OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Castle Rock Town Council Meeting – October 21, 2025

Town Council — Tuesday, October 21, 2025
BodyCastle Rock, Colorado
SessionTown Council
DateTuesday, October 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:42:31

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Heavenly Father, we ask for your guidance, wisdom, and support as beginning this meeting.

0:05

We gather here today intent on doing good work.

0:08

We seek to represent fairly and well those who give this task.

0:12

Help us engage in meaningful discussion.

0:14

Give us clarity and strength to use our best skills and judgment.

0:17

Bless this community, residents, businesses, and visitors.

0:21

And help us continue doing good work in your name.

0:24

Amen.

0:26

Call to order roll call, please.

0:28

Councilmember Hollingshead.

0:29

Here.

0:30

Councilmember Bracken.

0:31

Councilmember Davis.

0:32

Here.

0:33

Councilmember Brooks is absent.

0:35

Councilmember Deeds.

0:37

Here.

0:37

Mayor Pro Tem KV.

0:38

Yes.

0:39

Mayor Gray.

0:40

Here.

0:41

Please rise the pleasure students.

0:47

I mean, uh individual.

1:06

Well, again, thanks again for everybody coming tonight.

1:09

Um wanted to start off with a couple things.

1:11

One uh first, uh, I want to continue with uh a couple of different two different things.

1:15

One is I want to continue with uh just uh recognition of breast cancer awareness month, uh October, and uh I know that a lot of people have battled this and continue to about battle battled us and and uh have either succumbed or overcome their battle.

1:30

So it's it's something that I think about a lot.

1:32

So I would appreciate you guys uh thinking about it as well.

1:35

Um also as a lot of people know in this room, I I've been trying to take a few minutes to talk about each department.

1:41

Um I try to keep it to uh you know 30 or 35 minute uh talk.

1:48

So I hope you guys are here for the long haul.

1:50

Um but uh tonight's about water.

1:52

Um I could go on on about water, so I'm gonna try to keep it a little little little less but usable.

1:57

But uh tonight when I focus on the water team.

1:59

They have a great group of professionals.

2:00

They hold over 120 state professional operators of certifications.

2:04

2024, Castle Rock Water was recognized as an international conference for the water environment federation for the largest and most influential water organizations in the world, the award of utility of future of today.

2:17

Um and then that we've been living up to that that recognition, leading the way in water efficiency, water reuse, implementation, new technology.

2:25

Um our own Mark Marlowe coined the phrase Colorado Scape, a term that has been adopted statewide or co-opted statewide.

2:34

Um we were at a com uh CML a couple years ago when uh we heard the governor first use it in the sentence, and and uh Mark almost came out of his chair.

2:43

Um then uh in water reuse, uh we created a water system allowing us to reuse um most of all our water to extinction.

2:52

Again, one of the first in Colorado saving money on water in the community in the future.

2:56

Castle Rock Water is one of the first water providers in Colorado to meet treatment requirements for forever chemicals, which we have seen in the news and doesn't go into effect in 2027, but we're ahead of the game.

3:07

Recently, the water became the first collar to implement the full-scale pilot test using AI to identify water leaks around the clock.

3:15

Advanced meter um infrastructure is almost fully in place, and soon customers will see their water usage in real time.

3:23

And what in the summer, the Cal Rock's water team professionals were the first in South uh first South Metro water provider to host what became the an annual South Metro Water Festival, bringing well over a thousand folks a day of to today of the water education, and Castle Rock Water is leading South Metro providers in developing renewable water supplies and protecting our non-renewable Denver basin groundwater for the future with a multi-award-winning Plum Creek water water prefecation facility running off at 100% of renewable water this summer for the first time.

3:54

And again, there's uh you know it's it's it's one of our most expensive well, all of our stuff is expensive, but uh water is especially expensive 750 million dollars of worth worth of water infrastructure, and we have 120 um employees, professionals um who are running that department uh um to the utmost superiority in the in the nation.

