Observers are puzzled by Longmont Mayor Pro Tem Brian Bagley’s recent announcement that the City needs to focus on securing its northern and eastern boundaries. Bagley listed three ideas: 1) Longmont should acquire land and create an open space buffer at 66 and I-25 between Weld County Roads 3.5 and 5; 2) A policy should be considered that would prohibit the City from leasing water to municipalities that would use the water for development on the eastern border and 3) The City should control development along the eastern border along I-25.
At the time other Council members were taken by surprise and said they have no idea why Mr. Bagley chose to that particular venue and time for his announcements. Elected officials from neighboring municipalities were angry and said they felt such discussions should not be conducted via the local newspaper.
At the end of a meeting on March 31 Bagley read three motions related to the concepts and all three passed. The first two motions passed unanimously. However, the last idea appeared to be the most problematic with fears expressed about the possibility of creating a new border war. Bagley said Mead, Firestone and Frederick are already having the discussion without Longmont’s participation and he simply wanted to ensure the City was involved. Sarah Levison and Jeff Moore voted against that motion.
Note: Envision Longmont http://www.envisionlongmont.com, the process which will update the Comp Plan, is just underway with an estimated 12 -18 month timeframe before adoption. It would make sense to fold the issue of Longmont’s borders into that discussion and affirm the City’s general philosophy regarding its borders. Why call out the issues now in such a public way? The motives behind this strategy are unclear. Sign up now to get involved in Envision Longmont and list the issues that you think should have priority.
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