Greg Miller, co-chair of the CPNCTR

by Scott Lasher

Mayor says integration discussions have begun

The debate surrounding the proposed dissolution of the Castle Pines North Metro District (CPNMD) took further shape Tuesday night [September 15, 2009] as representatives of the Castle Pines North Citizens for Tax Relief (CPNCTR) held a community meeting surrounding the dissolution issue at the Castle Pines North DazBog. Several citizens as well as local government representatives, including Castle Pines North Mayor Maureen Shul, were in attendance.

The meeting was held the same night the CPNMD distributed a press release detailing their rejection of a second draft of a petition for dissolution of the District submitted by Greg Miller, co-chair of the CPNCTR. In the release, the CPNMD stated “Miller was advised that his petition wording is ‘potentially misleading’ and that he apparently has an incomplete understanding of how the dissolution process is executed.”

The meeting provided Miller an opportunity to respond.

“If I don’t know what I am doing and if this is all silliness, then why not let us go forward with the petition,” Miller said during the meeting. “We wouldn’t get the 250 signatures required would we? The truth of the matter is, they’re scared.”

Miller detailed the CPNCTR’s goals moving forward at the meeting and noted that he exhausted all previous mechanisms to get the CPNMD’s attention on the issues of concern for the CPNCTR, including the “lack of a verifiable renewable water plan” in addition to a lack of progress towards integration of the City of Castle Pines North and the CPNMD.

“The bottom line is, we have not progressed toward integration, which was a key element in the vote for incorporation [of Castle Pines North],” Miller stated during the meeting. “The City nor the District has brought us any closer to integration. The CPNCTR is an attempt to move forward and start the conversations that should have already been happening.”

CPN Mayor Maureen Shul said that as result of the dissolution efforts by Miller and the CPNCTR, talks have begun surrounding integration between the City and the CPNMD.

“Several representatives are in conversations surrounding integration,” Shul said. “We have given ourselves a 30-day window to come up with some sort of plan we can present to the citizens of Castle Pines North. It took a citizen effort to apply the pressure that the City alone couldn’t to get the conversation started.”

Castle Pines North resident John Ewing, a resident for 21 years and former CPNMD board member, a position he held for 16 years, was also at the Town Hall meeting. He said as a citizen, he hopes both sides can be proactive.

“Integration is something that both of them have to do because it is in the best interest of CPN residents,” Ewing said. “75 percent of the people living here decided things were supposed to change two years ago [with the vote for incorporation] and it still hasn’t happened.”

While several representatives from the City were in attendance, no one representing the CPNMD was at the town hall meeting.

“We came here tonight because we need to hear what the citizens are thinking and serve the community, not an entity,” Shul said. “We have to do what is in the best interest of the citizens and it is not even debatable what that is after tonight, and that is integration.”

Miller emphasized that despite the second rejection of the petition by the District, he and the CPNCTR intend to move forward with the petition approval process.

“Until our committee sees steps towards integration, we will continue to pursue this,” Miller said. “We can take legal action to ensure our local government is meeting our needs.”

Following the meeting, Miller said he hopes it is true that the District and the City have begun discussions surrounding integration.

“We will be hopeful that is the case and we will anxiously await a plan for integration between the District and the City,” Miller said. “Until we see that, I have some signatures to gather.”