Monday: Denver City Council to vote on library renovation, sewer repair and more

Monday: Denver City Council to vote on library renovation, sewer repair and morePhoto: Amy V./Yelp
Hoodline
Published on May 10, 2019

The Denver City Council will hold a regular meeting this coming Monday, May 13, starting at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at the City & County Building at 1437 Bannock St. The agenda includes a resolution to approve a five-year contract with Studiotrope, LLC for architectural and engineering professional design services for renovation of the Denver Central Library, as part of the Elevate Denver Bond Program.

Also on the agenda is a resolution to approve a $3.3 million contract with Insituform Technologies LLC for a one-year rehabilitation of sewer mains with structural deterioration problems in Council Districts 3, 7, 9 and 10, including the Five Points area.

The council will also consider approving an intergovernmental agreement with the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver to provide assistance to low-income homeowners participating in the West Denver Single Family Plus program in Council Districts 3, 7, and 9. The assistance would be provided in the form of soft second mortgages for the construction of accessory dwelling units, to serve as an income-generation and anti-displacement tool. The ordinance received its first reading at the council meeting last Monday.

On a similar theme, the agenda for this coming Monday also includes a resolution to accept a $629,750 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to provide rental assistance to individuals experiencing homelessness through the Continuum of Care Bedrock program, citywide.

Besides the regular city council meeting, there will also be a meeting of the Special Issues Marijuana Committee on Monday at 1:30 p.m. in the City & County Building, Room 391. The session will include several presentations, including a briefing on cannabis social consumption special event permitting from the Department of Excise & License, a state legislative update by the Marijuana Industry Group, and a briefing on HB19-1230 — a bill before the Colorado General Assembly concerning marijuana hospitality establishments — and its impacts to Denver, by a representative of the City Attorney’s Office.

If you missed last week’s City Council meeting on May 6, the council adopted several other citywide initiatives, including a resolution amending a contract with The Salvation Army to provide additional outreach services to the homeless. The agreement adds $189,000 for a new total of $551,762 and extends the contract until the end of 2019, to provide additional after-hours programming and other services in collaboration with the Denver Street Outreach Collaborative (DSOC) and Denver’s Road Home.

The council also approved a proposed Memorandum of Agreement between the City and County of Denver and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. for technical assistance to implement climate programs and policies around transportation, electric vehicles and building codes. Also benefiting residents throughout the city, the council passed a bill establishing a new Public Art Contributions Capital Fund for expenditures related to planning, design and construction of existing or new public art, citywide.