鈥� The Greeley City Council is going to take a little more time to wade through the mountain of information associated with the proposed West Greeley project that would put the city in $1.1 billion in debt while at the same time ushering in a future within the community.
So far, that means the council will not make any decisions next week as previously scheduled, but it will make decisions when everyone feels comfortable going forward.
鈥淲e want to continue negotiations, but not we鈥檙e going to bring forth to the council a pre-development agreement or lease agreement on the fourth (Feb. 4) because it鈥檚 just not there,鈥� City Manager Raymond Lee told the Greeley City Council on Tuesday during a council work session.
Greeley officials since October at the northeast corner of Weld County Road 17 and U.S. Highway 34 to build a hockey arena for the Colorado Eagles, a hotel and convention center, a 12-slide water park, a plaza for restaurants, retail and community events, housing of more than 6,000 units, and outdoor recreation amenities, from horse trails to kayaking. But the group is not even close to the decision-making timeline originally discussed.
Greeley officials, while accepting also are working on their own for their own comfort level, Lee said.
The $1.1 billion project puts substantial risk on the city of Greeley. On one hand, the project would create all the infrastructure needed to fully develop into west Greeley up to Weld County Road 17, giving all future planned developments the infrastructure needed to move forward. But the financial part is risky, and there鈥檚 always the question of whether any of the project performs as hoped.
鈥淲e have a third financial model that is being developed today to review with newest assumptions,鈥� Lee told the council. 鈥淲e鈥檙e developing a third (financial) model that鈥檚 not the highest and fairy tale that everything is going to go right, and not ultra conservative, either. It鈥檚 based on the market.鈥�
Lind in a previous interview said that, 鈥渋f the project itself were to not perform to its highest expectations, we鈥檙e still building monstrous public infrastructure, a highway and utilities out there that will be here for generations. It鈥檚 a lifetime change for Greeley.鈥�
In the legal review, Lee said there continues to be some communication issues.
鈥淭his has been going back and forth as it relates to legal review of things, there will be a joint meeting of legal teams to go through red lines,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not on the same page on red lines, and there鈥檚 some miscommunication.鈥�
The city has planned , but the discussion will not end there.
鈥淭he conversation changes depending on how the council moves forward,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚f council does vote and deny the project, there鈥檚 no more engagement. If council does approve it, engagement even means more in telling people what was voted on and what does that mean to community as a whole.鈥�
The city will hold two open houses to discuss the project. Lee will be on hand to present the project to the public.
The first meeting will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at The Belair at Zoe鈥檚 Caf茅 + Events, 711 10th St. The second will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, also at The Belair.
