Residential Road Paving

As some of you are aware, Boulder County does not believe that they have
the responsibility or the money to resurface your residential streets.
The County states that they "maintain" the residential streets such as
snow plowing and pothole repair, but that they do not "rehabilitate"
the streets to insure their long-term viability. In 1995 this "policy"
was incorporated into the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan with
explicit language that made the users of residential roads financially
responsible for "rehabilitation". In 2009, the wording in the Comp
Plan was changed to "allow" for special fees, but not to require them.
In summary, this is a budget priority issue.

If you choose to communicate with the County Commissioners and/or the
County Department of Transportation, the following are some talking
points you can use.

History

1. Almost no one in unincorporated Boulder County is aware of the "policy" adopted in 1995.

2. While undoubtedly enacted in a public process, the "policy" was buried
deep in a document that few people have read or understand.

3. Property owners continued to assume that their roads would be
"maintained" for long-term viability. The distinction between
"maintenance" and "rehabilitation" is only understood by the Department
of Transportation, not the public.

4. Numerous subdivisions have been completed since 1995. The County has
taken ownership of the roads without advising the developers or home
buyers that they would not "rehabilitate" the roads.

5. Today, 15 years later, the residential roads are rapidly deteriorating because
the County is not adequately maintaining them and the property owners
did not know they were "responsible". The Commissioners have been well
aware of the problem for at least the last several years and still took
no action until this fall when a Work Group was established to identify
how residents would pay for the now expensive "rehabilitation".

6. The Commissioners had an ethical and moral obligation to make this
policy widely understood by the affected property owners. They had an
ethical and moral obligation to address the problem much sooner.

7. Per a recent language change in the Comp Plan, special fees
to "rehabilitate" the roads are "allowed" but no longer required.

Why are Residential Roads in Unincorporated Boulder County being singled out?

1. The residential road system is an integral part of the transportation system in Boulder County.

2. The "users" are residents, employers, retail businesses, service providers, school districts, etc.

3. The distinction between primary and local roads is arbitrary and
intentionally punitive to residents who were forced into the
unincorporated County by City of Boulder land use policies.

Funding

1. Residential road maintenance should be a budget priority issue not a punitive policy issue.

2. The $20-25M needed to "rehabilitate" the residential roads now has
become massive because the Commissioners ignored the problem. On-going
maintenance at a much lower level would have addressed the problem.

3. The Commissioners need to adjust budget priorities and allocate funding
to this issue. Several approaches: 1) re-purpose the current 1% sales
tax for transportation projects to road "rehabilitation", 2) allocate
1-2% of the General Fund to this issue, 3) stop hiring people and
giving pay raises, 4) reduce County staff by attrition or layoffs as
necessary.

4. Until the Commissioners show a good faith effort to address the issue
and allocate funding, the property owners in unincorporated Boulder
County should not be expected to contribute.

Actions

We strongly encourage all residents in unincorporated Boulder County to make their views known directly to County officials. Any communication to the County should be direct but professional.

Mail can be sent to:

P.O. Box 471

Boulder CO

Attention: Ben Pearlman, Will Toor, Cindy Domenico:

Emails can be sent to:

commissioners@bouldercounty.org

Or call 303-441-3500 to contact the County Commissioners.

The Boulder Department of Transportation Director, George Gerstle can be reached by email at:

ggerstle@bouldercounty.org.

Additional Information

Visit http://www.bouldercounty.org/transportation/index.htm

President, Niwot Community Association

P.O. Box 72

Niwot, CO 80503

neal.a@niwot.org