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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.0 Correspondence^-t lL^A. a a a a a o a a a a a a a a a a o o a o o a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a o a a o a a a a a a a a o a a, a a a a a a a a a a a GAS TRANS M I SS I O N CC> M PANY September 16, 1991- Mr. Mark L. Bean, Director Garfield County Planning Department 109 8th Street, Suite 303 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 Dear Mr. Bean: TransColorado Gas Trans,mission Company (TransColorado) has decided to withdraw its application for a special use permit from Garfield Countyat the preserrt-tffie. Due to current circumstances involving delays in the project, TransColorrado cannot accurately predict whether or not any constrr-rction activities will be able to commence in 1992. Therefore, thetiming is inappropriate for pursuing county permits. However, TransColorado is committed to applying for a special use permit from Garfield County when the timing is deemed appropriate. The recent decision by the BLM to extend the comment period for the Draft Environmental Impaet Statement by 45 days, and the continued needfor comprehensive environmental analysis on the entire project, have seriously impacted the anlieiFated in-service date for the pipeline. However, the the project remains a very viable one, and TransColorado will continue in its effort to market western Colorado natural gas. I sincerely apologize for any inconveniences which have been caused by this action. Our original intent was sincere, and I believe that this action is in everybodyrs best interest. TransColorado will fully reimburse Gar{ield County for all costs reLrated to the processing of the submitted permit application to date, and any costs necessary to implement this action. Please continue to be involved in the EIS process to insure that your concerns are addressed. I will remain in contact and keep you informed of the projectrs progress -B ^ I .-t r.\ .lK/;{rVJI.-i.JL TJI) Sincerely, tik{*;!**" MAILING ADDRESS: POST OFFICE BOX 28I304 LAKEWOOD, COLORADO N228-93O4 PHONE: (303) 989-2560 FAX: (303) 980-9044 STREET ADDRESS: I2055 W. 2ND PLACE LAKEWOOD, COLORADO 80228- I 506 TO: PROIT: DATE: RE: uE!{oRAt{Dt u Board of County Commissioners Andrew McGregor, Planner A-lrca-q'r- JuIy 23, 1991- TransColorado Pipeline Exemption from Fiscal Impact Mitigation Program Enclosed is a letter from the TransColorado consortium requesting an exemption from the requirements of Section 5.08, Fiscal Impact I'titigat!-on Program. ltore specifically, Section 5.08.04 authorizes the board to waive the requirements if a project is subject to federal environmental impact statement requirements. TransColorado is basing their request ior a waiver from these requirements due to the short-term prelence of the construction force and the minimal full time work force employed. While the pipeline proposal may falI under the definition of "maj9f pro jects " -anh technically a f ilcal impact mitigation program could Le lequired, it woul-d seem that this type of project is not what was cdntempiated. There will be two (2) additional oppor_tunities to review this project, through the draft environmental irnpact statement and the Special Use Permit process. The Special Ysepermit application ilso requires an impact statement addressing such issues as water, wildfire, air, noise and light pollution and traffic impacts. fn addition, conditions of approval can be attached to the Special Use Permit approval addressing these issues. Under these circumstances, staff has no objection to waiving the requirement for a fiscal impact analysis and mitigation program. TransColorado has requested that the Commissioners render a decision on this matter at your August 5,1991 meeting. In the interim, they intend to submit a Special Use Permit appli-cation. Assuming that the application meets all necessary requirements, they will request that this matter be referred to the Planning Commission for review and recommendation at their August Llth meeting. The review period for the draft E.I.S. should begin in late August or early September and extend for a 45 day comment period. 'tl l'; GAS TRANSM'SS'ON July 15, 1991 Garfield County Board of County Commissioners 1nO O+r- C+-^-+ cr.-:+^ ,rrf\ruu ULll uLraCLl uLiiiU uVu Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 RE: Garfield Countyrs Fiscal Impact Mitigation Program Dear Commissioners: TransColorado Gas Transmission ( TransColorado) , is proposing to construct and operate a natural gas pipeline, in excess of 300 miles inlength, from a point approximately 20 miles souttrwest of Meeker, Colorado, to its terminus point near Bloomfield, New Mexico. Theprimary purpose of the proposed pipeline is to transport surplus volumesof natural gas from western Colorado and the entire Rocky Mountain Region to the available marketpl,ace. Construction is proposed to begin inApril 1992, and be completed in December l-992. The pipeline will pass through Garfield County, and therefore, TransColorado intends to apply for and obtain a Special Use Permit authorizing the construction and operation within the county. The Garfield County Zorrirrg Regulations contain a provision for majorprojects to comply with Section 5.08, Fisca1 Impact Mitigation Program. The TransColor-arln projeet will tre eonsidered a major or.oiect sinee it will employ a work force of 200 or more employees in Garfield County during construction of the project. Section 5.08.04. 02 of these regulations addresses exemptions from ttre pre-application proeess. Paragraph B under this section states that rrany applicant of a major project for whicha federal environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared, and who has taken steps so that the impacted goverrrment entities are given adequate notice of the scoping meetings held with respect to such impact statement may apply for an exemption to the pre-application proceduresrr. The TransColorado project is having a federal EIS prepar,ed, and the county \ryas specifically notified of the seoping meetings by the Bureau of Land Management. The county was also notified by TransColorado both by direct contact, and by letter dated JuIy 12, 1990. /d.l westGos.A QUESTAR PIPELINE C.MPAI\TY KNEr.*cY. rNc. 1O5O 1 7TH STREET, SUITE 5OO DENVER, COLOBADO 80265-0501 TELEPHONE: 1'800'621-9427 rrrt ^ L,l \ \I \tll ^ lI\^-. I K/{'VJ1-I.JLI-JK/{IJI-) aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Garfield County Board of County Commissioners July 15, 1991 Page 2 In addition, these regulations were designed mainly for majorprojects which impact public services and housing availability in the county by permanently increasing the population within the impact area. The TransColorado project will not have this effect. There will either be no impact or only a very minor, short-term impact on housing availafoi51,in the eounty, and no additional public serviee facilities will be necessaryto accommodate the construction work force. TransColorado anticipates that construction of the project in Garfield County will take no more than 4 months to complete. The contractors and the work force responsible for constructing the pipeline in this area will be based in Grand Junction. Buses will transport the workers to the construction site, and the use of personal vehicles will be restricted. Upon completion of constmction, the TransColorado project will have no further impact on public services or housing in Garfield County. TransColoraclors permit application will specifically address these temporary impacts, including population, employment and income, housing, transportation, public facilities and services, health and human services,public finance, and overall socioeconomic impacts in Garfield County. Based upon the foregoing, TransColorado requests an exemption from the Garfield County Fiscal Impact Mitigation Program. Your considerationof this request at your earliest possible convenience will be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or require any additional information, please contaet me in Denver at (303) 294-3773. Sincerelv. Q,:,/-l rt d,*,,k!,^ Richard A. Chamberlain cc: Mark L. Bean, Planning Director Brent L. Backes, Esq. I GARFIELD COUNTY REGULATORY OFFICES AND PERSONNEL YIay 29, 1991 Richard A. Chamberlain TransColorado Gas Transmission 555 17th Street, Suite l-200 Denver, CO 80202 RE: TransColorado Interstate Pipeline Dear Rich: Don DeFord shared the correspondence that he received from your counsel, Brent Backes with Mark and I. He asked if we would respond to a couple of issues raised in the letter. These comments should reiterate the discussion we had Iast month when you were in Gl-enwood Springs. Regarding the necessity of obtaining the consent of each affected property owner, Don concurred with Mr. Backes opinion. The condemnation authority through eminent domain would preclude the necessity of obtaining consent signatures. This would not eliminate the noticing requirements for the Special Use Permit. In lieu of obtaining the express written consent of each affected land owner, a notice of hearing should be sent to each party. This is in addition to the requirementfor noticing adjacent landowners. The waiver of the Fiscal Impact Analysisr oE portions thereof, is a discretionary authority of the Board of County Commissioners. This action needs to be considered and resolved by the Board prior to their review of the actual Special Use Permit. This process is identified in Section 5.08.04.02 of the Garfield County Zoning Resolution. Upon receipt of an adequate Statement of Intent to Apply and request for exemption from the Pre-application Procedures, the Board has 15 working days to review and act on the request. This process does not appear to require a public meeting. However, it might be beneficial for you to make a presentation to the Commissioners. We can agendize this upon receipt of your reguest. We will see you on June 4th at 10:00 a.m. questions prior to that time. CalI if you have any Andrew C. McGregor Planner ACM/r1b xcs Brent. Backes Sincerely, 109 8TH STREET, SUTTE 303 . 945-82121625-557t1285-7972 . GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO 81601 o K o LL FRED L. WITSELL RICHARD W, BRYANS TIMOTHY J. FLANAGAN JAMES K, TARPEY KENNETH V. REIF DAVID W, KERBER DAVID L, ERICKSON JOHN S, LUTZ MARLA S. PETRINI CHARLES CARPENTER MARK A, DAVIDSON SPECIAL COUNSEL WILLIAM N. KREMS ELLY, STANSFIELD & O,DONNE (FOUNDED IN I9I5) ATTORNEYS AT LAW SUITE 9OO,55O IsTH STREET DENVER, COLORADO 8O2O2 (la9z-r944)(r903-1979) BRYANT O'DONNELL (r92s-r99o) April L, 1991 (303) A2s-3s34 FACSTMTLE (303) a2s-3t3r CHARLES J. KELLY EDGAR A STANSFIELD THOMAS R, O'DONNELL WILLIAM L. SASZ KEVIN W, HECHT MICHELLE L, KEIST BRENT L, BACKES SALIE B, O'MALLEY TIMOTHY J. XNAPP C, CHANDLER LIPPITT JEFFREY A. THURNAU FREDERICK L, DOUGLAS CHAD M, NEUENS ELIZABETH A. BRYANT MARY L, WILL OF COUNSEL JOHN E. ARCHIBOLD Don Deford, Esq. GarfieLd County Attorney 109 8th Street, Suite 300 Gienwood Springs, CO 8i-601 Dear Don: I represent TransColorado