Re-elect Brian O'Connor: Council Member, District 3, Town of Erie, Colorado
Priorities
Having served on Town Council since January 2025, there are some priorities and projects that I would like to see move forward. Some of those include:
Safeguarding our open space areas
When the Home Rule Charter was written, it was the intention of at least several commissioners to safeguard our open space properties from being sold or re-zoned. After the residents approved the charter, Council created two types of open space zones. One is Agricultural Open Space and one is Restricted Open Space. Ag Open Space does not have to go before the voters before a sale or re-zoning, but Reserved does. Guess how much of our open space is “Reserved Open Space”? Exactly zero. Some of our open space is protected by which funds were used to purchase the land, but I would like to see all of our open space evaluated and properly re-zoned to protect those truly unique properties for future generations.
Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP)
For twenty years, Erie has been involved in the Norther Water project Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP). This is a massive project whose costs have only increased over the years. The project is nearly at a point where it can be sent out for construction quotes. Once those quotes are received, Erie can use those numbers to model how much the project will cost the current residents and impact future growth.
The growth is not just residential; but also commercial, industrial, and municipal. NISP would also diversify our water portfolio, which is heavily weighed in Colorado Big Thompson shares (CBT). Though it is high quality water, there are a lot of users downstream which also have rights to that water, including Mexico. The big question is… is NISP water affordable enough for current and future residents? Will growth pay its own way or is the cost of NISP too high and therefore, it becomes unaffordable to build new homes and businesses?
infill developments
There are areas throughout Erie that have not been developed; but the land surrounding has been developed, usually into residential neighborhoods. In most cases, those neighborhoods have been there for years, if not decades. Though those homeowners possibly knew that the adjacent land might be developed someday, the intended use might have changed over the years. When an infill development comes before Council, it is important to not only consider the value to the Town, but also the impact on those surrounding neighbors. Since I have been on Council, two of these types of developments have come forward and they were not approved, due to the proposed use not being a fit for the adjacent neighborhoods.
Traffic conflicts and Safety
There are areas of Erie which have a speed and volume problem with vehicular traffic combined with all other road users. As projects and ideas come before Council, I believe that it is important to evaluate these projects to get a better understanding of the impacts that they will have on current residents and multimodal users, while trying to find solutions that balance safety and connectivity.
accessory dwelling unit (ADU)
HB24-1152 requires the accessory dwelling units be allowed in our area. These types of units already exist in Erie, but most are illegal. They are typically basement units being rented out by the homeowner to members of our community how are earning a lower area mean income (AMI). Along with providing housing to these members of our community earning a lower AMI, the homeowner (often an older resident) can better age in place due to the additional income. I see it quite often in my line of work. My desire is to see the process of creating these ADUs more cost effective for the home owner and legal for health and safety purposes.
Erie's historic buildings and artifacts
Erie does not have a great place to store our historic artifacts. Some are at the Wise Museum, some are held by Lafayette, and some are in the hands of private collectors (like myself). I would like to see either the house at the Page property be used as a museum and maybe a nature center or the old railroad depot moved to Linear Park and repurposed as a museum.
The Town of Erie Budget
Yes, it is true that our building permit fees are down 60% (the number of permits are down 40%) and our sales tax is only seen moderate growth so far this year. Some tough decisions will need to be made to minimize service reductions while retaining Town Staff to meet those needs. Having lived through sales tax shortfalls while working for the City of Longmont, I want to take a reasonable and balanced approach when working through the budget process this year and in the years to come.
Erie Municipal Airport
I am a supporter of the Erie Airport and I think that it is a great asset to the Town. I also understand that living with persistent flight noise, especially from touch-and-goes coming out of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, can be frustrating and disruptive to daily life in Erie. Resident peace and quiet matter, and addressing this disruption must be a priority as Erie actively collaborates with regional airport partners to find real, lasting solutions to mitigate flight paths and noise levels.
While we tackle these immediate noise concerns, I still see immense long-term value in the Erie Municipal Airport as a community asset. Looking ahead, the future of aviation is rapidly shifting toward quieter, cleaner technologies. From the quieter, modern aviation fueled planes to electric aircraft from companies like Heart Aerospace, just like the shift to unleaded aviation fuel that I currently underway, improved technology will bring improved quality of life.
Then there are the air taxis that are being developed and tested by Joby Aviation, BETA Technologies, and other companies. Imagine a future where you can head to the local airport and board a quiet, efficient air taxi to be flown directly to DIA, Denver, or across Colorado without adding ground traffic or disruptive noise.
There is a lot of talk currently happening about the Colorado Connector (CoCo) rail service, but did you know that just over 100-years ago, Erie had passenger rail service? On a Union Pacific line that ran between Denver and Boulder through Erie, the Galloping Goose served the residents of Erie between 1909 and 1925. If only that line was able to continue operating, the Front Range rail conversation might be different.
The airport already generates a positive economic return through surrounding local businesses. With thoughtful, long-term investment and proactive noise mitigation partnerships, we can protect our residents' quality of life while positioning Erie for a cleaner, quieter aviation future. The Erie Municipal Airport is a unique asset that we should invest in and not let it go the way of the Galloping Goose.
Commercial & Light Industrial Development
Along with looking at infill developments, it is important to bring in commercial and light industrial development which compliments the surrounding, long-standing neighbors. As Erie builds out, there will come a point where building fees will make up much less of the budget and in-turn require the need for growing the sales and property tax base.
use fees
During the initial 2027 budget conversation, there was the idea of adding a use fee to our water bills that would be used for road related maintenance. This fee would probably be less than $10 on our water bills, and though it is small, it would also be added to the water bills of businesses. In the case of businesses, calculations would be used to factor in number of vehicle trips, weight of vehicles, etc. to generate their fee amount. More than likely, that fee would be passed along to the residents through higher goods and services cost. So, this minimal fee also adds to the other costs in your daily life.
You might be thinking… isn’t this a tax? Should it not go in front of the voters for approval like all other taxes? A “use fee” does not have to go to the voters for approval, in this case it can be added to your water bill.
Something to keep in mind, a tax is a mandatory charge imposed by the government whereas a use fee is supposed to be voluntary (ie. you choose to pay a fee to use the Erie Community Center or you choose to take E-470 instead of I-25). The use fee being discussed would be mandatory. Though I am not a big supporter of use fees, as it increases cost to our daily lives, I want to know what you think.