House Committee on Local Government (02/20/2012)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Date:	02/20/2012	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:17 PM to 06:07 PM	Balmer	*
		Conti	*
Place:	HCR 0111	Fields	X
		Gardner B.	*
This Meeting was called to order by		Labuda	X
	Representative Bradford	Lee	X
		Pace	X
This Report was prepared by		Soper	X
	Raegan Robb	Swerdfeger	X
		Szabo	*
		Bradford	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB12-1148 HB12-1237 HB12-1285 HB12-1277		Postponed Indefinitely Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely

01:18 PM

Representative Bradford, committee chair, called the meeting to order.

01:18 PM -- House Bill 12-1148

Representative Sonnenberg, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1148, concerning the establishment of neighborhood revitalization areas by local governments. Representative Sonnenberg requested that the committee postpone House Bill 12-1148 indefinitely.


BILL:	HB12-1148
TIME:	01:18:36 PM
MOVED:	Labuda
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 12-1148 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0, with 5 excused.
SECONDED:	Lee
		VOTE
	Balmer	Excused
	Conti	Excused
	Fields	Excused
	Gardner B.	Excused
	Labuda	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Excused
	Bradford	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 5 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:23 PM -- House Bill 12-1237

Representative Williams, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1237, concerning the records kept by the unit owners' association of a common interest community. Representative Williams discussed the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA) and explained that the bill lists different types of records that must be maintained by a homeowners' association (HOA). She explained that the accessible records covered by the bill must be available for examination and copying by a unit owner or the owner's authorized agent, but the association can require a reasonable charge to cover the costs of labor and material for copies of records.

01:25 PM

Molly Foley-Healy, representing the Colorado Actions Institute and the Colorado Legislative Action Committee, testified in support of the bill and talked about the need for property owners to have access to records held by their HOA and about the Information and Resource Center, within the Division of Real Estate, created for home owners by House Bill 10-1278. Ms. Foley-Healy discussed the provisions in the bill and the proper purpose provision, which does not allow an HOA to request a purpose for accessing the types of records covered by the bill. Committee members received prepared amendment L.002 (Attachment A) and L.003 (Attachment B). Ms. Foley-Healy addressed questions from the committee concerning records of HOAs, and explained the amendments.

01:39 PM

Linda Hayes, representing herself, testified in support of the bill and talked about her experience as a unit owner within an HOA and about the need for House Bill 12-1237.

01:42 PM

Julius Witzler, representing himself, testified in support of the bill, discussed his personal issues with accessing information from his HOA, and addressed questions from the committee concerning the need for transparency with HOAs.

01:45 PM

Chris Pacetti, representing himself, testified in support of the bill, discussed his job as the manager of an HOA, and talked about the need to clarify state law about what records homeowners can request from their HOA.

01:47 PM

Jeani Frickey, representing the Colorado Association of Home Builders, testified in support of prepared amendment L.003 (Attachment B), which places restrictions on access to architectural designs and membership lists of an HOA.

01:49 PM

Amber Ward, representing herself, testified in support of the bill, talked about her personal experience as a unit owner in a common interest community, and discussed her problems with her HOA.


BILL:	HB12-1237
TIME:	01:51:23 PM
MOVED:	Gardner B.
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Balmer
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Conti
	Fields
	Gardner B.
	Labuda
	Lee
	Pace
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Bradford

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1237
TIME:	01:51:36 PM
MOVED:	Gardner B.
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.003 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Szabo
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Conti
	Fields
	Gardner B.
	Labuda
	Lee
	Pace
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Bradford

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1237
TIME:	01:52:09 PM
MOVED:	Balmer
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1237, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-0.
SECONDED:	Szabo
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Conti	Yes
	Fields	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Pace	Excused
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Excused
	Szabo	Yes
	Bradford	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:56 PM -- House Bill 12-1285

Representative Gerou, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1285, concerning modifications to statutory provisions governing intergovernmental cooperation to address wildland fire mitigation where a municipality owns land inside a county for utility purposes. Representative Gerou discussed the need for intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) between counties and municipalities or utility companies that have property within a county to reduce the fire hazard in these areas. She addressed questions from the committee concerning the use of IGAs to require wildfire mitigation by a city or utility company.

02:02 PM

Peg Ackerman, representing the County Sheriffs of Colorado, testified in support of the bill, and talked about the need for fire mitigation by municipalities that own property outside of their territorial boundaries.

02:03 PM

Andy Karsian, representing Colorado Counties, Inc., testified in support of the bill and talked about the need for IGAs between municipalities and counties for fire mitigation and talked about past legislation adopted to address this need. Mr. Karsian discussed the need for the bill, and talked about the role of the Colorado Forest Service in establishing IGAs with utility companies and counties for fire mitigation.

