Rooney Valley News

 

 

 

 

Citizens’ Town Hall is Thursday at 6:30 pm September 9, 2021.

 

 

ISSUE:   Extraterritorial service outside the Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District boundary.

 

 

HISTORY:    Description of significant events and links to  significant documents:

 

 

1951  

A group of citizens petitioned the court to create a water and sanitation district which, after a merger, becomes the Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District.

 

• The service plan approved by the Court defined the boundary and the purpose:

 

• • ” 2. The present purpose of the District is to provide a complete waterworks distribution system for the district and the inhabitants thereof.“

 

Green Mountain Service Plan 1

 

• The Green Mountain Service Plan has never been amended to allow the district to provide waterworks outside the district boundary.

 

• The Green Mountain Service Plan has never been amended to provide waterworks for anyone other than inhabitants of the district.

 

• The process to amend a Service Plan includes public hearings.

 

 

 

November 16, 1976     

 

A separate district, The Mount Carbon Water and Sanitation District was created to provide water and sanitation service to  Rooney Valley.  (2004 Bond page 22).

 

Mt. Carbon Bond

 

Mt. Carbon boundary (Exhibit B to Bond)

 

 

 

• The 2002 Rooney Valley “Joint Master Plan” relied upon Mt. Carbon to provide water and sanitation services to Rooney Valley.  (Plan p. 20-21).

 

RVMP-joint2002

 

 

• Following bankruptcy proceedings that began in 1997 a final order and reorganization plan was approved in 2003, re-establishing the Mount Carbon Water and Sanitation District as the sanitation district for Rooney Valley.  (Bond p. 25).

 

 

• Lakewood, Morrison and Jefferson County entered into a new IGA with Mt. Carbon on November 4, 2003,  establishing Mt. Carbon’s purpose to provide water and sanitation services to residents in Rooney Valley.  (Bond p. 22)

 

 

 

2007   

 

Solterra  –   the very first residential development in Rooney Valley and the first residential district to ask Green Mountain for extraterritorial sewer service.

(screen shots of documents are Green Mountain Board minutes)

 

• The developer was Carma – later bought by Brookfield.
  • The lead developer was Tom Morton.
  • Tom Morton presided over Solterra during the years he cancelled public elections for the board of directors and issued bond debt without resident approval.
  • Tom Morton is the now the lead developer for Big Sky.

 

 

• Solterra took itself out of the Mt. Carbon Sanitation District and then asked the Green Mountain District to provide sanitation service instead.
  • Solterra residents must still pay the Mt. Carbon 20 mill tax rate. (See Mt. Carbon 1976 Court docket)

 

 

• February 13, 2007  Charles Norton’s law firm is retained to provide advice to the board on extraterritorial service to Solterra.  (Board minutes 2-13-2007)

• • Adam Paul is VP of Green Mountain and Charles Norton is his college teacher and mentor.
  • The firm continues as general counsel 11 years until September, 2018.
  • Charles Norton splits from the firm and later represents Big Sky
  • Mr. Norton and his ex-partners work out the May 8, 2018 election night Big Sky IGA on behalf of Big Sky and Green Mountain.

 

 

• July 10, 2007  the Green Mountain manager, staff, Norton’s firm and Terry Kenyon negotiate a proposed agreement to provide extraterritorial service for Solterra – first extraterritorial service to a residential development outside the district boundary.

 

• • No public hearing.

 

• • No discussion about the Service Plan limits on the boundary and purpose “to provide a complete waterworks distribution system for the district and the inhabitants thereof.”

 

• • No amendment of the Service Plan to provide service to non-inhabitants outside the district.

 

• • The Board decides inclusion is better than an IGA – making the Solterra residents part of the district.

 

 

 

• August 28, 2007.   After an executive session with Mr. Morton’s firm, and without a  public hearing, the board abandoned their initial decision for inclusion and entered into an IGA with Solterra which expires in 2023.

 

• • Solterra residents have no vote and pay a 25% higher fee for less service.

