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JAN 2 7 2003 + - 010rado rttater BBC Redearcla & Condulting Turning Information Into And werd January 2003 What's Inside pg BBC Welcomes Pg-2New Staff pg Changing Driver Pg-2Behavior pg 2 Wanted: New (Private .J Sector) Customers pg What if Someone Pg,4 Wanted to Build a Powerplant in Your Backyard? pg Making Donuts — And 4 And Mistakes pg 4Okay, We Didn't "Peak" Again... We "Grand Peaked" Instead! pg 5 The Joy of Advertising Pg. On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever... pg 5 Environmental Regulators and Industry: What's Next? pg ' Ensuring Fair Housing for All pg Debunking the Pg.6Retail Myth pg .7 Sustainability: / Less is More? pg' 7 Dallas' Fair Park — Crown Jewel or Muncipal Warehouse? pg .7 Opening the Blinds to Reveal New Markets pg Q Summary of 2002 V BBC Clients pg 8BBC Across the V Nation 1018M RESEARCH & CONSULTING 3773 Cherry Creek North Drive Suite 850 Denver, Colorado 80209 -3827 Ph. 303-321-2547 Fax 303 - 399 -0448 www.bbcresearch.com Heidi Aggeler Lloyd Levy Alyson Blomquist Todd Pickton Jim Carpenter Tom Pippin Jill Cruickshank Tiffany Ford Frick Putimahtama Jennifer Garner Glissen Rhode Doug Jeavons Gina Sanchez Dave Keen Katherine Kugel Jody Smith Jennifer Lakins Joni Toenjes Mello Nicole Waggoner Pamela Leon Corina Wohlers Gambling: The Name of the Game In Water Resource Planning How large a reserve supply should a water utility have on hand to meet an uncertain future? Or, how much extra water should a utility have in the bank for a non -rainy day? Ten percent of expected water use? Enough water to handle growth for the next five years? When a water utility manager or board member poses these questions to a water resources planner, they are asking the planner to make a very large wager on behalf of the utility's customers, often without very good information. With too lit- tle extra water in reserve, the utility may face severe water shortages. Have too much, and the utility could have large costs Doing the Right Thing for Baby Elaine is 26, has two kids and is expecting a third. She's unmarried and makes $16,000 a year. She also frequently skips her prenatal doctor appoint- ments. On behalf of the Utah Depart- ment of Health, BBC recently talked with a bunch of Utah mothers to find out why Elaine might be skipping prenatal visits and what might make her change that behavior. Utah ranks 49th in the country in measurements of adequate prenatal care, and the state is highly motivated to change that statistic. The Utah mothers told BBC that expectant mothers might not get adequate prenatal care for a number of reasons. The primary barrier for Elaine is probably financial. The women also men- tioned a lack of time, energy and knowledge about options such as Medicaid. They also thought (cont. on pg. 3 see Baby) for water that is rarely needed. The customer pays for either set of poor decisions. An unwanted test of this plan- ning occurred during 2002 as a roll of the weather dice came up snake eyes: Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate that 36 percent of the contiguous United States was in severe to extreme drought during the summer of 2002. A record fire season in many states further compounded water shortages as ash and other debris filled streams and reservoirs. The hot, dry weather increased water demands as homeowners tried to keep their landscapes alive. At the same time, many com- munities were facing sharp spikes in customer growth. A water utility resource plan- ner might want to stay away from Las Vegas after this run of bad luck. Just as gamblers do, water utilities that study the odds of different outcomes before plac- (wnt. on pg. 2 see Gambling) Will Tourists Keep "Going -to- the -Sun" in Glacier National Park? The one million acres of Glac- ier National Park are among the largest and most intact wild places in North America, divided only by a ribbon of asphalt known as the Going -to- the -Sun Road. Up to two mil- lion visitors come to Glacier National Park every year for views, trails, and historic lodges. It's a reliable flow of tourists that creates a living for many resi- dents of Montana and Alberta. Once in the park, 80 percent of visitors — in their cars, motor homes and buses — drive the Going -to- the -Sun Road to reach spectacular cliffside turnouts and the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. But the road itself, a land- mark of historic engineering and architecture, is showing the strain and desperately needs an overhaul. So there's the rub. Can this unique resource be restored without stifling the tourism that sustains a local economy? To answer this question, BBC joined with ERO Resources to assist the National Park Service by examining the potential con- sequences of various road reha- bilitation strategies. From the outset, the goal was to capture the tradeoffs in deciding whether to: complete construction as quickly as possible by temporar- ily closing segments of the (coat. on pg. 3 see Tourists) What's the Most Scenic Road in America? Some would say that the Going -to- the -Sun Road in Glacier National Park may be the most scenic road in the US. We think it's beautiful, but there's a lot of competition. We want to know what you think! Here are a few potential candidates to get the creative juices flowing. Log on to our web -site, www.bbcresearch.com, and let us know your favorite road. We will post the results on the web site by March 1. O Going -to- the -Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana. O Highway 1, near Monterey, California OUS550 "The Million Dollar Highway ", southwestern Colorado O Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina O Interstate 70, central Kansas O Other: (you specify) The Impact of Impact Fee Legislation I I I When it comes to impact fees — one -time charges on new development to pay for growth - related infrastructure — it can truly be said that Colorado was one of the first and one of the last. In 1983, the City of Loveland adopted impact fees for parks, public buildings, public safety and streets. With this step, Col- orado became one of the first states in the country to have general fund impact fees. Nearly 20 years later, the state legisla- ture passed Senate Bill 15, allowing Colorado to finally join the ranks of states with specific empowering legislation for impact fees. Despite being one of the last states in the nation to adopt such legislation, Colorado has provided local governments a number of benefits with Senate Bill 15. First, the legislation clearly establishes the authority for cities and counties to impose impact fees. This is particularly helpful for statutory towns and cities, which, unlike home rule cities, could not be confident in their authority to impose fees prior to Senate Bill 15. Additionally, the legislation outlines a standard for impact fee design that can be used as a measuring stick when designing fee systems. In a nutshell, (cont. on pg. 3 see Legislation)