4:15

One of the one percent uh facilities um in the nation.

4:19

Um it's all of our all of our facilities and great, and I can go on forever put with a lot of them.

4:23

So uh but but it's really impressive what the uh Mark Marlowe and his team is doing.

4:27

So I want to thank everybody.

4:31

Um with that, Councilmember Hollinshead.

4:36

Mayor wasn't gonna say anything, but I think I should follow up with water too.

4:38

You know, I think a lot of um cities in Colorado don't have a plan with with water.

4:42

They're kind of hoping for the best, and we see water in the news all the time, but um we have plans and plans on plans upon plans um for years and years and years out, and Castrock is is in good shape, and that's been again due to great leadership in that department, and and we are in good shape for the future.

4:57

So um, as many of you are here because you want to be more informed about the town.

5:01

Um I hope that you've learned that too in your your town academy journey that um Castle Rock's in good shape in that department.

5:07

So thanks.

5:08

Thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Land Use████████████████████20%
Public Engagement██████████████14%
Procedural███████████11%
Traffic Management███████████11%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████9%
Arts And Culture████████8%
Community Engagement███████7%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████5%
Personnel Matters█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Castle Rock Town Council Meeting – October 21, 2025

The Castle Rock Town Council met Tuesday, October 21, 2025, in Council Chambers at Town Hall, 100 North Wilcox Street. The meeting began at approximately 6:00 p.m. Six members were present at roll call; Councilmember Brooks arrived at 6:54 p.m. Council comments recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month and commended the Water Department, and Councilmember Dietz noted the Crystal Valley interchange bridge is scheduled to open November 22. Council approved the agenda, the consent calendar, the 2024 Model Traffic Code, the 2025–2026 art and culture grants, the Escavara odor consulting amendment, the Crystal Valley Ranch conveyance and MOU, supplemental 2025 budget appropriations, and a right-of-way vacation. The meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m.

Consent Calendar

  • The agenda was approved 6-0 (Bracken/Hollingshead; Brooks absent).
  • The consent calendar was approved 6-0 (Bracken/Cavey). It included ORD 2025-033 (stormwater, renewable water resource, water and wastewater system development fees, and water/wastewater/stormwater rates and surcharges); ORD 2025-032 (2026 fiscal year budget); RES 2025-128 (purchase of two Velocity fire engines from Front Range Fire Apparatus); 2026 funding agreements with the Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Development Authority, Downtown Merchants Association, Economic Development Council, Historical Society, and Senior Center; RES 2025-135 (Douglas County Community Foundation); RES 2025-136 (Douglas County Housing Partnership); RES 2025-137 (Douglas County Youth Initiative); Proclamation 2025-014 (Crash Responder Safety Week, November 17–21, 2025); and the October 7, 2025 minutes.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Dana Frazee (President, Tri Arts Program/TAP) thanked the Council and Town Manager for buying the Cantril School building as a community arts center. She cited more than 110 creative classes for 562 students, over 150 attendees at vocal arts and authors programs, and five art exhibitions attended by roughly 150–160 people, and invited Council to a future art class.
  • Brad Patton, a resident near the Escavara sewer, said he was pleased with short-term odor results and asked that the long-term solution be codified so future budget changes or staff turnover do not allow the problem to return.
  • David Cosel presented a petition from Crystal Valley residents asking Council to add a fourth option with a 250–300 foot buffer between existing homes and future development.
  • Mark Stromfeld, a resident, asked Council to weigh declining property values, construction impacts, and loss of open space, and to prioritize the community over a single developer.
  • No public comment was offered on ORD 2025-036, DIR 2025-031, ORD 2025-037, or ORD 2025-038.

Town Manager's Report

  • Assistant Town Manager Kristin Reed presented the Your Town Academy graduating class, the program's 10th year, with close to 300 graduates and about 20 participants completing eight weeks and over 20 hours of sessions.
  • Town Manager David Corliss gave calendar reminders, introduced the 2026 service contract funding requests on the consent calendar, and referenced monthly department reports and third-quarter major projects.

