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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Greeley City Council Work Session - April 14, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, April 14, 2026

BodyGreeley, Colorado

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, April 14, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

3:03

Speaker 1

3:03

the law.

Speaker 2

3:04

Mics are

Unassigned speaker

3:04

up.

Unassigned speaker

3:14

The

Speaker 3

3:14

meeting is now live.

Speaker 4

3:17

Thank you.

3:20

I call to order the work session of the Greedy City Council this fourteenth day of April twenty twenty-six.

3:26

Please stand if able and join me in resigning Budget of Allegiance.

Speaker 5

3:52

Mayor Protein McDonald.

3:56

Councilmember Reedy.

Speaker 4

4:01

Excuse.

4:02

I didn't know.

Speaker 5

4:04

And Mayor Hall.

Unassigned speaker

4:07

Let

Speaker 4

4:07

the record show that five members of council are in attendance, and Councilman Rudy is excused.

Speaker 1

4:34

So thank you to our city of Greeley team down there that got that all set up and ready to go for United Way.

Speaker 4

5:00

Very good.

5:01

Anyone else?

5:05

Very nice.

5:06

Okay.

5:06

Moving on to item number five.

5:09

Code compliance process improvement update.

5:12

We have Kelly Johnson and Buxton Demers.

5:19

Welcome.

Unassigned speaker

5:32

Good

Speaker 6

5:32

evening, Mayor and Council.

5:34

Thank you for having us here tonight.

5:36

I'm just gonna do a brief introduction uh because it's been a while since Buxton was here presenting this information.

5:42

So I just want to do a little recap of where we're

Unassigned speaker

5:44

Speaker 6

5:44

uh and what he's gonna present, and then also some of the next steps that we

Unassigned speaker

5:48

have.

Speaker 6

5:49

So just about a little more than a year ago, Buxton did a presentation that was focused on code compliance.

Unassigned speaker

5:55

Speaker 6

5:55

we had a lot of discussion at the time around increasing voluntary compliance.

6:00

Looking uh, your direction was to do a little additional research and um identify what are the ways in which the city might maintain that community first friendly orientation for code compliance, increase voluntary compliance.

6:15

And your instruction to us at the time was to look at both process and procedure as well as uh policy, including our code.

6:22

So Buxton has spent a significant amount of time doing a lot of research, including some ride-alongs to identify on both sides of that spectrum the policy side as well as

Unassigned speaker

6:34

the

Speaker 6

6:34

um opportunity for um tools and things that we might be able to implement that will continue to enhance and increase our voluntary code compliance, specifically on landscape code.

6:45

So Buxton has done um a great deal of research.

6:48

He's gonna present to you tonight some of his findings.

6:51

One of the things that we wanted to present to you, but we wanted to do it in the most methodical way, is some of the options that he's gonna be presenting to you in June around the actual code updates.

7:03

We had a couple of projects running in parallel.

7:05

This being one, you all know that we already had code changes coming forward for you.

7:10

We were already in a project to do

Unassigned speaker

7:12

that.

Unassigned speaker

7:13

Um,

Speaker 6

7:13

so we thought that tonight uh it would be best for Buxton to present the remainder of his findings and then community development and Buxton will join the presentation.

7:23

I think that's tentatively slated uh for June 9th to give you some of those options that he's uncovered as part of his research for how we might amend landscape code standards and things that other communities have done that it would be new information for you to consider in the comprehensive code update.

Speaker 7

7:43

Very good.

7:44

Buxton.

Unassigned speaker

7:45

Good

Speaker 2

7:46

evening,

Speaker 7

7:46

Mayor and Council.

7:47

Thank you for having me tonight.

Unassigned speaker

7:48

Uh,

Speaker 7

7:48

like Kelly said, tonight I'm gonna walk through our code compliance enforcement process, uh, highlight some of the education efforts we've recently implemented, and share a few observations related to enforcement tools.

