On June 26, 2019, the Court held a status conference on the lawsuit over repayment of the taxpayer loans paid to the developers who want to develop the land around Dinosaur Ridge.
The judge handling the case retired. The Chief Judge for the District will now handle the case.
Brookfield announced they are still trying to force through the settlement. Lakewood’s attorney (not Cox – a private attorney hired by Cox) said the City opposes the settlement. Jeffco’s attorney said they are still interested in trying to make the settlement work. But Jeffco is still taking a “back seat”.
Green Tree (Three Dinos) will file their motion to dismiss some of the City and County claims. The City will file a motion to resolve these issues as well.
They both believe deciding these motions may move the case to a settlement.
The next status conference (have the motions been filed and set a date for the hearing or is there a new settlement) is set for September 12, 2019 at 8:00 in Div. 12.
Right now it still appears that the City and County don’t really care very much – but we will see what they file.
And by the way, the Three Dinos recently published their most recent audit showing once again that Brookfield is repaying itself for its share of the loan – with lot fees from Solterra.
So, once again, instead of spending the residents’ lot fees on infrastructure for Solterra, Brookfield is using that money to repay its loan to the Three Dinos.
So, tell me again, what are the Solterra residents paying for with their $2 million a year payment to pay interest on $29 million in bonds issued by the developer the past 11 years. $29 million paid directly to Brookfield – being financed with Solterra resident property taxes. But that is another story to be addressed in more detail the next several months.
Here again is a summary of the background:
The Three Dinos started with mega car lots. That was turned away by 22,000 residents who persuaded Jeffco Commissioners to deny the request (all of whom recently opposed 200). Now the Three Dinos want to build warehouses.
But the Three Dinos owe the taxpayers of Lakewood and Jeffco $9 million plus interest since 2008.
And Jeffco and Lakewood officials have not been very interested in getting that money paid back.
For example, the City and County have not advocated the most sensible solution – repayment of this debt owed to the taxpayers – in land.
The City and County attorneys both announced publicly and to the Court that they were taking a back seat in the litigation. And they have.
Brookfield (calling itself “Solterra” – they seem consistently embarrassed to disclose who they really are) is leading the effort to force through a settlement.
Brookfield also paid money to the Three Dinos. They initiated the lawsuit against the Three Dinos.
But when you look at the proposed settlement it really doesn’t have much to do with repaying the money. It has everything to do with who will control development of Rooney Valley.
The money won’t be paid back by the Three Dinos. It will be paid back by the future residents’ property taxes. Taxing future residents to pay back past residents – and no money from the people who profited from that money – the Three Dinos.
And through the settlement, the City and County will not object to Big Sky (Brookfield) expanding its boundaries to include Rooney Valley and becoming a mega special district for Rooney Valley.
Here is a more detailed evaluation of the proposed settlement: http://solterracommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Loan-Response-to-Settlement-Agreement.pdf
Stay tuned.
John Henderson
Thank you, Mr. Henderson.