Bill Summary for Bill Number SB09-141

Date: 03/18/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-141

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved Amendment L.003.Representative Looper explai Moved an amendment to L.003 to strike lines 1-3 of Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-141, as amended, to	Pass Without Objection Pass Without Objection PASS

01:53 PM -- Senate Bill 09-141

Representative Looper, co-prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 09-141, concerning the creation of the Fountain Creek Watershed, Flood Control, and Greenway District. The district is to manage, administer, and fund capital improvements in the Fountain Creek watershed. The district is governed by a board of directors, and membership on the board is specified in the bill. The district may levy property tax and issue bonds, subject to voter approval. The district may also levy special assessments through improvement districts. Service charges and special fees may also be charged to property owners or occupants that connect to district facilities. Representative Looper walked committee members through provisions in the bill. She provided a handout with a map of Fountain Creek Watershed (Attachment E), the Fountain Creek Watershed Newsletter (available at http://www.fountain-crk.org/Newsletters/fc_newsletters.html), and an overview of the bill (Attachment F).

02:03 PM

Representative Pace, co-prime sponsor, described the governance structure of the district and explained the composition of the governing board. Representative Looper and Representative Pace answered questions from the committee.

02:20 PM -- Sallie Clark, El Paso County Commissioner, spoke in favor of the bill and handed out powerpoint presentation slides, Creation of a Fountain Creek Entity (Attachment G). She discussed the structure and composition of the governance board and explained that the composition of board was intended to reflect a balance of power between El Paso and Pueblo Counties.

02:25 PM -- Jeff Chostner, Pueblo County Commissioner, spoke in favor of the bill. He described the need for the creation of the district and discussed the mill levy increase provisions in the bill. Mr. Chostner also discussed how the board would be held accountable to the public and answered questions from the committee.

02:34 PM -- Commissioner Clark responded to questions from the committee about the process that lead to the creation of the legislation and how the individuals involved in this process would react to amendments.

02:38 PM

The committee discussed amendment L.003 (Attachment H). The committee also discussed their positions about the governance structure established in the bill.

02:45 PM -- Larry Atencio, City Council Member from Pueblo, spoke in favor of the bill. He described a historical flood event from Fountain Creek. He also explained how the creation of this district would facilitate flood control projects.

02:51 PM -- Lois Landgraf, City Council of Fountain, spoke in favor of the bill. She stated that the legislation was a collaborative effort.

02:52 PM -- Gary Barber, El Paso County Water Authority, spoke in favor of the bill. He described a study that was done by the Army Corps of Engineers of the Fountain Creek watershed and a strategic plan that was created for managing the area. He explained that Amendment L.003 was vetted by the governing board. He answered questions from the committee and explained that Teller and Douglas Counties did not choose to participate and referenced the map of the Fountain Creek watershed (Attachment I).

03:00 PM -- Doug Kemper, Colorado Water Congress, stated that the Colorado Water Congress voted to support SB 09-141.

03:01 PM -- Jen Boulton, Colorado Trout Unlimited, spoke in favor of the bill and stated that the issues that her organization had with the SB 09-141 had been resolved.

03:03 PM -- Jay Winner, Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, spoke in support of the bill. He described the location of his district and explained that his district was part of the effort that lead to the legislation. He answered questions from the committee.

03:07 PM -- Mr. Barber, discussed by-laws that are being drafted for the governing board in response to questions from the committee.


BILL:	SB09-141
TIME:	03:11:08 PM
MOVED:	Looper
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L.003. Representative Looper explained that the amendment addresses point and nonpoint source pollution. An amendment was offered striking lines 1-3 of Amendment L.003, see vote sheet below. The motion, as amended, passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Pace
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB09-141
TIME:	03:18:05 PM
MOVED:	Fischer
MOTION:	Moved an amendment to L.003 to strike lines 1-3 of Amendment L.003. The committee agreed to continue discussing the rest of the amendment before taking action on the substitute. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Vigil
		VOTE
	Gardner C.
	Hullinghorst
	Labuda
	Looper
	McKinley
	McNulty
	Pace
	Solano
	Sonnenberg
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Fischer
	Curry

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

03:38 PM

Representative Fischer handed out Amendment L.004 for discussion purposes only (Attachment J). The committee discussed the amendment.

03:43 PM -- Cole Emmons, Assistant El Paso County Attorney, discussed Amendment L.004 and the governing structure of the board.


BILL:	SB09-141
TIME:	03:49:14 PM
MOVED:	Looper
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-141, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The committee discussed their positions on the bill. The motion passed on a 13-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Pace
		VOTE
	Gardner C.	Yes
	Hullinghorst	Yes
	Labuda	Yes
	Looper	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	McNulty	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Fischer	Yes
	Curry	Yes

Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS