Brighton City Council Study Session – January 13, 2026
Brighton City Council Study Session – January 13, 2026
The Brighton City Council held a study session on January 13, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Study Session Room, with the Planning Commission joining for the Comprehensive Plan update. The agenda included presentations on the monthly contract listing, the Comprehensive Plan engagement results, city facilities, and an amendment to the water treatment plant owner's representative contract. No formal votes were taken, but council consensus directed future actions.
Discussion Items
Monthly Contract Listing (ID-10-26)
- Finance Director Katrina Asher presented the executed contracts for November 2025, an informational transparency item. Noted a change order for Let's Reservoir ($11,000 change on $11M total) and a banking RFP related to certificates of participation for the police facility purchase with Webster Bank. Councilmember Padilla asked about the inclusion of the COP contract; Asher explained it is an infrequent occurrence. No further discussion.
Comprehensive Plan Update (ID-17-26)
- Presented by Design Workshop consultants Emily Burroughs and Jessica Garrow. Summarized community engagement window one: six focus groups with 38 participants, a community workshop at the Rec Center with 20–25 attendees (primarily long-term residents over 50), and an open community questionnaire with over 300 responses. A statistically valid survey by Y2 Analytics is pending. Key themes included smart managed growth, missing middle housing, economic vitality, water infrastructure, east-west mobility, and preservation of agriculture and open space. 70% of questionnaire respondents identified traffic congestion as the top concern. Council and Planning Commission discussed defining "small town feel," balancing growth and affordability, reaching younger demographics, downtown vitality vs. Prairie Center, and the need for a clear vision. Councilmember Padilla cautioned against overemphasizing "pace of growth" as it conflicts with affordability. Councilmember Snyder praised staff and city progress. Next steps: growth scenario workshops on March 9, 2026 (Monday, daytime and evening open house), followed by additional engagement windows in summer and fall before adoption.
City Facilities Update (ID-15-26)
- Presented by Pierce Miller (Budget & Innovation) and Patrick Rome (Facilities & Fleet). Overview of city-owned facilities including City Hall, Historic City Hall (tenants include housing authority, almost home, agricultural nonprofits), Main Street Creatives (artist co-op, non-profit lease structure), Depot (Chamber of Commerce tenant), Armory (city to assume ownership in 2027, currently subsidized by Burra), Police Department (current HQ 23 years old, new building at 133 S. 27th Ave. purchased for training/office), Recreation Center (expansion underway), Sue Corbett Active Adult Center (feasibility study for expansion), Michael Woodruff Municipal Service Center (opened 2025), Brighton Museum campus (old church and State Farm building under renovation), old senior center (demolition application pending before Historic Preservation Commission), wastewater treatment plant (used for storage and trash bash), and streets/fleet shop (vacant but used for storage, with lifts). Council discussed: Mayor Pro Tem Padilla suggested police department could operate from multiple facilities rather than one large building and emphasized supporting the Sue Corbett Center. Councilmember Fiedler noted the police station is 23 years old. Councilmember Snyder advocated for a new police station and possibly revisiting a bond measure. Councilmember Carbajal inquired about lease equity and tenant selection; Finance Director Asher explained tiered rent structure approved by prior council (free rent for vulnerable-serving nonprofits, discounted market for ag nonprofits, cost recovery for others like chamber and Main Street Creatives). Councilmember Taddeo asked about cost recovery vs. community value. Councilmember Green noted the armory loses money but serves as a cultural asset. Staff will provide additional information on city-owned land and lease policies.
Carollo Water Treatment Plant Owner's Representative Amendment #1 (ID-11-26)
- Presented by Utilities Director Scott Olson and Carollo Engineers. Original $6.3 million contract from October 2022. Amendment #1 for $1,989,202 to extend owner's representative services due to plant redesign (from expansion to new facility) and longer construction timeline. Funds taken from project contingency; overall $168 million project budget remains unchanged. Councilmember Fiedler asked for cost breakdown; Olson offered to provide details. Councilmember Carbajal confirmed the redesign was approved by council. Councilmember Snyder noted the project remains within budget. Councilmember Green asked about lifespan; Olson said the new plant meets needs through about 2045. Outcome: Consensus to place the amendment on the consent agenda for the next regular meeting.
