1997-09-02_REVISION - M1981302 - Laserfiche WebLink

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To summarize its comments, the BOCC has expressed two major concerns regarding the berm and the revisions proposed in ITR- 006. The first concern is that state reclamation review of the technical revision should encompass not just the grading changes to the berm, but the entire berm feature itself. The basis for the BOCC's position that the flood-control implications of the entire berm are properly at issue in this TR application, is set forth in detail in the BOCC's letter of supplemental objections dated May 8, 1997, which is attached as Exhibit A to the BOCC's June 5, 1997 Pre-hearing Statement in 1AM-002. See also the letter of the Assistant Boulder City Attorney dated May 13, 1997, and the Pre-hearing Statement of the City of Boulder, both of which are of record in SRAM-002. The second concern is the relationship of this decision, which the DVIG is propuz;1r.9 tc maka by Scptcmber 15, 1997, and the forthcoming "Phase III" study by Taggart Engineering Associates which is being sponsored by the City of Boulder, County of Boulder, and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District. That study is expected to make flood mitigation recommendations which may or may not include the berm, or which may include the berm but with alterations from the configuration being proposed in this technical revision. The BOCC has thus previously requested, and requests here yet again, that the DMG retain jurisdiction over the permit, through an appropriate condition placed on the proposed technical revision, which allows the DMG to require the permittee to conform the berm to the adopted results of the Phase III study. At the very least, the DMG must impose a condition requiring the permittee to submit for a reevaluation of any TR approval granted here, with the opportunity for all interested parties to comment (as in this process) , so that the DMG can consider the flood control adequacy of the berm in light of the adopted Phase III recommendations. Without such a condition, the DMG cannot rationally conclude that the TR application meets the reclamation requirement that the application minimize disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance of the affected land and of the surrounding area. The BOCC's concern with this issue has been heightened by the recent catastrophic flood in Fort Collins, which caused millions of dollars in damage to the facilities of the Colorado State University and to surrounding neighborhoods. A strikingly similar situation exists here, where the Deepe Farm Pit property is now owned by a state university and may ultimately be developed for university uses, and where existing residential neighborhoods to the north may be the recipient of uncontrolled flood waters should the berm fail or not properly contain surface runoff. The unfortunate experience of Fort Collins, and the possibility that such an incident may occur in this area of the South Boulder Creek drainage, make it even more incumbent upon responsible state agencies to interpret their authority over 2