02:06 PM

Rich Homann, representing Colorado State University, testified in support of the bill and talked about the role of the Colorado Forest Service in establishing IGAs with utility companies and cities that have property near national forests.


BILL:	HB12-1285
TIME:	02:10:24 PM
MOVED:	Labuda
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Gardner B.
		VOTE
	Balmer
	Conti
	Fields
	Gardner B.
	Labuda
	Lee
	Pace
	Soper
	Swerdfeger
	Szabo
	Bradford

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 4 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1285
TIME:	02:10:49 PM
MOVED:	Balmer
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1285 as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0, with 1 excused.
SECONDED:	Swerdfeger
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Conti	Yes
	Fields	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Pace	Excused
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Bradford	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:11 PM

The committee stood in a brief recess.

02:32 PM

The committee came back to order.

02:32 PM -- House Bill 12-1277

Representative Jones, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 12-1277, concerning strengthening local government's regulation of oil and gas operations, and strengthening local governments' zoning and land use authorities over oil and gas operations. Representative Jones explained that the bill clarifies local government zoning and land use authority to control oil and gas operators in addition to the authority of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to regulate the industry. He discussed a specific problem in Longmont where an open-pit gas well produced wastewater with high levels of benzene and distributed a handout to the committee concerning problems with gas wells being developed in the Longmont area (Attachment D). Representative Jones talked about the history of oil and gas regulation under the COGCC, and responded to questions from the committee concerning the specific problems occurring in Longmont and the impact of the bill on the oil and gas industry.

02:53 PM

The following individuals testified against the bill:

02:54 PM

Stan Dempsey, president of the Colorado Petroleum Association, explained that the state already works with local governments for oil and gas development and discussed specific cases where stakeholders collaborated on oil and gas development. Mr. Dempsey responded to questions from the committee and discussed the local government designation (LGD) process within the COGCC rules, which allows local governments to have a role in oil and gas development. Local governments can appoint a LGD to receive information from the COGCC and developers about oil and gas activities occurring within the government's jurisdiction. The LGDs are generally responsible for distributing information from the COGCC and oil and gas operators to local government officials and residents who request such information.

03:07 PM

Jim Cole, representing the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, talked about the history of oil and gas regulations in the state and responded to questions from the committee concerning the need to balance local control with energy development.

03:19 PM

Neil Ray and Debra Anderson, representing the National Association of Royalty Owners, discussed the role of the association in protecting the rights of mineral owners and talked about problems with allowing local governments to prevent oil and gas development. Mr. Ray discussed specific problems in other states where local regulations reduced oil and gas production. Ms. Anderson discussed the need to protect mineral rights and talked about protection of mineral rights under the federal Public Lands Act and the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act.

03:28 PM

R.J. Hicks, representing Green Industries of Colorado, talked about the importance of the oil and gas industry to the state economy.

03:32 PM

Andy While, Legislative Liaison, Department of Natural Resources, provided examples of collaboration between the COGCC and local governments in the state. Mr. White talked about the LGD process facilitated by the department to involve local governments with oil and gas development and about a specific agreement between the COGCC and Gunnison County for oil and gas development. Discussion ensued between Mr. White and the committee concerning the role that local governments have in oil and gas development and the 2007 rule revisions by the COGCC.

03:45 PM

Carly Dollar, representing the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, discussed the need to keep regulations of the oil and gas industry consistent throughout the state and talked about the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for businesses in Colorado, including the oil and gas industry.

03:48 PM

The following individuals testified in support of the bill:

03:48 PM

Barbara Green, representing the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, talked about the limited authority of local governments to regulate oil and gas development in the state and addressed questions from the committee concerning the ability for local governments to regulate oil and gas development.

03:55 PM

Jo Evans, representing herself, talked about the ability for local governments to implement permits of oil and gas wells as long as the local permitting process does not inhibit the operation of any oil or gas well. Ms. Evans talked about oil and gas development in Douglas County and discussed the need for local planning and zoning codes to control energy development at the local level.

04:03 PM

Dominick Moreno, Mayor pro tem, Commerce City, talked about his personal experience with oil and gas development in Commerce City, explained that Commerce City recently considered a moratorium on oil and gas development, and responded to questions from committee members concerning the need to provide local governments more authority over oil and gas development in the state.

04:09 PM

Chris Porzuczek, representing himself, talked about the recent history of environmental problems from oil and gas wells in the City of Longmont and discussed the need to allow local governments to regulate oil and gas industry.

04:12 PM

Angie Layton, representing herself, discussed the need to provide local governments with more authority over oil and gas development in the state.

04:14 PM

Kaye Fissinger, representing herself, talked about the authority of home rule municipalities under Article XX, Section 6 of the Colorado Constitution to control local matters and explained that home rule authority should allow local control over oil and gas development for the protection of public health and safety.

