To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Gini Pingenot, Director, Open Spaces
Prepared By:
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Michele Frishman, Grants and Acquisitions Manager, Open Spaces
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Subject:
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Easements for Dove Creek Trail
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Open Spaces requests that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) adopt a resolution (1) accepting two easements to be granted to the County by the Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority (SEMSWA) and the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) for the new Dove Creek Trail and (2) authorizing the Open Spaces Director to sign the easements. Open Spaces staff presented this request in study session on June 30, 2025. The draft easements are attached.
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Background and Discussion: SEMSWA has constructed drainage channel improvements along Dove Creek between South Chambers Road and East Broncos Parkway in Centennial, east of Dove Valley Regional Park and the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC). SEMSWA’s improvements included a new maintenance path for its operations, in the same location identified for a future trail by the Dove Valley Trails Initiative completed by the Dove Valley Metropolitan District (DVMD) in 2018.
Users of Dove Valley Regional Park, CCIC students and employees, employees of surrounding businesses, and future residents in the area will benefit from a new trail connection in this location. Therefore, at the request and expense of Open Spaces, DVMD, and the City of Centennial, and with the support of the Dove Valley Working Group, SEMSWA added a 3” crusher fines layer on its maintenance path to enable it to be used as a public trail. Open Spaces, DVMD, and Centennial will reimburse SEMSWA for the cost of installing the trail-surfacing material pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement.
In order for the trail to be used by the public and to establish maintenance responsibilities for the trail, Open Spaces has negotiated a Permanent Access Easement Agreement to be granted by SEMSWA and an Easement Agreement to be granted by CCSD, which are the underlying landowners along this stretch of Dove Creek. Both easements will be granted at no cost to the County.
SEMSWA will continue to be responsible for maintaining the drainageway and related facilities. Under the easements, Open Spaces will maintain the trail and amenities such as benches and signs. Staff expect these maintenance costs to be minimal due to the short length of the trail - less than a half-mile - and the availability of experienced Open Spaces maintenance staff and equipment regularly working in the area.
Alternatives: Approve, modify, or decline the proposed easements. If the County does not accept the easements, the maintenance path-turned-trail will remain closed to the public.
Fiscal Impact: There is no cost to obtain the easements. Maintenance costs will be minimal as described above.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☐Be fiscally sustainable
☐Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Concurrence: SEMSWA and CCSD concur with this proposal.
Resolution: Attached is a copy of the draft resolution.