7:58

The goal tonight is not to propose final changes, but to provide context and get direction from council on a few areas we may want to explore further.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Code Compliance█████████████████████████25%

Tourism Promotion██████████████████████22%

West Greeley Project████████████████16%

Emergency Management████████████12%

Economic Development██████████10%

Procedural█████5%

Zoning Regulation███3%

Community Engagement██2%

Engineering And Infrastructure██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Greeley City Council Work Session - April 14, 2026

The Greeley City Council held a work session on April 14, 2026, at 6:00 PM, adjourning at 7:35 PM. Mayor Hall presided. Councilmembers McDonald, DeBoutez, Olson, and Roth were present. Councilmember Rudy was excused and Ward I remains vacant. As a work session, no formal votes were taken; the meeting focused on discussion and providing staff direction.

Code Compliance Process Improvement Update

Presenters Kelly Johnson and Buxton Demers reviewed the current enforcement process, noting that administrative hearings consume approximately 3,000 staff hours annually (based on 578 hearings in 2025) and can take 4 to 7 weeks to resolve common violations. Staff recommended exploring new tools, including citations and faster abatement, used by peer cities like Aurora and Longmont.
Council discussed four options. Councilmembers Olson and Roth expressed support for a hybrid approach. Councilmember DeBoutez supported expedited ticketing authority for lower-level issues and faster abatement.
Key Outcome: Council reached consensus to pursue the hybrid approach (Option 4), which would deploy citations for lower-level issues (e.g., expired tags), faster abatement for nuisances (e.g., weeds, trash), and reserve hearings for complex cases. Staff was directed to evaluate and develop this model.

2025-2030 Hazard Mitigation Plan

Peter Perez and Dom Taddei (Office of Emergency Management) presented the Weld County Hazard Mitigation Plan update. A key statistic highlighted that every $1 invested in federal mitigation saves $6 in future disaster recovery costs. The plan is required for eligibility for FEMA grants like the BRIC program.
Key Outcome: Purely informational. A resolution to adopt the FEMA-approved plan will be presented to the council for approval at its next regular meeting (likely April 21 or 28).

2025 Visit Greeley End of Year Tourism Annual Report

Jacqueline presented the tourism report, detailing the successful 2025 rebuild year. Key data from the new Zartico platform (funded by a $15,000 state grant) showed visitors represented 10–17% of the city's population per quarter, with 52–61% coming from out of state. Hotel occupancy hit 83–85% during peak quarters, and 25% of visitor spending supports local businesses.
Councilmember Olson inquired about the return on investment for the ~$850,000 annual lodging tax expenditure and questioned the impact of oil and gas workers on hotel occupancy data. He requested a clearer ROI formula.
Key Outcome: Informational report. Staff will develop ROI metrics and further analyze visitor origin data.

West Greeley Project Update

Deputy City Manager Brett Naber and Project Manager John Herkey provided an update. Following the repeal of the Catalyst PUD, site grading has been paused and stabilized. The Boyd water line installation will proceed to completion ($16 million total, $12.5 million spent). The interchange design (CR 17 / Hwy 34) is at roughly 25–30% with an estimated cost of ~$70 million. Private development designs (hotel, water park, arena) are paused at 80–89% completion.
Councilmember Roth suggested potential savings of $5–15 million on the interchange design. Councilmember Olson advocated for immediately starting the rezoning process for the city's 110 acres to avoid future delays, a move supported by Mayor Hall.
Key Outcome: Council directed staff to begin the rezoning process for the city-owned 110 acres alongside the work of the newly forming oversight committee. A financial update will be provided at the April 28 meeting.

