Meeting was called to order at 6:55 p.m. and was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. with a total of 18 members present

• Starting in September, there will be a new HOMEWORK HELP service available. It will be a free, online, live tutorial help for 4th through 12th grade students. Help is available for English, Math, science, and social studies. See www.arapahoelibraries.org for details
• Discussion of book, Snow in August, at Koelbel Library on Saturday, 31 August at 3:00 p.m. Book was recommended by Governor Owens
• On Saturday, 10 August at 6:00 p.m., award winning science fiction author Connie Willis will be at Southglenn Library. Reservations required, call 303-221-3998
• On Monday, 26 August, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., there will be a "marketing for small business" program at Koelbel Library. Reservations required, call 303-220-7704
• Library will be closed on Monday, 2 September for Labor Day

• Bond projects are moving along well
• Site selected for new Littleton Community Center adjacent to the Littleton Municipal Court Building (old Arapahoe County Court Building)
• Design for new Southeast Recreation Center (Lone Tree) is almost complete
• Improvements at Newton Middle School are on schedule
• Some projects are being delayed because of the draught
• Watering of SSPRD land being done on basis of where it is needed most, heavily used athletic fields getting more priority
• SSPRD has been conserving water previous to the official water conservation program through the use of computerized water systems
• New Fall/Winter South Suburban catalog will be out week of 12 August. District registration starts 19 August, out of district registration starts 26 August

• Sheriff's department is moving into their new building near Centennial Airport this week. District One will remain at the Prince Street location until March 2003. Main phone number will remain the same.
• There will be 18 new squad cars with the City of Centennial logo on the streets
• Sheriff will enforce any new parking restrictions that Centennial may adopt

• Mayor's tax plan for 2003 and beyond
          No sales tax increase for Centennial because:
                  Weak economy (Figures provided by Colorado Economic Chronicle, July 11,2002)
                      Retail sales are off 15% statewide
                      Residential construction permits decreased by 13.2%, Non-residential construction decreased 12.4%
                      Office vacancies in the south suburban office market is 23%, Industrial vacancy rate has doubled to 8.5%
                      Bankruptcy and Foreclosures are up significantly
                  During downtime is when we should be pulling services back, not expanding
                  Hurts our retailers and drives business to other municipalities thereby compounding the tax revenue problem
                  Drives down economic growth by cutting out the competitive edge
                  Not even a year's worth of history yet
                  Moves away from the vision of Centennial
          Small government contracting services
          Low taxes
          Non-intrusive government - Lifestyle the same as we had
• Mayor's 12 Point Plan:

1. Continue working with Department of Revenue to further pinpoint any additional sales tax not currently being complied with by Centennial retailers
2. Put on the November ballot a Use Tax for automobiles and allocate the funds derived from that tax to road maintenance
3. Identify any cost savings in our current IGA with Arapahoe County that they would agree to credit Centennial
    a. Administrative cost savings ($187,500 per contract area)
    b. Savings in fixed costs based on reduced spending in flexible cost
    c. Identify actual work done under the fixed costs allocation to date to justify the charges
4. Begin immediate negotiations with Arapahoe County to unbundle the IGA so that we can negotiate an early exit strategy for specific portions. The early exit should be targeted for July 1, 2003
5. If successful with step 4, begin work on the 2003 budget based on payment to Arapahoe County for fixed IGA costs only in Public Works for Quarters 1 & 2. Quarters 3 & 4 expenditures should be projected on a project-by-project basis for cost savings
6. Immediately engage the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing to develop RFP templates for project-by-project contracts
7. Have National Institute of Governmental Purchasing begin to identify private and public sector contractors in specific areas
8. Hire internal staff as needed to negotiate, interface, manage, and check compliance on all current and future contracts
9. Identify and prioritize a Centennial desired list of CIP projects including those delayed in 2001 and 2002 to be done between 2003 and 2008 that would be eligible for matching funds from other agencies
10. Begin work with bonding companies to bond out Highway User Tax Funds (HUTF) over a 5 to 10 year period of time to go before the voters in either 2002 or 2003
11. Work with Denver Regional Council of Governments to negotiate and facilitate through IGA’ s with other entities for the timing of Transportation Improvement Projects money to coincide with our ability to fund projects from 2003 through 2008 50 that no federal or state funds are lost
12. Aggressively pursue annexation of commercial and retail parcels connected to or surrounded by the city and undeveloped parcels in order to zone and control the development of those parcels

