Brighton City Council Study Session – February 10, 2026
Brighton City Council Study Session – February 10, 2026
The City Council held a study session on February 10, 2026, covering a legislative update, the Downtown Development Authority formation, a proposed graywater prohibition, utility master price agreements, an intergovernmental agreement for the US 85/120th Avenue project, and discussion of term limits for boards and commissions. No formal votes were taken; items will return for action at future regular meetings.
Consent Calendar
- Approved appointments to the District Plan Commission and the Sustainability Advisory Board without discussion.
- Accepted the executed contract listing for December 2025; Mayor Pro Tem noted excitement about the dog park construction project included in the listing.
Discussion Items
- Legislative Update: Lobbyist Matt LaCrue (Purple Label Solutions) reported on state bills. The "HOME Act" (HB 1042) would require jurisdictions to allow residential development on qualifying properties owned by nonprofits, school districts, housing authorities, or transit agencies – this bill is opposed by the city and the Colorado Municipal League (CML). HB 1030, creating a Colorado Data Center Development Authority with state sales/use tax exemptions for data centers, is supported as an economic development opportunity. SB 70, which would ban government access to historical location data from electronic devices, is opposed due to public safety concerns. Councilmember Green questioned the prospects of stopping preemption given Democratic control; Mr. LaCrue noted efforts to amend bills to reduce harm. Mayor Pro Tem highlighted past success in having bills amended to exclude Brighton. Council directed continued opposition to unfunded mandates and home rule encroachments.
- Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Update: Executive Director of the Urban Renewal Authority and Amanda Kennard (Puma) presented. The DDA election passed in November 2025 with approximately 80% support. The DDA boundaries are smaller than the existing core Urban Renewal Area. An interim intergovernmental agreement will manage the transition through 2027. An ordinance establishing a seven-member board (six qualified electors or business representatives from the district and one council member) will have first reading at the next meeting. Councilmember Snyder praised staff efforts. Councilmember Green expressed concern about the statutory definition of "qualified electors" allowing employees or managers without "skin in the game." Mayor noted pending state legislation that would cap TIF collection.
- Graywater Treatment Works and Use Prohibition: Utilities Director Scott Olsen proposed opting out of state-authorized graywater systems. Reasons included resource strain on staff to create a control program, reliance on sewer return flows for water augmentation, cross-contamination risks, and lack of public demand – no residents have ever inquired. Most other municipalities also prohibit. Councilmember Taddeo clarified that informal graywater use (e.g., draining a washing machine hose) is not targeted; the ordinance addresses only formal treatment works. Staff will bring an ordinance prohibiting installation and use to a future regular council meeting.
- Utility Repair and Construction Master Price Agreements (MPAs): Staff recommended awarding MPAs to the three lowest responsive and responsible bidders (American West Construction LLC, CL Water Solutions Inc., and Timberwolf Excavating LLC), each with a not-to-exceed amount of $2 million over a five-year term for on-call emergency repairs. Council directed that three separate resolutions awarding the MPAs be placed on the consent agenda for the next regular meeting.
- IGA Between Commerce City and Brighton for US 85 and 120th Avenue Project: Director LeBrie presented the intergovernmental agreement for Brighton to contribute approximately $2.1 million (single payment by February 28, 2027) as part of a local match for a $9.6 million Federal Railroad Administration grant. The project has been in planning since 1999; final design begins in 2026, with construction anticipated after 2030. Councilmember Green expressed frustration over the timeline and escalating costs. Councilmember Carbajal asked if the $2.1 million is the total commitment – staff clarified it covers only preliminary design; future construction costs are unknown. Council directed the mayor and city manager to pressure Adams County and CDOT to prioritize the project.