Meeting Transcript

On the law. Mics are up. The meeting is now live. Thank you. I call to order the work session of the Greedy City Council this fourteenth day of April twenty twenty-six. Please stand if able and join me in resigning Budget of Allegiance. Mayor Protein McDonald. Councilmember Reedy. Excuse. I didn't know. And Mayor Hall. Let the record show that five members of council are in attendance, and Councilman Rudy is excused. So thank you to our city of Greeley team down there that got that all set up and ready to go for United Way. Very good. Anyone else? Very nice. Okay. Moving on to item number five. Code compliance process improvement update. We have Kelly Johnson and Buxton Demers. Welcome. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank you for having us here tonight. I'm just gonna do a brief introduction uh because it's been a while since Buxton was here presenting this information. So I just want to do a little recap of where we're at uh and what he's gonna present, and then also some of the next steps that we have. So just about a little more than a year ago, Buxton did a presentation that was focused on code compliance. Um we had a lot of discussion at the time around increasing voluntary compliance. Looking uh, your direction was to do a little additional research and um identify what are the ways in which the city might maintain that community first friendly orientation for code compliance, increase voluntary compliance. And your instruction to us at the time was to look at both process and procedure as well as uh policy, including our code. So Buxton has spent a significant amount of time doing a lot of research, including some ride-alongs to identify on both sides of that spectrum the policy side as well as the um opportunity for um tools and things that we might be able to implement that will continue to enhance and increase our voluntary code compliance, specifically on landscape code. So Buxton has done um a great deal of research. He's gonna present to you tonight some of his findings. One of the things that we wanted to present to you, but we wanted to do it in the most methodical way, is some of the options that he's gonna be presenting to you in June around the actual code updates. We had a couple of projects running in parallel. This being one, you all know that we already had code changes coming forward for you. We were already in a project to do that. Um, so we thought that tonight uh it would be best for Buxton to present the remainder of his findings and then community development and Buxton will join the presentation.

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TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
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Greeley City Council Work Session - April 14, 2026

Code Compliance Process Improvement Update

Presenters Kelly Johnson and Buxton Demers reviewed the current enforcement process, noting that administrative hearings consume approximately 3,000 staff hours annually (based on 578 hearings in 2025) and can take 4 to 7 weeks to resolve common violations. Staff recommended exploring new tools, including citations and faster abatement, used by peer cities like Aurora and Longmont.

Council discussed four options. Councilmembers Olson and Roth expressed support for a hybrid approach. Councilmember DeBoutez supported expedited ticketing authority for lower-level issues and faster abatement.

Key Outcome: Council reached consensus to pursue the hybrid approach (Option 4), which would deploy citations for lower-level issues (e.g., expired tags), faster abatement for nuisances (e.g., weeds, trash), and reserve hearings for complex cases. Staff was directed to evaluate and develop this model.

2025-2030 Hazard Mitigation Plan

Peter Perez and Dom Taddei (Office of Emergency Management) presented the Weld County Hazard Mitigation Plan update. A key statistic highlighted that every $1 invested in federal mitigation saves $6 in future disaster recovery costs. The plan is required for eligibility for FEMA grants like the BRIC program.

Key Outcome: Purely informational. A resolution to adopt the FEMA-approved plan will be presented to the council for approval at its next regular meeting (likely April 21 or 28).

2025 Visit Greeley End of Year Tourism Annual Report

Jacqueline presented the tourism report, detailing the successful 2025 rebuild year. Key data from the new Zartico platform (funded by a $15,000 state grant) showed visitors represented 10–17% of the city's population per quarter, with 52–61% coming from out of state. Hotel occupancy hit 83–85% during peak quarters, and 25% of visitor spending supports local businesses.

Councilmember Olson inquired about the return on investment for the ~$850,000 annual lodging tax expenditure and questioned the impact of oil and gas workers on hotel occupancy data. He requested a clearer ROI formula.

Key Outcome: Informational report. Staff will develop ROI metrics and further analyze visitor origin data.

West Greeley Project Update

Deputy City Manager Brett Naber and Project Manager John Herkey provided an update. Following the repeal of the Catalyst PUD, site grading has been paused and stabilized. The Boyd water line installation will proceed to completion ($16 million total, $12.5 million spent). The interchange design (CR 17 / Hwy 34) is at roughly 25–30% with an estimated cost of ~$70 million. Private development designs (hotel, water park, arena) are paused at 80–89% completion.

Councilmember Roth suggested potential savings of $5–15 million on the interchange design. Councilmember Olson advocated for immediately starting the rezoning process for the city's 110 acres to avoid future delays, a move supported by Mayor Hall.

Key Outcome: Council directed staff to begin the rezoning process for the city-owned 110 acres alongside the work of the newly forming oversight committee. A financial update will be provided at the April 28 meeting.

Meeting Transcript