Gas Transmission Company. As youprobably know, TransColorado intends to build an interstate pipeline totransport natural gas along the western slope of Colorado.TransColorado will construct and operate the pipeline in accordance withthe rules and regulations of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the certificate of public convenience and necessity for the projectissued by FERC. In the public scopi-ng rneetings and throughout this project, FERc,through the BLM and other federal agencies, has sol-icited input from thevarious counties and general public located along the length of thepipeline to insure that the project is built in a safe andenvj-ronmentally conscience manner. TransColorado has encouraged eachcounty and the general public to participate in the environmental impactstatement process so the concerns of aII potentially affected partiescan be addressed. TransColorado has been working with the GarfieldCounty Planning staff for the past 15 months and has briefed the CountyCommissioners several times in the past year. fn order to continue tosolicit input and cooperate with Garfield County, TransColorado intendsto apply for a special use permit prior to issuance of the finalenvironmental impact statement and FERC certificate. This will giveGarfield County an opportunity to raise any concerns reLated to theproject prior to issuance of a final FERC certificate. AlthoughTransColorado intends to provide Garfield County with the informationnecessary to receive a special use permit, TransCol-orado has seriousreservations about any special use permit requirements or conditionsthat are inconsistent with the requirements and conditions irnposedTransColorado by FERC. An initial review of Garfield Countyrs application process for aspecial use permit contai-ns a requirement that TransColorado obtain theconsent of each property owner prior to filing. Such a requirement isinconsistent with the eminent domain authority granted to interstatepipelines under the Natural Gas Act. In order to file for the specialuse permit as soon as possible and to allow Garfield County the maximum Garfield County AttorneyApril L, 1991 Page 2 possible participation in the EIS and,TransColorado requests that Garfieldrequirement. FERC certification process,County waive the consent Garfield County also has a Fiscal Impact Mitigation program whichis .designed to address impacts on puUtic seivices and housingavailability for Ma jor Projects. A t'tijor Project is def ined as aproject located in Garfield County which w:-fl employ a total work forceof 2oo or more employees. Transcolorado anticipates it will employemore than 20o employees in Garfield County during the construction ofthe pipeline. Although the regulations contain an exception from pre-appJ.J-cation prcceCures for Major Projects iike TransCoioraoo which mustobtain a federal environment impaci statement, the program does notappear to be designed to address projects which will onty have a shortterm temporary impact on the County. TransColorado wiIl addressemployee housing and other temporary impacts during the constructionperiod. However, to the extent the Fiscal fmpact i,titigation programapplies to a project like TransColorado, TransColorado requests anexemption. TransColorado hopes that continued cooperation between the partieswill best serve everyone's interest and results in the "xpehitiou=issuance of a special use permit. Please let me know as soon aspossible whether TransColorado will be granted a waiver of the aboverequirements. ff you have any questions or comments regarding thisletter, please feel free to contact me. Very truly yours, hj Pe"=I."* Brent L. Backes BLB: bjw cc: Richard A. CharnberlainBill Rideout 5411 GARFIELD COUNTY REGULATORY OFFICES AND PERSONNEL January 21, 1991 Richard A. ChamberlainTransColorado Gas Transmission 555 LTth St., Suite l-200Denver, CO 80202 RE: Proposed Transcolorado piperine - speciar use permit Dear Rich: I,ve -finarry had the opportunity to review the outrine you puttogether regarding the Garfierd county special use permit fPPIication. The outline appears fairly cbmprehensive and I onlyhave a few comments. The application will actually require the consent of each propertyowner within the alignment. By consent, I mean an actuat slgnltureon the application or an appendix. rn addition, the publicnoticing- requirements necessitate that notice be given tb aIIowners of property adjacent to any properties included within thepipeline alignment. Th" application fee wirl be $525.00. Additionar fees may beimposed if hourry review charges exceed the base fee. I wasn't sure where in your outline the issue of water consumptionwill fit in, but it definitely should be addressed. My conce-rn iswhere will water be obtained and how much will be -used duringconstruction. Noise impacts and mitigation is another issue that seems to surfacewherever there are pipelines and compressors in Garfield County.f-f .9 compressor stations are proposed in Garfield County, then itshouldn't be a major issue. I_can't emphasize enough the need for detail on your transportationpran. when it goes croser to apprication time, r srrggesl you sitdoyl with King L1oyd, county Road-and Bridge supervisdr-, to &iscussvehicular activity and the Road Impact Agreement. 109 8TH STREET, SUIrE 303 . 94582L21625-557t1285-7972 . GLENWOOD SPR|NGS, COLORADO 81601 Richard A. Page 2 January 2L, Chamberlain 1_9 9 r_ If you havefeel free to Sincerely, Andrew C. McGregor Planner ACM/rIb any questions or need any assistance from this end, call.