Transportation Summit Roundup
Last year the Fort Collins City Council took their ball and went home, backing out of the Regional Transportation Authority and not even allowing the citizens to vote on the package of road improvements and public transportation upgrades.
Yesterday, they received the message of "grow up" (my paraphrase) from their own side of the aisle. Governor Ritter:
Gov. Bill Ritter, Colorado's two senators, county commissioners and others who spoke during a transportation summit Wednesday in Loveland said local leaders must put aside their personal goals and start working together to plan for the future.
"All I can do is restate the case that they have to do it," Ritter said after the summit.
Ritter said leaders in Fort Collins, Loveland and throughout Larimer and Weld counties can no longer be solely self-interested.The state will do its part marketing Northern Colorado to new businesses and seeking federal dollars for transportation, Ritter said during his speech.
Senator Salazar:
"You need to do your part, and that means being serious about transportation planning," he said.
Another clear message: There is no federal or state money on the way, so pull it together. Even if the feds were to get involved, it would require an RTA:
Colorado has received billions of dollars from the federal government to fund the FastTracks rail and T-Rex road projects in the Denver-metro area because of the Regional Transportation District organized to handle the money, Salazar said.
"That's why they are willing to keep writing those checks," he said.
Also from Senator Salazar:
“Unless you organize yourselves in some regional way, there are going to be huge opportunities lost.”
More from the Northern Colorado Business Report here. One Entrepreneur with a Vision Cimarron Plaza (SW corner of Drake and Shields) is getting a face lift. Fort Collins Sales Tax News: Pretty Much All Bad Everything is down:
Fort Collins' retail sales slipped, permits dipped and taxes paid on business equipment dropped in February, an indication that Fort Collins may be falling in line with the national economic slowdown.
Net taxable retail sales in February - reflecting January sales - were down 1.6 percent from January 2007 as three major retail categories dropped for the second month.
That means tighter wallets and tighter city budgets, folks. So what's bringing all of this about? How about the anti-growth policies that are driving major retailers out of the city?
The declines were an expected reaction to increased competition in Loveland, particularly at the Interstate 25/U.S. 34 interchange, coupled with the loss of the Mason Street Wal-Mart, which closed in September, said Jeremy Reese of the city's tax office.
The decline, exacerbated by the opening of a new Wal-Mart SuperCenter between Fort Collins and Loveland, is expected to continue until Front Range Village and the new SuperTarget open in July on Harmony Road, Reese said.
So how about that silver lining of increased food sales? Apparently it's being driving by a spike in food costs.
"We've all noticed our grocery bills going up even though we're buying the same things," he said.
While it might be putting more money in city coffers, it's crunching consumers already stung by rising gas prices.
The cost of milk, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables rose in February, continuing a yearlong surge, according to the Labor Department.
Municipal Employee Unions at Work
Vincent Carroll: "Where Unions Rule"
Is that building at Colfax Avenue and Bannock Street still Denver City Hall, or have council members formally renamed it Denver Union Hall?
If not, the rechristening may not be far off. After all, kowtowing to union interests has gotten so pronounced that one council member objected last week to a proposed contract with a company to manage airport parking for fear that its modest management fee signified a covert plan to cut union staffing.
Read the whole thing.