• A lot of tax leaves the city because Centennial does not currently have a "use" tax. If purchased in City, but delivered outside City, no tax goes to Centennial
• First discussion by City Council of tax plans will be 8 August
• Water Issues in Centennial:
• 80 % of the water comes from Denver, 15% comes from Aurora, 5% comes from wells
• Because of the high heat and low humidity in the mountains, about 50% of the water in the reservoirs has evaporated
• Will take at least 8 years to refill reservoirs assuming a normal snowfall
• This dry spell is 50% worse than the previously recorded "driest period" in the 1950's
• As of 1 August, Denver Water only has 422 days of water left, based on current usage
• Denver may drill wells to tap the underground water within Denver limits, and may also impose a ban on lawn watering in September

• City Council is searching for a new City Clerk. Information available at: www.centennialcolorado.com
• Annual pancake breakfast and Centennial's 2nd birthday party will be at deKoevend Park, shelter C (6631 S University Blvd) from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on September 14. Family fun activities will continue until 11:00 a.m.

• RTD wants feedback and data from Centennial on bus service, existing and proposed
• Proposing all day bus service to Denver, and service to connect the eastern and western portions of the City using Arapahoe Road
• Committee proposing 3 bus routes: 
      route from Parker & Arapahoe, along Arapahoe Road, to existing light rail stop at Arapahoe Community College
      route east on Smoky Hill Road, south on Liverpool, then west on Arapahoe to Parker Road, then to I-225 (existing 9 mile Park-n-Ride)
      route from Aurora to Picadilly and Smoky Hill and then west to existing Arapahoe Park-n-Ride (rush hour)
• Motion made by Lynn Leader, seconded by Hanna Goldberg and unanimously passed by members to support recommendation of the 3 bus routes. CenCON will provide a letter expressing support

• The proposed ordinances have been put on hold for at least a year
• Contact will be made with the member HOAs that have not as yet paid their dues
• Because of the resignation of Tony Murray, who is moving, there is a vacancy on the Plans Committee. Volunteers needed
• City of Centennial needs a contact name for each HOA. Members are requested to provide a name at the 9 Sept. meeting. If no name is provided, the HOA President's name will be used as the default
• Motion made by Ron Weidmann, seconded by Ty Harden and passed by vote of 10 for, 3 against, to support recommendations of the Storm Water Committee (presented at June meeting). CenCON will provide a letter expressing support

                    - Treasurer - Gerry Cummins

                    - Secretary - Frank Green

• It was moved by Gerry Cummins and seconded by Ron Weidmann that the June minutes be approved. Approval was unanimous

- Membership - Michael Kirrane

• Membership drive has identified five new possible members
1. Bristol Cove II
2. Glen Oaks
3. Homestead at Willows End
4. Olde Mill
5. Pines

- Plans - Plans Committee

• Plans committee meets at 7:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the CenCON meeting at Brad Calbert's office, near I-225 & Iliff.
• One controversial plan for a McDonald's, gas station, and car wash at Dry Creek and Yosemite was presented and discussed in detail by the membership
• The project requires changes to existing zoning laws (since 1979), and it would still be an incompatible use with the surrounding areas (drive through in a residential neighborhood, turning Dry Creek into another Arapahoe Road)
• Additional concerns include: traffic, lighting, drainage, safety, trash, odors, security, noise, late hours of operation
• A motion was made by Ty Harden, seconded by Lynn Leader, and unanimously passed by the members to express CenCON's objections to the project

Page last updated on: 05/29/2006