Policy Items and Council Comments
- Councilmember Green reported positive feedback on the Bolt transit service, including use during a snowstorm. Councilmember Padilla requested city manager redistribute the form for submitting policy items and track progress. He also noted issues with temporary traffic striping on 27th Avenue (bus stop for BRT route) and asked for clarification on the bus service (answered: BRT from Brighton to Boulder via Highway 7). City Manager Martinez confirmed a revised striping plan is being implemented. Councilmember Carbajal raised the need for better coordination with the school district, as boundary changes generate city-related questions.
Key Outcomes
- The Comprehensive Plan engagement will continue with targeted outreach to younger demographics and pop-up events.
- The Carollo amendment will be placed on the consent agenda for formal approval at the next regular meeting.
- Staff to provide council with an inventory of city-owned land and updated lease policies.
- The 27th Avenue striping will be reconfigured within the next two weeks to restore the turn lane and address safety concerns.
- Continued discussion on police facility needs; council may consider a future bond measure.
Meeting Transcript
City Manager Martinez. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening again. And good evening to the planning commission joining us as well. Our finance director, Katrina Asher will be presenting our monthly contract listing and is available for questions. Thank you, Michael. Good evening, Council and Planning Commission. So in your packet, Council is a listing of the contracts that were approved by the city in the month of November for new council members. This is an informational item that we present every month as a matter of transparency, both for council and for the public to let them know which contracts were approved and executed during that month. The listing does include both contracts approved explicitly by council and also those that are signed by the city manager in his capacity under uh approved under municipal code. So relatively short listing for uh November, but I do want to point out two different um two of the items on there. So there's one for Let's Reservoir, it's a fairly large contract, but this is an example of a change order. So you'll see these on there as well. With change orders, we include the change order amount and then also the total new contract amount. So when you see that 11 million dollars, that's the total contract amount, but the change order was only about 11,000, and that was signed by the city manager under his authority. Uh the other item I'll call to your attention is the last item on the list, which is a banking RFP. So in Q3 of last year, City Council approved um an ordinance that authorized staff to move forward with an issuance of certificates of participation. Um that's a form of financing that provided the city with six million dollars of funding for the purchase and renovation of uh the the building that will be now used in the future for uh police operations. That's on um uh South 27th Avenue. So when we did that, we issued an RFP or a request for proposal to determine which bank we would partner with, and then based on the terms that the banks proposed, we chose the bank that had the most favorable terms, and that was Webster Bank. So that's why that's on here. It's not a typical contract that you'll see on there, but um we did include it because it was a procured contract, uh, previously approved, uh authorized by city council. So I'm happy to answer any other questions. Anybody have any questions for our director of finance? Mayor Potem. Thanks. I was curious when we saw this about the COP being on there, because I don't remember ever seeing those listed on the contract. And it may simply be that um the last time we did issued one was before we started doing this report. That's true, and we we don't issue uh data or do financings of that nature very often, and we do, we would always be coming to council for approval via ordinance. Okay. Makes sense. Um the other comment is probably less for finance but appreciation in in general. I'm very excited to see uh explicitly the owner's representative for the Reclex because I I think we have learned our lesson that that is an important part uh of all of our new projects. Uh certainly our bigger projects, but thank you again for sharing the information. Uh and thank you for including that change order amount so I don't have to go look up what the original was I was doing that. So thank you. Yes. All right. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Now the reason why so many cool people are here today. It's the comprehensive plan update to community engagement window one. City Manager Martinez. Thank you, Mayor. As you mentioned, we have so many cool people here this evening for the main event. Um as staff comes up and our friends with design workshop and consulting firms. Uh just want to mention that I'm very pleased with the continued efforts uh behind this project.
openpublica.com