The Weld Re-8 School District has its eyes on land for potential school development on the east and west ends of Fort Lupton.
With that as a backdrop, Superintendent Alan Kaylor told his bosses, the members of the school board, it should engage with the city of Fort Lupton to make it happen. The two entities had a renewable, five-year intergovernmental agreement that expired in 2013.
The lack of an agreement with the city of Fort Lupton costs the district money in terms of rooftops, he s. The district and the city of Dacono have an IGA.
Kaylor said a piece of the builders’ permit cards indicates an obligation to pay the local school district.
“That’s what we’re after. We are collecting zero dollars on these new houses,” Kaylor told the school board. “It’s instant profit for the builders. We have a problem collecting these moneys. The builder basically says, ‘Thank you but no thank you. We have no obligation to pay you.
“Think of the numbers of homes that have gone up since 2012, 2013. At some point, we may need to do some leveraging and go to a council meeting and encourage them to go forward with an IGA,” he added.
The district has been in talks with city Planner Todd Hodges and City Administrator Chris Cross. Kaylor said he sensed some interest on the city’s part to enter into another IGA. Kaylor also suggested an agreement of no more than five years in length to leave open the chance for revisions based on growth and enrollment patterns.
“We have to be careful that we spend the money appropriately,” Kaylor cautioned. “We can use the money for building and land acquisitions only.”
Kaylor also enlisted the services of Shannon Bingham, to produce an estimate of the value of rooftops in Dacono and Fort Lupton. The cost is between $5,000 and $6,000, Kaylor said. She helped the district redesign its school-board member boundaries last year.
“It’s well worth it,” Kaylor told the board. “We should get more money per rooftop. We’re looking at growth on the east and west ends of the district.”
One parcel is near Weld County Road 13 and Summit Boulevard, on the west end of the district. The 50-acre project wound up on the back burner because of the pandemic. Kaylor also identified 55 acres on the east end of town as a site for potential development.
“At some point, we’re going to be needing that,” he told the board.