December 18, 2011

OPEN LETTER TO CITY OF GOLDEN COUNCILORS:

We appreciate the “good government” exhibited by Golden City Council in dealing with the “Beltway” issues. Over the past year, your willingness to design multiple ways to ensure citizen input, apply reasoned judgment, and then negotiate for Golden’s best interests is much appreciated. We also commend the diligent and informed efforts put forth by the city’s experienced staff. In general, we agree with the positions taken in the draft agreement for the following reasons:

1. We believe it provides the best chance we’ll have to keep a “high- speed” tollway out of Golden and we should act now.
2. It provides significantly favorable terms and benefits to Golden.
3. Given the economic times, we believe it is unlikely we will be able to get the original Muller Plan fully funded anytime in the near, or even distant, future. Therefore, securing part of the funds ($57M) needed for a revised Muller Plan is a good benefit.
4. It avoids complicating the agreement by involving issues that are not pertinent to Golden.

However, we do believe that your approval of the final agreement language should be contingent on assuring that many details are examined closely and concluded without detriment to Golden. Some of these details are:

1. The final Intergovernmental Agreement must be enforceable.
2. Responsibility for likely cost overruns must be assigned.
3. The allocated funds must be independent of funding that would otherwise be allocated to future Golden area Hwy 6 and Hwy 93 improvements.
4. A strategy needs to be considered for addressing future traffic mitigation needed at the intersection of Hwy 6 and Heritage Road.

Sincerely,
The Trustees of the Golden Good Government League

Bill Robie, Vicki Wagner, Marv Kay, Jean Garrabrant, Ray Goodhart, Mary Ceynowa, Meg VanNess, Greg Holden, Marv DeSelm, Gene Child, Warren Spaulding, Tim Pasquarelli, Barb Greenhagen and Casey Brown