Minutes of the Oil and Gas Committee Meeting

April 5, 2012

City Hall, 107 N. Nevada, Pikes Peak Conference Room

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Attending

Councilmember Val Snider, Chair

Councilmember Brandy Williams, Vice Chair

Councilmember Angela Dougan – arrived 8:40, departed 9:00, arrived 10:30

Chris Melcher, City Attorney – departed 9:15

Randy Case, O&G Committee Member – arrived 8:50

Stephen Harris, O&G Committee Member

Michael Martin, O&G Committee Member

Jan Handke, O&G Committee Member

Chris Mendrop, O&G Committee Member

Ed McCord, O&G Committee Member

John Maynard – Committee Member

Howard Boigon – Consultant

Ana Gutierrez – Consultant

Absent:

Dick Anderwald, LGD (Local Government Designee)

Steve Cox – Mayor’s Office

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Councilmember and Committee Chair Val Snider opened the meeting at 8:30 a.m.

Introductions

Introductions were made by all present.

Briefing by Chris Melcher

Chris reminded the committee that according to the Colorado Supreme Court ruling, no City or County in the State can prohibit oil and gas activity entirely. 

The 2 issues before the committee and, ultimately, the City Council are:

1. where will oil and gas activity be allowed
2. how will it be allowed

Open Discussion

The Committee discussed areas they feel are important for Colorado Springs to regulate.

Proposed areas of regulation could include:

• Consider current land use requirements
• Incorporating the LGD process with Memorandums of Understanding and Conditions of Approval
• Mandatory baseline water sampling
• Consider special section of existing code for oil and gas
• Setbacks
• Screening, fencing, noise abatement, odor and dust
• Traffic impacts, routes timeframes and maintenance
• Emergency response plans
• Building and grading permits
• Grading, erosion and sediment control
• Wildlife
• Financial assurances and bonding
• Local impact fees
• Cultural resources
• Reclamation
• Water (certification of source)
• Injection wells
• Storage pits
• Well siting (land suitability analysis)
• Submission requirements (site plan, operation plan, wastewater disposal plan)
• Spill control
• Waste disposal
• Air quality
• Visual mitigation
• Geological Hazard and floodplains
• Chemical disclosure
• Water quality and testing

What a Municipality cannot regulate:

• The hydraulic fracturing process
• The City cannot ban oil and gas activity
• Technical drilling issues

The Committee will evaluate which of the above areas are already addressed in the City Land Use Code.  Then, additional areas of regulation, as appropriate, could be addressed in a separate chapter/article of the Land Use Code.

The Committee decided the current way of regulating mining activities (oil and gas) will not do.  Currently mining activities are permitted only in areas zoned Agricultural. 

The Committee also decided a separate article of the City Code for oil and gas activity is needed.  This article will contain only additional requirements not addressed in the current City Land Use Code.

Break

Continued open discussion.

Actions for Next Meeting

A set of draft outline regulations will be presented by City Planning.

The Committee will discuss more about what its regulations will include and more about the “hows” of implementing the oil and gas regulations.

Committee Chair Val Snider adjourned the meeting at 11:40 a.m.

Next Meeting: April 12, 2012, 8:30-11:30, in the Pikes Peak Room of Colorado Springs City Hall, at 107 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903