 

 

 

• Green Mountain provides provisional water and sewage services to Solterra so they can begin construction and host the “Parade of Homes” marketing and sales event.

 

 

 

• Jay Hutchinson of City of Lakewood talks to Green Mountain about
  •  its role in promoting the development of Rooney Valley and
  • Rooney Valley developer plans to include Green Mountain in the development of Rooney Valley.

 

• • Adam Paul is now on the Lakewood City Council

 

 

 

• November 2007   Discussions are initiated with potential new Rooney Valley residential developments to follow in Solterra’s footsteps – Green Tree and others.

 

• • No public hearings

 

• • No amendment to the Green Mountain Service Plan

 

• • No discussion regarding limits on service and purpose “to provide waterworks to the district and inhabitants thereof.”

 

 

 

 

• November, 2007   Lew Short, former board member and now consultant to water and sanitation companies explains his philosophy about extraterritorial service to newly elected board members:

 

• • “Green Mountain does not solicit additional customers, but will consider additional service areas when no other cost effective options are available for future development”

 

(Interpretation – its up to the developer to decide.  If he believes its cheaper for him to build a future development  in Rooney Valley using Green Mountain than Mt. Carbon,  then its ok to provide extraterritorial service.)

 

• • No discussion of limits to Service Plan boundary and service to “provide waterworks to the district and the inhabitants thereof”.

 

• • No discussion about amending Service Plan

 

• • No discussion about public hearings

 

• • No discussion that any policy is subject to change by future boards

 

• • No discussion about who came up with this approach, that it violates the service plan, when this approach was discussed by the board and whether the public was involved in coming up with this policy.

 

 

 

 

2008 – 2018  

 

• Tom Morton, having moved from lead developer for Solterra to lead developer for Big Sky and Rooney Valley
• continues to assume Green Mountain will provide extraterritorial service
• under his direction:

 

 

• Big Sky makes a presentation to provide sewage through Green Mountain to all of Rooney Valley

 

 

 

 

• Mr. Morton asks the District to prepare cost estimates for improvements to the Districts system to accommodate new development in Rooney Valley

 

 

 

 

• Mr. Morton explains there are at least three developments that want sewage through Green Mountain (instead of Mt. Carbon) and run by Big Sky – Green Tree (Dinosaur Ridge development area), CDN (Big Sky) and Lightner property (Cardell Homes).

 

• Each development has  left or will leave the Mt. Carbon Sanitation district they are already part of in order to be able to ask Green Mountain to provide sewer.  (See Mt. Carbon 1976 Court docket for motions to exclude)

 

 

 

• One of Big Sky’s attorneys explains in October, 2018 that

 

• • setting up Big Sky as a new sanitation district
  • for all of Rooney Valley
  • without a public hearing
  • using Green Mountain’s resources
  • is good “public policy”
  • because its cheaper for the developers

 

” [Big Sky] will essentially act as a master meter for the properties” . . .  “without such service [Big Sky Sewer System in the IGA] development of the Project could not take place.”  . . .  [except “such service” is in fact available from Mt. Carbon and there are other alternatives]

“[e]nabling development within the Rooney Valley has the potential to increase property values of the future residents of the Districts“. . . . [particularly the value of the land for the developers ]

“The [Big Sky]  IGA provides a streamlined approach to sewer service in the Rooney Valley which has the added benefit of avoiding duplication of facilities and services, and makes sewer facility construction and transmission of wastewater to Green Mountain the most efficient and economical solution, which is all intended to benefit the Districts, the properties service and Green Mountain. ”

 

Here is the complete memo from Big Sky’s attorney

Big Sky – White Bear Memo

 

Here is a response

Green Mountain Big Sky Lakewood Memo 1-21-19 2

 

 

• Mr. Morton complains to the Green Mountain board that Solterra (which he formally ran) is taking too long in working up their part of the sewer line sharing agreement.

