To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Director Name, Title, Department
Prepared By:
prepared
??Dan Payson, Open Spaces, Parks, and Trails Manager; Matt Bixenman, Fairgrounds Site Manager?
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presenter
Presenter: Dan Payson, Open Spaces, Parks, and Trails Manager; Matt Bixenman, Fairgrounds Site Manager?
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Subject:
title
??Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) Grant Request?
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
??The purpose of this session is to request permission from the Board of County Commissioners to pursue a grant opportunity from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in the amount of $265,000. This grant would be used to remove the existing bluegrass on the Central Greens lawns at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds and replace it with a drought-tolerant turfgrass species, Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass. As part of the grant requirements, there is a 50% matching requirement. As such, we would use $287,000 of funding in Open Spaces Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to install a new irrigation system for the South Lawns, install three (3) new irrigation central controllers, and remove the turfgrass strips on north side of the Fairgrounds Event Center and convert that area to a perennial bed. ?
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Alignment with Strategic Plan: Economic Resilience and Stability - Support long-term economic resilience through responsible fiscal and investment strategies.
Background and Discussion: In response to the escalating challenges posed by water scarcity and the need for sustainable?landscape?maintenance?practices, this?project?emerged?as a strategic initiative to address these pressing issues.
In 2025, Arapahoe County Open Spaces (ACOS) initially converted the southwest quadrant of the Central Green to Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass.?Based on the first nine months of the pilot project, we have reduced our water usage by an estimated 50% and our maintenance inputs (reduced herbicide & pesticide applications and staff time) by over 80%....
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