-sized parcels. This is because large parcels have more open land and consequently a lower percentage of impervious areas.

In addition to the annual user fees, the county will assess a one-time "system development fee" for any new structures built within the service area.

As defined now, the service area includes 1,785 developed residential properties (including agricultural residences and mobile homes) and 162 developed nonresidential properties. For residential properties, annual fees will vary from $62 for a mobile home in a park to $97 for a parcel that's one-half to 1 acre in size. From there, rates will go down, with parcels larger than 20 acres paying $65 per year.

For nonresidential properties, the rate will be determined on a parcel-by-parcel basis, depending on the amount of impervious area the property contains.

Burns said he anticipates fees will go down after the project debt is paid off in 20-some years. Fees might go down sooner as the population increases and as new structures are built in the basin, since those property owners will be adding to the cash flow of the authority. Even after the initial debt is paid off, some funds will be needed for maintenance of the facilities, Burns pointed out.