In an effort to maintain the city’s infrastructure and keep up with growth, Durango hired the Blythe Group, a consulting firm out of Grand Junction, to put together a Facilities Master Plan. One of the buildings they looked at was the Mason Center on 12th Street and East Third Avenue, which according to the group is in dire need of an increase in square footage as well as upgrades./Photo by Jennaye Derge

Talk it up

To submit ideas and thoughts on the city’s 2016 budget, email CityManager@durangogov.org or mail the City Manager’s Office at 949 E. 2nd Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Comments are due by Fri., Aug. 7.

by Tracy Chamberlin

As the city begins its budget process for 2016, the list of items in need of funding continues to grow.

Some of the city’s projects already have money, like the Mason Center, and water and sewer plant. Others are still in search of it, like the police station and new airport terminal.

“Our needs may be outstripping our revenue sources,” City Manager Ron LeBlanc said at a Tuesday night meeting.

The reason often given for so many needed upgrades, remodels and improvements is a combination of the recession and the area’s growth.

Many projects and maintenance needs were put on hold when the recession hit in 2009. Just like other communities across the country, Durango and La Plata County tightened their belts. With the economy now picking up steam, these municipalities are dusting off the old to-do lists.

On top of that, this area is growing. Population numbers have been going up for years, and the trend is expected to continue. Durango and La Plata County could see twice as many residents in the next 25 years.

In an effort to maintain the city’s infrastructure and keep up with growth, Durango hired the Blythe Group, a consulting firm out of Grand Junction, to put together a Facilities Master Plan.

The firm focused on seven specific buildings. Three of those are on East 2nd Avenue: the Police Department, City Hall and the Carnegie Building, which housed the  
old library.

They also looked at River City Hall off Camino del Rio, the Mason Center on Third Avenue, the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Shop and the city’s General Services Center, near Greenmount Cemetery.

Representatives with the Blythe Group spent the summer visiting the buildings, talking to staff members and putting together possible plans. They presented their findings to the City Council at the Tuesday meeting. 

The Blythe Group found that while all seven buildings need some kind of work, two stood out as the highest priorities: the Mason Center and police station.

According to Peter Icenogle, vice president of the Blythe Group, the Mason Center needs more than double the square footage and the police department should be about three times the size. And that doesn’t include parking.

“Those right there are the most telling numbers of the study,” he said Tuesday. 

The Mason Center’s gymnasium doesn’t have enough space for all the equipment, he explained. “It’s actually quite dangerous.” 

As for the police station, he called their needs drastic and suggested the best solution would be to move the department to another site.

While searching for a new home or finding the monies to pay for such an upgrade were not a part of the study, one suggestion was what could be done with the lot if the police department did move – parking.

Some of the ideas brought up during Tuesday’s meeting included underground parking, additional surface lots and even a parking structure on the same lot where the police station currently sits.

The firm also presented ideas for the other five buildings, including possibly consolidating and streamlining city services by keeping City Hall on the same 2nd Avenue lot it occupies today, but making it a two- or three-story building.

Of the seven city buildings that need work, the police station is considered the top priority. LeBlanc called it the first domino.

Sherri Dugdale, assistant to the city manager, said there’s no current source of revenue for the police station’s needs.

Much like the airport, it would have to be a new source of funding.

The city and county are considering asking voters for a possible property tax increase to pay for major airport upgrades outlined in the Airport Master Plan, approved by both the city and county governments.

The plan moves the main terminal to the other side of the runway, increasing parking, space for ticket counters, room for the baggage claim and a host of other amenities. And, there’s still room in the blueprints to continue growing as the airport becomes a regional player in the industry.

The most likely places to turn for new sources of revenue would be a sales or property tax. The city already looked at increasing the sales tax on retail marijuana by 5 percent to pay for their aging facilities, but following a recent public meeting on the subject, City Council decided to shelve the idea.

“Of the seven projects, two that are in the worst condition have the money to fix them,” LeBlanc said during the meeting.

Both the Mason Center and the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Shop can be paid for with funds from the half-cent city sales tax that was re-approved by voters in April.

Those monies are specifically earmarked for Parks and Rec projects. The process starts with approval and recommendations from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which could begin at any time. 

The new water and sewer plant is also already funded. The city approved water and sewer rate increases to fund those improvements, and those rates went into effect this year.

“We have to make good decisions in the beginning because that is the course you take for all the other decisions,” LeBlanc said.