Discussion Items

  • Model Traffic Code (ORD 2025-036, first reading): Town Attorney Mike Hyman presented the adoption by reference, with amendments, of the Colorado Model Traffic Code November 2024 Revision 1.0. Changes include new rules for electric scooters and autocycles, traffic filtering, vulnerable road-user protections, local amendments limiting low-speed electric vehicles to 30 mph, clarifying golf carts as off-highway in most cases, and authorizing impoundment for unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured drivers. Mayor Pro Tem Cavey opposed lane filtering but acknowledged a court decision restricts local removal. Approved 6-0.
  • Art and Culture Grant Program (DIR 2025-031): Maia Yates and Parks Commission Chair Jen Perry presented six recommended grants totaling $30,683.15: three project grants ($5,000 aerial acrobatic performance; $5,000 Castle Rock Music community stage; Parks and Trails Foundation chainsaw-carved sculpture), two program grants ($4,968 Castle Rock Band; $10,000 Tri-Arts Project at Cantril), and one educator grant (songwriting workshops). Funding comes from the public art fund, not from ballot measure 2A. The 2026–2027 cycle will open earlier with an information session and posted rubric. Approved 7-0.
  • Escavara Odor Evaluation (RES 2025-138): Castle Rock Water Director Mark Marlowe reported odor complaints have decreased and hydrogen sulfide concentrations are near zero on average after operational changes, but additional work is needed. Council approved a $146,922 first amendment to the Carollo Engineers services agreement extending work to March 2026. The Water Commission unanimously recommended approval. Approved 7-0.
  • Crystal Valley Ranch Conveyance (RES 2025-139): Development Services Director Tara Vargish explained that the 20-acre parcel must be reconveyed to CVR PA3A LLC under a prior development agreement because the school district declined to build a school. The recommended MOU, Option 3, provides an increased buffer on the east side (about 135 feet, 86 feet, and 133 feet in different areas) and reduces public road connections. Residents requested a larger 250–300 foot buffer. Councilmember Dietz questioned the developer about a $500,000 payment to the school district and called procedural elements suspicious. The motion passed 6-1, with the sole no vote recorded in the minutes as Councilmember Dietz; the raw transcript's roll call appears to attribute the no vote to Councilmember Brooks, conflicting with the minutes and Brooks's stated support.
  • Supplemental Appropriations (ORD 2025-037, first reading): Finance Director Trish Muller presented a third amendment to the 2025 budget increasing expenditures by $11,530,426, offset by $2,958,326 in revenues, for the Fifth Street project, employee medical benefits, Castle Rock Water repairs and rebates, future Wise water subscription capacity, Sports Development Center debt service, special events, golf course operations, and part-time community center benefits. Approved 7-0.
  • Prairie Hawk Right-of-Way Vacation (ORD 2025-038, first reading): Vargish presented the vacation of 0.42 acres of unneeded right-of-way west of Prairie Hawk Drive and south of Topeka Way, to be absorbed into the Brickyard development; utility easements will be preserved and Prairie Hawk Drive rebuilt as a paved town street. Approved 7-0.
  • Boards and Commissions Requirements (DIR 2025-032): Town Manager Corliss led a discussion on remote participation, attendance, terms, and residency. Council consensus was to disallow remote board interviews and remote attendance, with a possible in-person alternate date for incumbents; require residency with exceptions for the Downtown Development Authority and Water Commission (businesses/extraterritorial customers paying water bills); standardize terms to two three-year terms; use an attendance percentage rather than a fixed two-meeting forfeiture; eliminate excused absences; and retain the word may in forfeiture language so absences can be reviewed. Staff will return with ordinance changes, including review of possibly consolidating the Board of Building Appeals.