04:19 PM

Rick Blotter, representing the Elbert County Oil and Gas Interest Group, talked about the environmental and economic problems of oil and gas development, explained the need for local governments to have more local control over oil and gas development, and responded to questions from the committee concerning the COGCC's oversight over gas wells in Elbert County.

04:26 PM

Rod Brueske, representing himself, talked about the environmental hazards of gas development in Boulder County.

04:30 PM

Sandy Toland, representing herself, testified in support of the bill, talked about problems of hazardous wastewater spills from gas wells, and addressed questions from the committee concerning local groups following gas development involving the "fracking" process in the City of Aurora. "Fracking," is a process where hydraulic fracturing is used to create small cracks, or fractures, in underground geological formations to allow oil or natural gas to flow into the well bore, thereby increasing production.

04:37 PM

Mike Foote, representing himself, talked about oil and gas development in Lafayette and the need to strengthen the ability for local governments to control oil and gas development at the local level.

04:39 PM

David Pelster, representing himself, talked about the control of the COGCC over oil and gas development in the state and discussed concerns about future gas development planned in Longmont.

04:43 PM

Dan Ditslear, representing himself, talked about the problems of gas wells near schools and homes in Longmont and discussed the environmental hazards that result from the oil and gas development.

04:47 PM

Judy Lubow, representing herself, talked about the need for local control over oil and gas production.

04:51 PM

Daniel Lowenstein, representing himself, testified in support of the bill and submitted a letter of support to the committee (Attachment E).

04:53 PM

Mark White, representing himself, talked about the membership of the COGCC and discussed the environmental hazards that can result from open pit gas wells.

04:57 PM

Randee Webb, representing herself, talked about the need to protect the public health and environment and discussed problems with oil and gas wells being allowed to operate near schools and homes in Colorado.

05:00 PM

Phillip Doe, representing himself, talked about the environmental hazards of the oil and gas industry and about the need for oil and gas production to be controlled at the local level.

05:06 PM

Sonia Skakich-Scrima, representing herself and WTFrack, talked about policies in other states to address fracking and about recent oil and gas development impacting Aurora and other areas of Arapahoe County.

05:13 PM

Marilyn Hughes, representing herself, talked about the environmental problems in Longmont from open pit gas wells and discussed the need to provide more local regulation control for oil and gas operations.

05:17 PM

Barbara Mills-Bria, representing herself, discussed the need for the bill.

05:18 PM

Carol Dixon, representing himself, testified in support of the bill and talked about the need for local governments to have more control over oil and gas production.

05:20 PM

Wes Wilson, representing himself, talked about recent oil and gas development in Commerce City and responded to questions from the committee concerning federal regulations for monitoring pollution and enforcing cleanup for oil and gas pollutants.

05:27 PM

Frances Shure, representing herself, talked about the need for the bill and distributed a copy of an on-line petition supporting House Bill 12-1277 (Attachment F).

05:30 PM

Jeannie DeMarinis, representing herself, talked about problems with gas wells near her family's home in Boulder County.

05:32 PM

Susan Hall, representing herself, talked about the process for drilling oil and gas wells and the need to provide local control to regulate the location of oil and gas operations.

05:38 PM

Jack Franssen, representing himself, discussed the need for the bill in order for local governments to have more control over oil and gas production.

05:39 PM

Ved Topkar, Josh Morgenstern, and Anthony Simone, representing themselves, discussed the need for the bill in order to provide local governments more authority over oil and gas production within their jurisdiction.

05:49 PM

Robert Lopez, representing himself, discussed the need to protect the health of the environment and citizens of Colorado from the hazards of the oil and gas operations.

05:52 PM

Representative Jones entered closing comments on the bill.

05:55 PM

John Acton, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

05:55 PM

Committee members made closing comments on the bill.

06:03 PM

The following individuals submitted letters of support for House Bill 12-1277:

Jeanette and Eric Lauritsen, from Douglas County (Attachment G); and

Judy and Larry Trompeter, from Denver (Attachment H).


BILL:	HB12-1277
TIME:	06:04:20 PM
MOVED:	Lee
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 12-1277 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a vote of 4-6, with 1 excused.
SECONDED:	Fields
		VOTE
	Balmer	No
	Conti	No
	Fields	Yes
	Gardner B.	No
	Labuda	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Pace	Absent
	Soper	Yes
	Swerdfeger	No
	Szabo	No
	Bradford	No

YES: 4 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 1 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB12-1277
TIME:	06:06:20 PM
MOVED:	Balmer
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 12-1277 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 6-4, with 1 excused.
SECONDED:	Gardner B.
		VOTE
	Balmer	Yes
	Conti	Yes
	Fields	No
	Gardner B.	Yes
	Labuda	No
	Lee	No
	Pace	Absent
	Soper	No
	Swerdfeger	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Bradford	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 1 FINAL ACTION: PASS

06:07 PM

The committee adjourned.