- Discussion of Term Limits for Boards and Commissions: City Attorney presented existing term limits on some boards (Parks and Recreation, Planning Commission, Sustainability Advisory Board, Historic Preservation Commission) and lack thereof on the Brighton Urban Renewal Authority (BURA), Housing Authority, and Youth Commission. Council debated standardization. Mayor Pro Tem proposed two consecutive four-year terms with ability to reapply after a break. Councilmember Snyder supported that, emphasizing the learning curve. Councilmember Worth preferred letting boards decide, warning of volunteer recruitment challenges. Councilmember Taddeo and Councilmember Fiedler favored uniformity. Councilmember Collins liked Westminster’s model of two-year rolling terms. Staff will draft an ordinance standardizing two consecutive four-year terms for all appointed advisory boards, with an exception for the Youth Commission (which has natural age limits).
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved (appointments and contract listing).
- Legislative direction: continue opposing preemption and unfunded mandates via lobbyists and CML.
- DDA board ordinance to be introduced for first reading on February 17, 2026.
- Graywater prohibition ordinance to be brought for action at a future regular meeting.
- Three MPA awards to be placed on the consent agenda for February 17, 2026.
- IGA with Commerce City: council indicated support; payment by February 28, 2027; staff to continue regional advocacy.
- Term limits: city attorney to prepare a draft ordinance for further council discussion.
No public comments or testimony were received.
Meeting Transcript
Like a few line items. It is a little bit of a short one. Yeah, we tend to see fewer procured contracts happening towards the end of the year. We'll see a lot more in January and February as we uh get into contracting the things that were adopted in the budget. Of course. Mayor Putin. I just wanted to comment on Ann's behalf how exciting excited she is to see a dog park construction on the list. And thank you for sharing this. Good thing to highlight. All right. If there's no other questions, thank you. Okay. Next is our legislative update, City Manager Martinez. Thank you, Mayor. At this time, I will ask Matthew LeCrew to come up and give the wonderful legislative update, as you may or may not be aware. Matt and his team, Purple Label Solutions have been our lobbyists for I think going on four years now. Is that right, Matt? That's correct. They've done a wonderful job lobbying on behalf of the City of Brighton's interests down at the Capitol. I did send you a link earlier today to the legislative bill tracker that's provided by Purple Label. So if you have your laptop in front of you now, you can feel free to click on that link and follow along to the bills that Matt will discuss tonight. Matt's here to give a high-level overview of some of those bills, but not necessarily dive into the dozen or so bills that we have been tracking. But I do encourage you to take a look at that link as we move through the legislative session because uh they often change or the positions change. So definitely take a look at some of the bills that may be more impactful to us in Brighton. And I will turn it over to Matt. All right, thank you, Mr. Martinez. Uh good evening, Mayor, members of council, staff, um Matt LaCrue with Purple Label Government Solutions. Pleasure to be here tonight. Um my partner Ellie Reynolds sends a regards. Uh we'll make sure she's here at our next meeting with join me. Uh we're just getting started. We're in the uh really the first month of the uh four and a half month uh legislative session this year. We kicked off in January. Uh we're in the second half of the 75th General Assembly. And so really what's what's um what's setting the theme and the tone of this session is uh we're in an election year, and so we're we're dealing with quite a bit. We're dealing with uh upcoming primaries, we're coming with um we're in a we we have a lame duck governor where the governor polis will be termed out um by the end of this year. And so that really kind of drives the agenda and the tone for what's happening down at the Capitol. Um and what you're seeing is um, you know, we are I wish I could come with better news that there are bills that are really um uh supportive of city government and local jurisdictions. The theme of this session is really affordability and looking at um addressing what's going on at the federal government. But with that in mind, it they're really the legislative body in the last few years has really gone after local jurisdictions and trying to preempt your authority as a home rule jurisdiction, um taking away your authority to regulate. And so we are seeing um several bills. Right now we're tracking over 25 pieces of legislation. There's about 300 bills that have been introduced to date. Uh typically in a session, we see about 600. So we're just getting started. Uh we'll have more to address with you um when I return um later this season. And so really looking at uh land use authority, uh taking away your authority as a governing body um to address the affordability crisis and and um uh you know, finding homes for affordable, but at uh at what stake and taking away your authority to regulate and and land use authority. So um uh uh that's a segue into House Bill, which is what they're considering the home act. They're calling that the home act.
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