Key Outcomes

  • Agenda approved 6-0; consent calendar approved 6-0.
  • ORD 2025-036 approved 6-0.
  • DIR 2025-031 approved 7-0.
  • RES 2025-138 approved 7-0.
  • RES 2025-139 approved 6-1; minutes identify Councilmember Dietz as the no vote, though the transcript conflict noted above should be reconciled.
  • ORD 2025-037 approved 7-0.
  • ORD 2025-038 approved 7-0.
  • Staff directed to prepare board/commission ordinance amendments and to investigate combining the Board of Building Appeals with another body.
  • The 2026–2027 art and culture grant cycle will open earlier in 2025, with an information session and published rubric.
  • Meeting adjourned 7-0 at 8:43 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Heavenly Father, we ask for your guidance, wisdom, and support as beginning this meeting. We gather here today intent on doing good work. We seek to represent fairly and well those who give this task. Help us engage in meaningful discussion. Give us clarity and strength to use our best skills and judgment. Bless this community, residents, businesses, and visitors. And help us continue doing good work in your name. Amen. Call to order roll call, please. Councilmember Hollingshead. Here. Councilmember Bracken. Councilmember Davis. Here. Councilmember Brooks is absent. Councilmember Deeds. Here. Mayor Pro Tem KV. Yes. Mayor Gray. Here. Please rise the pleasure students. I mean, uh individual. Well, again, thanks again for everybody coming tonight. Um wanted to start off with a couple things. One uh first, uh, I want to continue with uh a couple of different two different things. One is I want to continue with uh just uh recognition of breast cancer awareness month, uh October, and uh I know that a lot of people have battled this and continue to about battle battled us and and uh have either succumbed or overcome their battle. So it's it's something that I think about a lot. So I would appreciate you guys uh thinking about it as well. Um also as a lot of people know in this room, I I've been trying to take a few minutes to talk about each department. Um I try to keep it to uh you know 30 or 35 minute uh talk. So I hope you guys are here for the long haul. Um but uh tonight's about water. Um I could go on on about water, so I'm gonna try to keep it a little little little less but usable. But uh tonight when I focus on the water team. They have a great group of professionals. They hold over 120 state professional operators of certifications. 2024, Castle Rock Water was recognized as an international conference for the water environment federation for the largest and most influential water organizations in the world, the award of utility of future of today. Um and then that we've been living up to that that recognition, leading the way in water efficiency, water reuse, implementation, new technology. Um our own Mark Marlowe coined the phrase Colorado Scape, a term that has been adopted statewide or co-opted statewide. Um we were at a com uh CML a couple years ago when uh we heard the governor first use it in the sentence, and and uh Mark almost came out of his chair. Um then uh in water reuse, uh we created a water system allowing us to reuse um most of all our water to extinction. Again, one of the first in Colorado saving money on water in the community in the future. Castle Rock Water is one of the first water providers in Colorado to meet treatment requirements for forever chemicals, which we have seen in the news and doesn't go into effect in 2027, but we're ahead of the game. Recently, the water became the first collar to implement the full-scale pilot test using AI to identify water leaks around the clock. Advanced meter um infrastructure is almost fully in place, and soon customers will see their water usage in real time. And what in the summer, the Cal Rock's water team professionals were the first in South uh first South Metro water provider to host what became the an annual South Metro Water Festival, bringing well over a thousand folks a day of to today of the water education, and Castle Rock Water is leading South Metro providers in developing renewable water supplies and protecting our non-renewable Denver basin groundwater for the future with a multi-award-winning Plum Creek water water prefecation facility running off at 100% of renewable water this summer for the first time. And again, there's uh you know it's it's it's one of our most expensive well, all of our stuff is expensive, but uh water is especially expensive 750 million dollars of worth worth of water infrastructure, and we have 120 um employees, professionals um who are running that department uh um to the utmost superiority in the in the nation. One of the one percent uh facilities um in the nation. Um it's all of our all of our facilities and great, and I can go on forever put with a lot of them.

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