 

 

 

 

• Mr. Morton directs Green Mountain’s attorney to draft an extraterritorial agreement between Big Sky and Green Mountain

 

 

 

 

• Mr. Morton  (lead developer for Big Sky) requests a will serve letter from Green Mountain for the Bandimere property.

 

 

 

 

• Appears that Mr. Morton (Big Sky) assumes that Green Mountain is working for them to develop Rooney Valley by providing sewer to all the new developments in Rooney Valley through Big Sky

 

 

 

May 8, 2018  –  

• The Big Sky IGA is presented to the board for the first time and
• voted on election night with
• virtually no discussion
• as the old board majority is being voted out of office.

 

 

 

• This is the second decision to provide extraterritorial service to a development in Rooney Valley that took itself out of the Mt. Carbon district, still has to pay the Mt. Carbon tax and knocks on Green Mountain’s door to provide sanitation service instead of Mt. Carbon.  (Solterra was the first)

 

 

• Norton’s prior firm retained in 2007 is still counsel to the board.  Norton is now representing Big Sky and his prior firm is representing Green Mountain.

 

 

• The IGA establishes Big Sky as the new sanitation district for all of Rooney Valley using Green Mountain’s resources.

 

 

• No public hearings

 

 

• No approval from  the City of Lakewood to amend the Big Sky Service Plan

 

 

• No proposal to amend Green Mountain’s Service Plan

 

 

• There are numerous defects in the agreement and process

 

 

• Green Mountain incurs financial and managerial obligations short term and long term

 

 

• Former Board counsel and former manager actively obstruct the new board’s efforts to obtain information about the Big Sky IGA

 

Green Mountain Big Sky IGA

 

 

 

 

• September, 2018 the new (current) Board issues a resolution announcing that it is evaluating the IGA and may cancel the agreement

 

Green Mountain Declaration 9-4-2018

 

 

 

• November, 2018 the new (current) Board issues a notice of preliminary defects associated with the Big Sky IGA

 

Green Mountain Declaration November 2, 2018

 

 

• December 2018 Big Sky repeatedly threatens to sue the new Green Mountain Board in response to the new board’s efforts to address the problems with the Big Sky IGA.

 

 

• January, 2019 there is a public hearing and debate about terminating the Big Sky IGA

 

 

• April 9, 2019 the new (current) Board passes a detailed resolution terminating the Big Sky IGA with a list of reasons for saying “no” to this second attempt at extraterritorial service for Rooney Valley.

 

Green Mountain Adopted Resolution Terminating Big Sky IGA April 9, 2019

 

 

• June, 2019 Big Sky sues the new Green Mountain board followed by four additional lawsuits by Rooney Valley developers – CDN (Big Sky’s developer), Green Tree, Stream Realty (Green  Tree’s developer) and Cardell Homes.

 

Green Mountain Lawsuit CDN – Complaint

 

 

• August 19, 2021 the District Court dismisses all the cases essentially holding that the Big Sky IGA was illegal and void.

 

Order_ Cross Motion for Summary Judgment

 

Order_ Responses to Order of May 6 2021

 

Order_ Motion for Leave to File Amended Answers

 

 

• An appeal, previously filed prematurely, is expected to be re-filed.

 

 

The essence of

• what the new board told the Rooney Valley developers and
• what the Court told the Rooney Valley developers and
• what most of the residents have been telling the Rooney Valley developers is:
• “we want a seat at the table”. 

 

You can’t comply with TABOR and you can’t comply with the Local Government Budgeting Act without public hearings on extraterritorial service.   (The Court dismissed the cases based upon TABOR and the Local Government Budgeting Act.)

 

You can’t change the Green Mountain and Big Sky Service Plans without public hearings.

 

You can’t set public policy on the allocation of scarce public resources  . . .  without listening to the public.

 

 

The public will have an opportunity to talk about extraterritorial service on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 6:30 pm.  

 

Citizen Town Hall on Extraterritorial Service by Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District:

 

 

 

John Henderson